Busemann diffuser for supersonic ramjet engine with detonation combustion of hydrogen-air mixture

Abstract

The expediency of using a Busemann diffuser in a scramjet engine with detonation combustion of hydrogen-air mixtures is studied. A method is developed for calculating an air intake that provides spontaneous initiation of oblique detonation in a hydrogen-air mixture under conditions of rarefied atmosphere at hypersonic freestream Mach numbers. The geometry of the Laval nozzle (convergent-expanding) with the Busemann diffuser for the free flow Mach number 9 is determined. It is shown that at an altitude of about 40 km, the detonation combustion of the hydrogen-air mixture in this nozzle can provide more than 0.4 tons of thrust and more than 35% efficiency. The mathematical model is based on unsteady two-dimensional Euler equations for axisymmetric multicomponent reacting gas flow. To simulate chemical transformations, the detailed kinetic scheme is used that takes into account 33 non-equilibrium reactions for nine components of the mixture. The heat capacity, enthalpy, and entropy of a mixture are calculated using the reduced Gibbs energy of the gas components. Numerical modeling is carried out according to the modified Godunov scheme of the second order of approximation in spatial variables.