Abstract
The combustion behaviour of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) in a solid fuel ramjet was investigated using a connected pipe test facility. At pressures below 0,6 MPa almost no soot is formed, the flame is blueish and the regression rate appears to be primarily controlled by convection. At higher pressures, soot is formed and radiative heat transfer appears to be increasingly important. As a result, the regression rate becomes pressure dependant, while the effect of mass flux on regression rate decreases. Oxygen content in the air and air inlet temperature also affect combustion behaviour. No grain size effect on regression rate is noticed. Spectroscopic measurements demonstrated the presence of OH, C/sub 2/ and CH in the combustion chamber. The combustion efficiency varied between 70 and 76% and can be increased by increasing the size of the aft mixing chamber, the fuel grain length or the oxygen content in the air. Cold flow computer calculations were performed and showed good agreement with experimentally obtained results.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have