Continuous detonation of a hydrogen–oxygen gas mixture in a 100-mm plane-radial combustor with exhaustion toward the periphery

Abstract

Regimes of continuous spin detonation and continuous multifront detonation in a hydrogen–oxygen mixture are obtained in a plane-radial combustor with an inner diameter of 100 mm and exhaustion toward the periphery. The fuel-lean limits of detonation in terms of the specific flow rate of the mixture are determined. For continuous spin detonation, transverse detonation waves and the flow in their vicinity in the combustor plane are reconstructed. The detonation wave is found to be significantly curved because of the increase in the tangential component of the velocity along the combustor radius. It is demonstrated that the scale effect is manifested only in the number of rotating waves. However, their velocity increases with increasing the combustor size. The velocity deficit of continuous detonation is 20–40% as compared to the velocity of the ideal Chapman–Jouguet detonation. (The smaller value corresponds to the fuel-lean mixture.)