Experimental investigation on detonation combustion patterns of hydrogen/vitiated air within annular combustor

Abstract

Experiments on continuous rotating detonation (CRD) were performed using hydrogen and vitiated air with total temperature of 860K. Two types of detonation phenomenon were found, namely, continuous rotating detonation wave (CRDW) traveling azimuthally in the annular detonation combustor, and detonation wave (DW) propagating along the detonation combustor axial direction. For the CRDW, four different combustion patterns existed, namely, one wave in homo-rotating mode, two waves in homo-rotating mode, one couple in hetero-rotating mode and two couples in hetero-rotating mode. For DW propagating axially, it was like pulse detonation engine (PDE), but do not need repeated ignition. Besides, the DW propagated upstream, and worked with a higher frequency than PDE. The experiments showed that the DW could be sustained continuously and steadily in all the five patterns within annular combustor, requiring no repeated ignition.