Numerical analysis of combustion of a hydrogen–air mixture in an advanced ramjet combustor model during activation of O2 molecules by resonant laser radiation

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical study of the combustion of a hydrogen–air mixture in a model ramjet combustor with separate hydrogen and air supply during activation of O2 molecules by resonant laser radiation at a wavelength of 762.3 nm and 193.3 nm. The calculation is made using the parabolized Navier–Stokes equations taking into account chemical reactions, laser irradiation, and the nonuniformity of air parameters at the combustor inlet due to the complex gas-dynamic structure of the flow in the air intake. It is shown that the combustion completeness at the combustor outlet can be increased by a factor of 2.8 by redistributing the hydrogen supply through the system of fuel tank pylons. Further increase in the combustion completeness can be obtained by exposure of a narrow flow region to resonant laser radiation, more effectively at a wavelength of 193.3 nm. The combination of laser exposure with hydrogen supply redistribution increases the combustion efficiency by a factor of more than 4.7 compared to the base case. In this case, this provides a 95% increase the longitudinal force component in the portion of the internal engine duct that provides a positive contribution to the thrust. Estimation of the energy efficiency of using laser radiation shows that the laser energy input required to achieve this effect is 40–80 times (depending on the fuel supply method) less than the increase in the chemical energy (compared to the case of no laser exposure) released due to fuel combustion.