Abstract

A numerical investigation of a cavity-based supersonic combustor with non-reacting upstream hydrogen fuel injection is conducted to study the effects of inlet Mach number (Ma) on flow structure and fuel-air mixing. Three different freestream Mach number cases (1.5, 2.5 and 3.5) are investigated at a constant fuel flow rate, injected at the sonic condition by considering governing equations for compressible, turbulent flow using Shear Stress Transport (SST) k-ω model. The complex flow structure is investigated by identifying various flow features namely, upstream three-dimensional bow shock, compression waves, Mach reflection, vortex in the separated boundary layer and horseshoe vortices at the downstream of the injection port. Besides this, the flow physics involved in these complex flow features are unravelled. Moreover, the performance of the combustor is characterized quantitatively in terms of mixing efficiency, total pressure loss and coefficient of pressure. However, the mixing efficiency and total pressure loss for the operating condition of Ma = 1.5, exhibits better performance than that of the other Mach number cases (2.5, 3.5) due to decrease in inclination angle of reattachment shock from 47.6° to 29.9°. The present numerical investigation also demonstrates that the three-dimensional simulation is essential in the characterization of fuel-air mixing in supersonic cavity-based combustors.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.