Numerical simulations of wedge-induced oblique detonation waves in ammonia/hydrogen/air mixtures

Abstract

In this study, two-dimensional numerical simulations of oblique detonation waves (ODWs) under a flight altitude of 10 km were performed. Because of their high importance in a zero-carbon economy, ammonia and hydrogen are considered as the fuel for aircrafts. Six cases with various hydrogen addition ratios in the fuel mixture were considered to explore the effects of hydrogen addition on the ignition structure, surface instability and NO emission of ODWs. It was found that as the hydrogen addition ratio decreases, the ODWs become more difficult to initiate with increased ignition length, and more complicated multi-wave system emerges with a second oblique detonation wave (SODW). The oblique wave angle is rarely influenced by hydrogen addition ratio. Two types of reaction surfaces, i.e. “saw-tooth” and “key-stone”, along with a series of transverse waves and vortices can be observed for the case with a hydrogen addition ratio of 20% by volume in the fuel mixture. The oscillation amplitude of the reaction zone length, which quantifies the surface instability, increases with decreasing hydrogen addition ratios. The mass fraction of NO is the highest in the case with a hydrogen addition ratio of 40%. NO concentration is higher in detonation compared to that in deflagration in all cases. The pathway analysis of NO indicates that the thermal NO is the primary contributor to NO production in the cases with high hydrogen addition ratios, while the HNO pathway becomes more significant in the cases with low hydrogen addition ratios.