Operational Characteristics of a Rotating Detonation Engine Using Hydrogen and Air

Abstract

Rotating detonation engines (RDE) are pressure gain combustion engines that have the potential for greater efficiency than traditional, constant pressure, deflagration engines. RDEs are smaller and mechanically simpler than pulsed detonation engines. A small diameter (3 in) engine was successfully run on hydrogen and air. Most of the tests were conducted using air with a slightly lower diluents percentage (77% nitrogen as opposed to 79% nitrogen). These tests provided the foundation for determining the operational space (mass flow rate and equivalence ratio) of the rotating detonation engine. From the tests conducted with the lower diluents air, the appropriate run conditions for regular air were determined. For standard air (79% nitrogen) it was found that a larger equivalence ratio (about 1.5) was required to obtain continuous detonations.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA544946

Entities

People

  • Rachel M. Russo

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Combustion
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Detonations
  • Efficiency
  • Flow
  • Flow Rate
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Mass Flow
  • Military Research
  • Pressure Measurement
  • Research Facilities
  • Standards
  • Thermal Efficiency
  • Three Dimensional
  • Two Dimensional

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Molecular Photonics/Laser Physics
  • Rocket Propulsion.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster