Experimental investigation for characterizing and improving inlet designs in rotating detonation engines

Abstract

Rotating detonation engines (RDEs) present great potential for significant improvement in efficiency for land based power generation systems, in addition to aircraft propulsion devices. They offer the advantage of a net pressure gain across the combustor, as well as high exhaust temperatures and less entropy production due to detonative combustion. These improvements provide direct correlation to improved overall efficiency and thermal efficiency of gas turbine engines. RDEs surpass their conventional combustor counterparts in terms of their geometric size and simpler mechanical design. Among many areas of much needed research to further the technology readiness level (TRL) of RDEs, the inlet design is paramount to the successful operation of a rotating detonation engine. The inlet is one of the central impetuses behind current RDE research.

Scaling Analysis and Experimental Investigation of a Rotating Detonation Engine

“…It was desired to attempt to extrapolate a recovery time in the LSRDE by correlating 2 and interruption time ratio to recovery time in the BSRDE. Recovery time was previously studied using the BSRDE at various geometric conditions by Bedick, et al and Sisler [26,28]. Unfortunately, not enough data existed to meaningfully attempt this correlation in this work.…”

“…This work made use of Schlieren imaging to gain insight into combustion feedback and reflected shock behavior in the plenum. Though much of the early analyses were qualitative, they form the foundation of the current work [28]. Further efforts have witnessed investigations into three parameters: interruption time, recovery time, and backflow length.…”