Experimental Study of Performance Scaling in Rotating Detonation Engines Operated on Hydrogen and Gaseous Hydrocarbon Fuel

Abstract

Thrust stand testing is conducted on rotating detonation engines of various annular detonation channel widths and the impact of different scaling parameters on the performance of the devices is discussed. A focus is given in this work to identifying the relationship between the appropriate flow variables to facilitate comparison between geometries and the experimentally obtained specific impulses and specific thrusts, as well as an examination of stagnation pressure usage, through corrected thrust. Operation on both hydrogen and gaseous hydrocarbon fuel is presented.A comparison is made between the resulting propulsive performances found for similar rotating detonation engine geomtries.

Combustion Characteristics in Rotating Detonation Engines

“…The Air Force Research Laboratory and Innovative Scientific Solutions Inc. has obtained a significant amount of experimental data from RDEs, including specific impulse, OH * chemiluminescence images, high-frequency heat flux measurements, and accurate pressure measurements from inside the detonation channel. Operation with gaseous hydrocarbon/air propellants provided the expected levels of propulsion performance, although there are still numerous technical problems to be solved if heavier hydrocarbon fuels are to be detonated in an RDE [14]. The OH * chemiluminescence images were used to study the effects of the air mass flow rate, equivalence ratio, air injection area, and fuel injection scheme on the rotating detonation structure [15,16].…”