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Ignition of nitrous oxide and ethanol spray in a subscale thruster

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Abstract

To observe the transient behavior of N2O/C2H5OH spray ignition in a subscale thruster, the ignition flow field was visualized by a shadowgraph technique. The windowed combustor with 22 mm inner diameter equipped with a shear coaxial injector, which injected liquid ethanol and gaseous nitrous oxide through the center hole and the annular gap, respectively. Total mass flow rate was about 16 g/s for a combustion pressure of 9 bar. The pressure traces at three different oxidizer feed pressure conditions were compared, and the consistent trend of ignition–quenching–reignition was observed. From the shadowgraph image analysis, we found the indication of combustion inside of the gas injector, which caused the abnormal increase of injector upstream pressure. To prevent this violent phenomenon, some possible solutions were proposed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean Government (Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning) (No. NRF-2012M 1A3A3A02033146 and NRF-2013R 1A5A1073861).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School of Korea Aerospace University, 76, Hanggongdaehak-ro, Deogyang-Gu, Goyang-Si, 412-791, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea

    Dohun Kim

  2. School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Korea Aerospace University, 76, Hanggongdaehak-ro, Deogyang-Gu, Goyang-Si, 412-791, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea

    Jaye Koo

Authors
  1. Dohun Kim
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  2. Jaye Koo
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Correspondence to Jaye Koo.

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Kim, D., Koo, J. Ignition of nitrous oxide and ethanol spray in a subscale thruster. J Vis 18, 645–653 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12650-014-0270-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12650-014-0270-x

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