This investigation explores the detonation dynamics of a rotating detonation engine (RDE). Beginning with the general understanding and characteristics of hydrogen and compressed air as a detonation fuel source, this study further develops the experimental approach to incorporating a coal-based fuel mixture in an RDE. There is insufficient prior research investigating the use of coal as part of a fuel mixture and insignificant progress being made to improve thermal efficiency with deflagration. The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy awarded the Propulsion and Energy Research Laboratory at the University of Central Florida a grant to lead the investigation on the feasibility of using a coal-based fuel mixture to power rotating detonation engines. Through this study, the developmental and experimental understanding of RDEs has been documented, operability maps have been plotted, and the use of a coal-based fuel mixture in an RDE has been explored. The operability of hydrogen and compressed air has been found, a normalization of all operable space has been developed, and there is evidence indicating coal can be used as part of a fuel mixture to detonate an RDE. The study will continue to investigate coal's use in an RDE. As the most abundant fossil fuel on earth, coal is a popular fuel source in deflagrative combustion for electrical power generation. This study investigates how the combustion of coal can become significantly more efficient.

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Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le domaine de la simulation numérique appliquée à la propulsion. Le moteur à détonation rotative (RDE) fait partie des candidats susceptibles de remplacer nos actuels moyens de propulsion grâce à l’augmentation du rendement thermodynamique du moteur. Pour conserver l’avantage de la détonation, l’injecteur doit fournir un mélange dont la qualité doit être la meilleure possible tout en limitant les pertes de pression totale. La présente étude porte sur le développement et l’optimisation numérique d’un injecteur adapté au fonctionnement d’un RDE. L’injection d’hydrogène et d’oxygène gazeux en rapport stoechiométrique est considérée pour une utilisation en propulsion fusée. Le premier objectif est de proposer un concept réaliste d’injecteur permettant de maximiser le mélange des ergols. Le second objectif est de réaliser des études du mélange dans la chambre par des simulations LES (Large Eddy Simulation). Le troisième objectif est de simuler la propagation d’une détonation rotative (RD) alimentée par différents injecteurs en régimes prémélangé et séparé. Deux éléments d’injection sont mis en concurrence. Le premier utilise le principe de jets semi-impactants de H2 et de O2. Le deuxième représente une configuration améliorée. Les simulations de RD avec les deux injecteurs donnent des résultats similaires lorsque l’injection est prémélangée. La part du mélange injecté perdu par déflagration est de 30% et la vitesse de propagation de la RD est proche de la vitesse théorique CJ. Pour les injections séparées de H2 et O2, l’injecteur amélioré permet de conserver un bon niveau de mélange dans la chambre, contrairement à l’injecteur à semi-impact qui produit une forte stratification des ergols dans la chambre. En conséquence, la vitesse de propagation de la RD est proche de la vitesse CJ avec l’injecteur amélioré et limitée à 80% de la vitesse CJ avec l’injecteur à semi-impact. / This thesis pertains to the domain of numerical simulation for propulsion applications. The rotating detonation engine (RDE) appears to be a good candidate to replace our current means of propulsion thanks to the increase of the thermodynamic efficiency. To preserve the advantage given by the detonation mode, the injector must provide the best possible mixing of the propellants together with acceptable total pressure losses. This numerical study deals with developing and optimizing an injector adapted to the operation of a RDE. Injection of gaseous H2 and O2 at stoichiometric ratio is considered to be suitable for rocket propulsion application. The first goal is to propose an efficient injector design so that the mixing between the propellants is maximized. The second goal is to perform simulations of the mixing process in the chamber by LES (Large Eddy Simulation) computations. The third goal consists in computing the propagation of a rotating detonation (RD) fed by different injectors in premixed and separate regimes. This study allows the comparison of two injection elements. The first one uses the principle of semi-impinging jets of H2 and O2. The second one represents an improved configuration. RD simulations with both injectors provide similar results when premixed injection is considered. The part of the injected mixture that burns by deflagration is 30% and the detonation velocity remains close the theoretical CJ velocity. In the regime of separate injection of H2 and O2, the improved injector enables to keep a high mixing efficiency in the chamber whereas the semi-impingement injector produces a strong stratification of the propellants in the chamber. As a consequence, the detonation velocity is close to the CJ velocity with the improved injector and limited to 80% of the CJ velocity with the semi-impingement injector.

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<div>Rotating detonation engines (RDEs) are one of the most promising options for improving combustor efficiency through a constant-volume combustion process. RDEs are characterized by continuous detonation propagation in an annular combustion chamber with an implicitly dynamic injection response. An additional benefit is the similarity of these devices to existing engine architectures. However, RDEs have yet to realize their thermodynamic and systemic advantages due the non-ideal physics of detonation in practical devices and the complex interactions between the detonations and the hydrodynamics of the reactants. The design of RDEs is heavily informed by experimental and simulation efforts, but simulations are expensive and often limited by the assumptions of the solver. Experiments have their own challenges; the dynamic reaction zone processes are difficult to examine experimentally in annular combustor geometry. Therefore, an RDE analogue, operating at near-atmospheric conditions with natural gas and oxygen, was developed that emulates the combustor geometry of an RDE in a linear channel that facilitates optical diagnostic capabilities. The experiment permits detailed characterization of the injection, mixing, and ignition processes in an RDE and provides a cross-platform comparison with simulation results, which are often two-dimensional or linear, 3-D domains.</div><div> </div><div>A unique phenomenon was discovered in this experiment, wherein a transverse combustion instability developed periodic, kilohertz-rate detonations through a non-linear amplification process. The behavior was highly repeatable and produced dominant cycle frequencies in two distinct regimes: 6-8 kHz and 10-11 kHz. An investigation of this phenomenon found that these cycle frequencies corresponded to natural dynamics in the oxidizer and fuel manifolds, respectively, and that the transition between regimes was facilitated by the injection pressure ratio between the oxidizer and fuel. This indicated that the injection hydrodynamics were being influenced by the manifold dynamics, and that the hydrodynamics played a key role in the amplification of the instability.</div><div> </div><div>The kinetic characteristics of the reactants were examined independently of the injection hydrodynamics as the second key component of the amplification process by altering the reactant chemistry. The combustion morphology was characterized against performance criteria to examine successful behavior. Results showed that cycle frequency and kinetic rates were directly proportional, and that non-linear growth of the flame was possible when the cycle frequency matched the dynamics supplied by the manifolds. When the cycle frequency exceeded the limits of the manifold dynamics, failure of the detonation behavior would occur. A computational analysis of the reactants was used to examine kinetic rate trends with variations in equivalence ratio, oxidizer dilution, and product gas recirculation.</div><div> </div><div>Particle image velocimetry (PIV) was performed on the experiment to study the flow structure of the injection process and the interactions with the detonation process. Time-averaged statistics showed that the detonation induced transverse perturbation to the flow, with varying strength and directionality with respect to the axial location of the shock. A correlation between this behavior and a reactivity gradient, linked to the local product gas residence time, was found. Analysis of the PIV images produced time-resolved measurements of the reactant fill, from which hydrodynamic timescales of the injection process could be obtained. Comparisons between the hydrodynamic and kinetic timescales created an operability map for the test condition which narrows the prediction of the product gas recirculation that occurs in the combustor.</div><div> </div><div>The experiments performed in this work has improved understanding of the dynamic injection that occurs during RDE operation. The self-excited generation of detonations through non-linear processes in this experiment brings to light important interactions between the combustor, injector, and manifolds that can improve, or hinder, the performance of RDEs.</div>

Earlier research has demonstrated that downstream of combustion in a rotating detonation engine, exhaust flow periodically reverses circumferential direction. For small periods, the circumferential flow reaches velocity magnitudes rivaling the bulk flow of exhaust, manifesting as a swirl. The minimization of this swirl is critical to maximizing thrust and engine performance for rocket propulsion. During this study, numerous nozzle contours were iteratively designed and analyzed for losses analytically. Once a nozzle was chosen, further losses were validated through computational fluid dynamics simulations and then tested experimentally. Three different configurations were run with the RDRE: no nozzle, a nozzle without a spike, and a nozzle with a spike. Images of the exhaust quality were recorded using OH* chemiluminescence in high-speed cameras. One camera was used to confirm the existence of a detonation and the frequency of detonation. The second camera is pointed perpendicular to the exhaust flow to capture the quality of exhaust. Quantitative results of the turbulent velocity fluctuations were obtained through particle image velocimetry of the side-imaging frames. All frames in each case were exported and converted to several time-averaged frames whereupon the time-averaged turbulent velocity fluctuation profiles could be compared between cases for swirl attenuation.

Notre étude vise à améliorer la compréhension des modes de rotation continue d’une détonation. Elle porte sur leur caractérisation dans une chambre annulaire de section,normale à son axe de révolution, constante ou linéairement croissante. Le principe de fonctionnement repose sur l’injection continue de gaz frais devant le front de détonation pour renouveler la couche réactive et entretenir sa propagation. Ce travail trouve son application dans le développement de systèmes propulsifs utilisant la détonation rotative comme mode de combustion (Rotating Detonation Engine, RDE). Nous avons conçu et réalisé un banc expérimental dont l’élément principal est une chambre annulaire de diamètre intérieur 50 mm, de longueur 90 mm et d’épaisseur 5 ou 10 mm. Elle peut être équipée de noyaux cylindrique ou conique, de longueurs comprises entre 12 mm et 90mm et, pour les cônes, de demi-angles au sommet compris entre 0± et 14.6±. Elle est alimentée par des injections séparées de carburant, l’éthylène, et d’oxydant, formé ici par un mélange d’oxygène et d’azote. Plusieurs concentrations d’azote ont été considérées de manière à étudier plusieurs détonabilités de mélange. La caractérisation des régimes de détonation, de leurs célérités et de leurs pressions, est fondée sur l’analyse de signaux de capteurs de pression dynamiques et sur des visualisations par caméras ultrarapides. Nos résultats expérimentaux détaillent la phase d’amorçage, les modes de combustion et leur stabilité. L’étude paramétrique, réalisée pour plusieurs détonabilités, débits massiques et géométries internes de la chambre, met en évidence que, si les deux premiers paramètres n’ont pas d’effet notable sur les célérités et les pressions des modes de détonation,la géométrie interne de la chambre joue, elle, un rôle majeur dans l’amélioration de ces caractéristiques, en particulier la diminution de la longueur du noyau et l’augmentation de sa conicité (de son demi-angle au sommet). Nous avons réalisé une étude numérique afin d’expliquer les déficits mesurés de célérité et de pression. Elle met en avant la dégradation des propriétés théoriques de détonation résultant de la dilution et du réchauffement des réactifs par les produits de détonation. Nous proposons également un calcul du rendement thermodynamique qui, à la différence de modélisations antérieures, prend en compte la structure d’une détonation rotative. Nous décrivons aussi un calcul de hauteur de front de détonation pour les modes et géométries de chambre considérés dans cette thèse. Notre étude démontre ainsi l’intérêt de futures recherches sur la géométrie interne des chambres annulaires à détonation rotative et sur la prise en compte des phénomènes à l’origine des pertes d’efficacité. / Our study aims at improving the understanding of how a detonation may continuously rotate. It is focused on rotation modes in an annular chamber with constant or linearly increasing normal section. The functioning principle is based on the continuous injection of fresh reactive gases so as to regenerate a reactive layer ahead of the detonation front and maintain sufficient conditions for detonation propagation. The main incentive of the work is the development of propulsive devices that use detonation as the combustion mode (Rotating Detonation Engine, RDE). We have designed and built an experimental test bench of which the main part is an annular chamber with inner diameter 50 mm length 90 mm, and thickness 5 or 10 mm. The chamber can be equipped with cylindrical or conical kernels with lengths ranging between 12 mm and 90 mm and, for the conical kernels, with the apex half-angles ranging between 0± and 14.6±. The fuel is ethylene and the oxidizer is a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, and they are injected separately in the chamber. We have considered several nitrogen concentrations so as to vary the reactive mixture detonability. The characterizations of the detonation regimes, velocities and pressures are based upon the analyses of signals from pressure transducers and of direct light visualizations from high-speed cameras. Our experimental results detail the ignition phase, the combustion modes and their stability. We have carried out experiments with several detonabilities, mass-flow rates and kernel geometries. Our main finding is that modifying the kernel geometry, specifically decreasing the kernel length and increasing its conicity (the apex half-angle) significantly improve detonation velocities and pressures, unlike the first two parameters that have much lesser influences, in our conditions. We have conducted a numerical analysis that suggests that dilution and heating of the fresh gases by detonation products explain the measured deficits of pressure and velocity. We have presented a calculation of thermodynamic efficiency which, contrary to former modeling includes a more realistic structure of rotating detonation.We have proposed a calculation of detonation-front height for the rotation modes and the chamber geometries in this work. Our study thus demonstrates the interest in further research work on inner geometry of rotating-detonation chambers and on phenomena that may be responsible for efficiency losses.