Experimental study on the operation characteristics of aluminum powder fueled ramjet

• Published in: Acta astronautica Vol. 129; pp. 74 - 81
• Main Authors: Li, Chao, Hu, Chunbo, Xin, Xin, Li, Yue, Sun, Haijun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elmsford Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2016; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Air flow; Aircraft; Aluminum; Combustion; Combustion chambers; Combustion efficiency; Engines; Experiments; Fire tests; Flow rates; Flow velocity; Fluidization; Fluidizing; Heat; Mass flow rate; Metal fuel; Powder fueled ramjet; Ramjets; Self-sustaining combustion; Fire tests; Self-sustaining combustion; Powder fueled ramjet; Metal fuel; Combustion efficiency
• ISSN: 0094-5765; 1879-2030
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2016.08.032

A new powder fueled ramjet configuration is put forward based on the previous studies on ramjet, and an experiment investigation is conducted to study the working process of the engine. A series of tests are conducted to investigate the combustion efficiency of the engine by changing the ram air flow inlet interface position and the fluidization gas mass flow rate. It is found that the engine achieves 24s self-sustaining combustion and worked stably during fire tests. In addition, the powder feed system provides aluminum fuel particles continuously and steadily during the tests, and the piston velocity can be used as a function of the fuel mass flow rate. Optimized ram air flow inlet interface position is 250mm to the combustion chamber front end. Furthermore, as the mass flow rate of fluidization gas rises from 5 to 15g/s, the combustion efficiency of the engine significantly increases. The best combustion efficiency reaches 73.05% on the condition that the ram air flow inlet interface position is 250mm to the combustion chamber front end and the mass flow rate of fluidization gas is 15g/s. •A new powder ramjet configuration was put forward.•Working process and combustion efficiency of the engine were analyzed.•The engine achieved self-sustaining combustion and worked stably.•Increase of fluidization gas mass rate improved the combustion efficiency.•The highest combustion efficiency achieved 73.05%.