Rotating detonation combustion with in-situ evaporating bi-disperse n-heptane sprays

TL;DR

This study uses Eulerian-Lagrangian simulations to analyze how droplet size and distribution in bi-disperse n-heptane sprays affect rotating detonation combustion, revealing critical factors for stability and performance.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the effects of droplet size and distribution on detonation wave stability, extinction, and propulsion performance without fuel pre-vaporization.

Findings

Small droplets vaporize completely in refilling area.

Larger droplets can cause detonation extinction.

Bi-disperse sprays with small droplets maintain stability.

Abstract

Eulerian-Lagrangian simulations are conducted for two-dimensional Rotating Detonative Combustion (RDC) fueled by bi-disperse n-heptane sprays without any fuel pre-vaporization. Parametric studies are performed to study the influences of droplet diameter and droplet distribution on detonation wave are studied. The extinction process of the detonation wave is also been analyzed. It is found that small n-heptane droplets (e.g., 2 um) are completely vaporized in the fuel refilling area. Increasing the droplet diameter causes the droplet to fail to evaporate completely within the fuel refilling area and exist after the detonation wave. A reflected shock can be obsevered after the detonation wave. When the droplet diameter is larger than 10 {\mu}m, the higher pressure after the detonation wave leads to the reactants cannot be sprayed into the combustor, eventually leading to extinction of the detonation wave. In bi-disperse n-heptane sprays, presence of droplets with small diameter maintains the stable propagation of the detonation wave. The average equivalence ratio in the fuel refilling area is lower than total equivalence ratio (up to 0.66 only), and the average equivalence ratio decreases with the increase of droplet diameter in bi-disperse n-heptane sprays. The increase in droplet diameter decreases the detonated fuel fraction and the speed of detonation wave. The speeds of detonation wave in bi-disperse n-heptane sprays are 3-9% lower than the respective gaseous cases. Moreover, propulsion performance of RDC such as thrust and specific impulse decreases with increasing droplet diameter.