Examination of Turbulent Flow Effects in Rotating Detonation Engines

Towery, Colin A.Z.; Smith, Katherine M.; Shrestha, Prateek; Hamlington, Peter E.; Schoor, Marthinus van

doi:10.2514/6.2014-3031

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Sci. 2018, 8, x 4 of 15 similar to the simulations of Towery et al [28]. The calculated detonation speed was around 2000 ms −1 and with a relative error below 1% compared to the theoretical Chapman-Jouguet velocity (1986 ms −1 [11]).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 78%

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Numerical Assessment of the Convective Heat Transfer in Rotating Detonation Combustors Using a Reduced-Order Model

2018

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The pressure gain across a rotating detonation combustor offers an efficiency rise and potential architecture simplification of compact gas turbine engines. However, the combustor walls of the rotating detonation combustor are periodically swept by both detonation and oblique shock waves at several kilohertz, disrupting the boundary layer, resulting in a rather complex convective heat transfer between the fluid and the solid walls. A computationally fast procedure is presented to calculate this extraordinary convective heat flux along the detonation combustor. First, a numerical model combining a two-dimensional method of characteristics approach with a monodimensional reaction model is used to compute the combustor flow field. Then, an integral boundary layer routine is used to predict the main boundary layer parameters. Finally, an empirical correlation is adopted to predict the convective heat-transfer coefficient to obtain the bulk and local heat flux. The procedure has been applied to a combustor operating with premixed hydrogen-air fuel. The results of this approach compare well with high-fidelity unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes three-dimensional simulations, which included wall refinement in an unrolled combustor. The model demonstrates that total pressure has an important influence on heat flux within the combustor and is less dependent on the inlet total temperature. For an inlet total pressure of 0.5 MPa and an inlet total temperature of 300 K, a peak time-averaged heat flux of 6 MW/m 2 was identified at the location of the triple point, followed by a decrease downstream of the oblique shock, to about 4 MW/m 2 . Maximum discrepancy between the reduced-order model and the high-fidelity solver was 16%, but the present reduced-order model required a computational time of only 200 s, that is, about 7000 times faster than the high-fidelity three-dimensional unsteady solver. Therefore, the present tool can be used to optimize the combustor cooling system. Therefore, it is critical to perform a detailed analysis of the convective heat transfer and develop predictive tools that allow a preliminary design of the cooling system. To address this issue, we present a reduced-order model that predicts the convective heat transfer in a rotating detonation combustor (RDC) with a numerical approach that is three orders of magnitude faster than three-dimensional unsteady Reynolds-averaged solvers.RDCs have been experimentally tested, for example, in the US [2-4], Japan [5], Russia [6] and France [7]. The tests uncovered enormous heat-flux release threatening the integrity of the combustor and limiting its runtime to fractions of a second. The thermal optimization of these combustors is constrained by the availability of precise and time-effective thermal solvers that can evaluate the thermal performance in a timely manner. Currently, RDCs are numerically examined with computationally-expensive Euler [8,9] or unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes solvers [10], where the injection process is either modeled as p...

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…The length of the tube was 0.1 m and the numerical cell width was 0.5 mm (Figure 1). The time step was 1 × 10 −8 s, similar to the simulations of Towery et al [28]. The calculated detonation speed was around 2000 ms −1 and with a relative error below 1% compared to the theoretical Chapman-Jouguet velocity (1986 ms −1 [11]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 55%

Numerical Assessment of the Convective Heat Transfer in Rotating Detonation Combustors Using a Reduced-Order Model

2018

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“…Numerical predictions of RDC are usually performed under the assumption of negligible influence of viscous terms [Hishida et al, 2009, Kindracki et al, 2011a, Liu et al, 2012, Schwer and Kailasanath, 2011, Shao et al, 2010, Yi et al, 2009, Zhdan et al, 2007. Only a few of more recent studies [Frolov et al, 2013, Swiderski, 2013, Towery et al, 2014 have addressed the influence of viscous and turbulence effects on RDC performance. The current study is to provide some contribution into that ongoing discussion.…”

Section: Numerical and Analytical Studies Of Rotating Detonation Combmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rotating Detonation Combustion: A Computational Study for Stationary Power Generation

Escobar¹

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The increased availability of gaseous fossil fuels in The US has led to the substantial growth of stationary Gas Turbine (GT) usage for electrical power generation. In fact, from 2013 to 2104, out of the 11 Tera Watts-hour per day produced from fossil fuels, approximately 27% was generated through the combustion of natural gas in stationary GT. The thermodynamic efficiency for simple-cycle GT has increased from 20% to 40% during the last six decades, mainly due to research and development in the fields of combustion science, material science and machine design. However, additional improvements have become more costly and more difficult to obtain as technology is further refined. An alternative to improve GT thermal efficiency is the implementation of a combustion regime leading to pressure-gain; rather than pressure loss across the combustor. One concept being considered for such purpose is Rotating Detonation Combustion (RDC). RDC refers to a combustion regime in which a detonation wave propagates continuously in the azimuthal direction of a cylindrical annular chamber. In RDC, the fuel and oxidizer, injected from separated streams, are mixed near the injection plane and are then consumed by the detonation front traveling inside the annular gap of the combustion chamber. The detonation products then expand in the azimuthal and axial direction away from the detonation front and exit through the combustion chamber outlet. Receiving a doctoral degree would have not been possible, for me, without the support of Dr. Ismail Celik. I would like to thank him for his guidance and mentoring during my graduate school. He has taught me, through his actions, that persistence, hard work and discipline; combined with an analytical and critical mind are the most relevant requirements to be a successful scientist and engineer. I would like to express my appreciation to the dedication he provides to all of his students. It has been a privilege to have him as my research and academic advisor. I would also like to express my gratitude to the other members of my graduate committee:

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Development and Testing of a High-Pressure Rotating Detonation Engine for Rocket Applications

Stechmann

Heister

2016

54th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting

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Examination of Turbulent Flow Effects in Rotating Detonation Engines

Cited by 3 publications

References 21 publications

Numerical Assessment of the Convective Heat Transfer in Rotating Detonation Combustors Using a Reduced-Order Model

Numerical Assessment of the Convective Heat Transfer in Rotating Detonation Combustors Using a Reduced-Order Model

Rotating Detonation Combustion: A Computational Study for Stationary Power Generation

Development and Testing of a High-Pressure Rotating Detonation Engine for Rocket Applications

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