Combustion of Liquid and Gaseous Fuels in a Supersonic Combustor

Results of an experimental study of a full scramjet model operating on kerosene, which was performed in an IT-302M hotshot wind tunnel based at the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and an experimental study of a model operating on hydrogen, which was performed in a hotshot wind tunnel with fire heating based at the China Aerodynamic Research and Development Center, are reported. The tests were performed for Mach numbers 5 and 6 for flow parameters close to in-flight conditions. An optimal system for kerosene injection under these conditions was determined, and the thrust characteristics of the engine model were examined. The possibility of controlling kerosene combustion in tests in the short-duration wind tunnel was analyzed, and special features of fuel ignition in a short combustor were considered. Intense combustion of kerosene was achieved with upstream injection of more than 3% of hydrogen, which allowed obtaining effective thrust. The distributions of static pressure and force characteristics of the model in the case of kerosene and hydrogen combustion were compared.