Effect of Fuel Distribution on the Onset of Detonation in Gaseous Octane Air Mixture

  • Sunil Bassi Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar- 382428, India
  • Sanjay Kumar Soni Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar- 382428, India
  • Shashank Chaturvedi Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar- 382428, India
Keywords: Deflagration to Detonation Transition (DDT), Equivalence Ratio (ER)

Abstract

Formation of detonation waves in a tube is a complex phenomenon and depends upon many factors like ignition energy, presence of a deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) enhancement device and spatial distribution of fuel, etc. In present study, gaseous octane-air mixtures have been examined by varying the equivalence ratio linearly along the axial direction of the detonation tube though the overall stoichiometry was maintained in the tube. Three different conditions have been modelled and studied, which includes small, moderate and large, fuel density gradient in axial direction with equivalence ratio ranging from 1 to 2 near the ignition zone. A series of simulation study have been conducted and the analysis of simulation results reveal that the DDT onset is significantly affected by the initial fuel distribution at the ignition zone as well as on fuel density gradient in a detonation tube. It has been observed thata moderate gradient in the fuel density distribution is favorable for onset of detonations. From the study of pressure plots for above mentioned conditions it has been found that the presence of large gradients in fuel density has adverse effect on the stability of detonation wave.

Author Biographies

Sunil Bassi, Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar- 382428, India

Mr Sunil Bassi obtained his MSc (Physics) from National Institute of Technology Jalandhar. Presently he is working as Scientific Officer at Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar. His area of interest consists of numerical simulations of reactive flows with computational fluid dynamics relevant to pulse detonation engine. In the present work, he has carried out the simulation work.

Sanjay Kumar Soni, Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar- 382428, India

Mr Sanjay Kumar Soni received his BE from Government Engineering College, Bilaspur and MTech in Production Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. His area of interest consists of experimental study of pulse detonation engine operation and CFD simulations of pulse detonation engines. In the present work, he has provided guidance in result analysis and conclusions of the study.

Shashank Chaturvedi, Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar- 382428, India

Dr Shashank Chaturvedi obtained his BTech (Chemical Engineering) from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and PhD from Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. His area of interest consists of computational modelling of different fusion reactor configurations, including tokamaks, as well as pulsed-power systems, pulsed electromagnetics, radiation hydrodynamics, MHD simulations and shock waves. In the present work, he has provided guidance in simulation work and result analysis.

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Published
2019-01-10
How to Cite
Bassi, S., Soni, S., & Chaturvedi, S. (2019). Effect of Fuel Distribution on the Onset of Detonation in Gaseous Octane Air Mixture. Defence Science Journal, 69(1), 31-36. https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.69.12779
Section
Applied Physics & Fluid Dynamics