Thermochemical Exploration of a Cavity Based Supersonic Combustor with Liquid Kerosene Fuel

Abstract

Thermochemical exploration of a liquid hydrocarbon fueled scram jet combustor is presented. Three dimensional Navier Stokes equations along with K-ε turbulence model and single step kerosene-air reaction kinetics are solved using commercial software. Various combustor configurations with different fuel injection cavities are analyzed. Simulations capture all the essential features of the flow field. Good comparisons between computational and experimental surface pressure form the basis for further analysis. Parametric studies have been carried out with different droplet diameters to study its effect in the flow development. The numerical simulation also confirmed the experimental observation that the threshold value of length-to-depth ratio for cavity characterization is different for reacting and non-reacting flows.