International Journal of Science, Environment ISSN 2278-3687 (O)

and Technology, Vol. 3, No 3, 2014, 923 930

COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS OF SUPERSONIC COMBUSTION

USING CAVITY BASED FUEL INJECTION WITH SPECIES
TRANSPORT MODEL AT MACH NUMBER 4.17
Prateek Srivastava 1 and K.M. Pandey 2
1
M. Tech Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Silchar,
Assam, India
2
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Silchar,
Assam, India
E-mail: prateeksrivastava028@gmail.com, 2kmpandey2001@yahoo.com
1

Abstract: This paper describes the numerical investigation of Supersonic combustion with
Hydrogen as fuel injected with cavity of L/D ratio of 3 in two dimensional combustor at
Mach number 4 using species transport model for combustion. In the present study the flow
regime is simulated by using reailizable k- (two equations) model with standard wall
function. The hydrogen fuel is injected just upstream of the cavity. A cavity flame holder is
provided which injects hydrogen fuel in a supersonic hot air stream that facilitates enhanced
mixing and combustion efficiency. The cavity is of interest because recirculation flow in
cavity would provide a stable flame holding while enhancing the rate of mixing or
combustion. The combustor with cavity is found to enhance mixing and combustion while
increasing the pressure loss, compared with the case without cavity. But it is noted that there
exists an appropriate length of cavity regarding the combustion efficiency and total pressure
loss.
Index Terms: Flameholder, k- model, Scramjet and Supersonic combustion.

1. Introduction

Supersonic combustion ramjet (SCRAMJET) engines which poses some major

challenges that has attracted the attention and imagination of researchers worldwide. Ramjet
also referred as Flying Stovepipe is an air breathing jet engine in which supersonic
combustion take place & does not have rotating parts. The air enters the inlet & diffuser
which is used for the compression of air Compression depends on velocity and increases
strongly with vehicle speed. The same air enters to a combustion chamber which is mixed
with injected fuel. This mixture is ignited and burns in the presence and aid of a flame holder
that stabilizes the flame. In order to provide sustained combustion cavity flame holder is
provided along the flow of combusting material, it was first proposed by the CIAM (Central
Institution of Aviation Motors) in Moscow, was used for the first time in a joint
Russian/French dual-mode scramjet flight-test. Due to the cavity the recirculation of the flow
Received Apr 16, 2014 * Published June 2, 2014 * www.ijset.net
924 Prateek Srivastava and K.M. Pandey

inside the cavity increases in order to get sustained combustion. In such combustors it gets a
very short time for fuel injection, fuel-air mixing and subsequently combustion is available of
the order of 1 ms and Hydrogen is used as a fuel in these engines. The complex phenomenon
of Supersonic combustion involves turbulent mixing, shock interaction and heat release in
Supersonic flow.
2. Literature Review
Kyung Moo Kim [1] worked on the topic Numerical study on supersonic combustion with
cavity-based fuel injection their findings are cavity was found to increase both the total
pressure loss and the temperature of the combustor while enhancing the combustion of fuel
and oxidizer. By varying the aft wall angle, the offset ratio of upstream to downstream depth
and the cavity length the following main results were found. A. Roux [2]. They have studied
the instabilities of Ramjet through Large Eddy Simulation (LES) through LES codes
developed by ONERA & CERFACS. With LES technique they have handled structured,
unstructured & hybrid meshes. By Turbulence & Combustion models they have investigated
ONERA Ramjet burner. They observed that although the two codes are very different
numerically, both predictions are in good agreement with the experiment for the mean
velocity field. The two LES produce different energy containing motions. With CEDRE, a
low frequency dominates while AVBP produces different ranges of low frequencies that can
be linked with acoustic modes of the configuration. O. Dessornes [3] ONERA and DLR
joined together & made a dual mode Ramjet engine on this three experimental test were
performed i.e. predictive, exploitation & computations. The different combustion regions are
predicted i.e. sonic, transonic and supersonic is experimentally observed. Shock position
could be piloted by adjusting the injection repartition & stabilization of a thermal throat near
the chamber end has also been demonstrated. combustion chamber has two injection stages.
The first is mainly dedicated to supersonic combustion whereas the second allows to have a
subsonic combustion with a thermal throat located near the chamber end. The main
experimental results are discussed and comparisons with 3D NaviersStokes computation are
also presented. A. Roux [4] Compressible large eddy simulation on unstructured grids used to
investigate non reacting and reacting flows in a simplified twin-inlet ramjet combustor was
investigated. Reacting flow is compared to experimental results published by ONERA in
terms of mean fields. This method shows that the most intense structure (at 3750 Hz) is the
first transverse acoustic mode of the combustor chamber and the Rayleigh criterion obtained
with POD illustrates how this transverse mode couples with unsteady combustion. Yuan
 Computational Analysis of Supersonic Combustion Using Cavity .... 925

shengxue [5] worked on the topic of supersonic combustion, and his findings are The
calculation of deflagration in supersonic flow shows that the entropy increment and the total
pressure loss of the combustion products may decrease with the increase of combustion
velocity. The oblique detonation wave angle may not be controlled by the wedge angle under
weak under driven solution conditions and be determined only by combustion velocity. K.
Kumaran and V. Babu [6] worked on the topic of Investigation of the effect of chemistry
models on the numerical predictions of the supersonic combustion of hydrogen, and their
findings are Multi step chemistry predicts higher and wider spread heat release than what is
predicted by single step chemistry. The single step chemistry model is capable of predicting
the overall performance parameters with considerably less computational cost. J. P. Longwell
[7] Different combustion problems in Ramjet are reported by considering Flame
Stabilization, Stabilization by Baffles, Can Stabilizers and Flame Spreading & concluded
empirical expression for reaction rate of fuel and air as a function of efficiency makes it
possible to evaluate the possibilities for improvement of flame stabilizing and spreading
devices by improved mixing performance increases. M.R. Gruber et al [8] cited that shear
layer from the leading edge reattaches at the end of cavity trailing edge, thus generating an
oblique shock. The high pressure and temperature region behind this shock can also act as an
ignition source.

3. MATERIAL AND METHODS PHYSICAL MODEL

The Supersonic combustor geometry is attached with a cavity of l/d=3. This is 2 dimensional
axisymmetric figure of the Supersonic combustor. The formulation for the cavity is given.

1: Leading edge of cavity 2: Trailing edge of cavity.

: Aft angle Du: Upstream depth
Dd: Downstream depth
Figure 1. Computational Geometry
926 Prateek Srivastava and K.M. Pandey

4. Governing equations
The governing equation for the application of flight simulation comprise of mass
conservation equation, the full Navier-Stokes equation, energy and species transport
equations. Navier- Strokes equation helps in the investigation of flight simulation as well as
shock wave. In our problem we are describing the three dimensional Navier-Strokes equation.
Continuity:

---------------- (1)

X momentum:

+ + -------- (2)

Y momentum:

------------------ (3)

Z momentum:

Energy:

4.1 Turbulence Model

Realisable k- model is used for the turbulence model. It has two equation model one for k
and one for . We use k and to define velocity scale and length scale l.
3
1
= ---------(6)
2 2 ----------------(7)
l=

Eddy viscosity ( t ) = Cl = 2 -------------------(8)

C

The standard model uses the following transport equations used for K and .
( ) t
+ div ( U ) = div gradk + 2 t E ij . E ij ----------(9)
t k

( ) t 2 ---------------(10)
+ d iv ( U ) = d iv g ra d + C l 2 t E ij . E ij C 2
t
 Computational Analysis of Supersonic Combustion Using Cavity .... 927

5. Computational and Model Parameters

Geometry and Mesh generation- Geometry is created in the Ansys14 workbench and the
Mesh is generated in ICEM which is inbuilt facility of Ansys14, triangular mesh is used for
the surface mesh.

Figure2. Meshing
5.1 Boundary Condition
Before the simulation Grid independence test is carried out in order to check the quality of
mesh and to get the optimised number of nodes and element of mesh beyond that no further
variation in solution is found. For simulation air inlet and fuel inlet is considered as pressure
inlet and outlet is considered as pressure outlet.
Input Parameters Air Fuel
Mach No 4 1
Temperature 1000K 600K
Pressure (atm) 1 7.57
Mass fraction of H2 0 1
Mass fraction of N2 0.767 0
Mass fraction of O2 0.213 0
Mass fraction of H2O 0.02 0
Turbulent Kinetic Energy(k) 10 2400
Turbulent Dissipation rate( ) 650 108
Size of injector exit(d) d = 1mm

5.2 Computational Details

In the CFD modelling of the combustor we have used the Realisable k- turbulence model
which is most suitable for the simulation of combustion regime. It is a two equation model
that means it includes two extra transport equations to represent the turbulent properties of
the flow. In order to achieve higher turbulence in combustion we have used the finite rate
eddy dissipation model. The eddy dissipation is based on the hypothesis of infinitely fast
928 Prateek Srivastava and K.M. Pandey

reactions and the reaction rate is controlled by turbulent mixing. Air and fuel inlet is
considered as pressure inlet and outlet is considered as pressure outlet and no-slip condition is
applied for the walls. Energy equation is considered for considering the heat transfer
phenomenon and monitor is placed and initialised from the air inlet. Ideal gas condition is
considered for the combustion of hydrogen and air.

6. Result and Discussion

In Supersonic combustion very small amount of time of the order of millisecond is available
which is very less for sustained combustion. In order to get better mixing and generation of
better stabilised combustion cavity based fuel injection is provided to the combustor. It is also
one of the major challenge that mixing of air and fuel at such a high velocity. Very short
combustor residence time requires proper mixing of fuel and air. The various plots of
properties such as Mach number, Static Temperature, Static pressure and mole fraction of
Hydrogen and oxygen is shown. Plot of Static Pressure along the length of combustion
chamber is also shown.

Figure 3. Contour of Mach number Figure 4. Contour of Static

Pressure
From Fig 5 it is evident that static temperature increases from inlet to the outlet. It is due to
combustion of air and Hydrogen and the temperature increases from 601K to 3660K. Figure3
shows the contour of Mach number at 4.17 the deflection of path lines clearly shows the
oblique shock wave from the upstream face of injection. Near the injector the flow is
subsonic and due the cavity the flame is stabilised. The small instantaneous fluctuations of
the bow shock are observed to average into a smoother and slightly thicker one. Figure shows
 Computational Analysis of Supersonic Combustion Using Cavity .... 929

the contour of static pressure which increases after the injection of fuel and attains a max
value of 8733245 Pa and the minimum value of 67156 Pa. Figure 6 shows the plot of pressure
variation along the length of the combustion chamber. Figure 7 and 8 shows the mole fraction
of the hydrogen and oxygen in the combustion chamber.

Figure 5. Contour of Temperature Figure 6. Plot of Static Pressure along the length

Figure 7. Mole fraction of H2 Figure 8. Mole fraction of O2

7. Conclusion

CFD analyses of 2D cavity based fuel injection are carried out at Supersonic flow. The
numerical simulation has been done with finite rate chemistry model using K- turbulence
model utilizing CFD Fluent software. The k Turbulence model also predicted the fluctuations
in those regions where the turbulence is reasonably isotropic. By using cavity based fuel
injection higher temperature and pressure can be attained in the chamber. From the maximum
mass fraction of OH a very small amount of OH was observed after combustion. Combustor
attains a very high temperature and pressure at outlet as compared to inlet. A Scramjet
930 Prateek Srivastava and K.M. Pandey

injector having a wall injector requires fuel inlet at high inlet pressure in order to attain
combustion. Due to ever increasing human need for greater speed and reduced travel time,
hypersonic combustion systems will become more and more important in the future.

References

[1] Kyung Moo Kim, Seung Wook Baek (2004) Numerical study on supersonic combustion
with cavity-based fuel injection International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47 pp
(271286).
[2] A. Roux, S. Reichstadt, N. Bertier, L. Gicquel, F. Vuillot, T. Poinsot, Comparison of
numerical methods and combustion models for LES of a Ramjet, C. R. Mecanique 337
(2009) 352361.
[3] O. Dessornes, D. Scherrer, Tests of the JAPHAR dual mode Ramjet engine, Aerospace
Science and Technology 9 (2005) 211221.
[4] A. Roux, L.Y.M. Gicquel, Y. Sommerer, T.J. Poinsot, Large Eddy Simulation of Mean
and Oscillating flow in a Side-Dump Ramjet Combustor, Combustion and Flame 152 (2008)
154176.
[5] Yuan Shengxue, supersonic combustion, vol. 42, no. 2, science in china (Series A),
February 1999.
[6] K. Kumaran and V. Babu, Investigation of the effect of chemistry models on the
numerical predictions of the supersonic combustion of hydrogen, Combustion and Flame,
vol 156, 2009, pp.826841.
[7] J. P. Longwell, Combustion Problems in Ramjets, Prog. Aerospace Sci. Vol. 19, pp. 139-
157, 1992.
[8] Gruber MR, Baurle RA, Mathur T and Hsu KY. Fundamental studies of cavity-based
flameholder concepts for supersonic combustors. Journal of Propulsion and power, 17(1):
146-153, 2001.