The results of the present work demonstrate feasibility of feedback combustion control using a chemi-ionizationncurrent sensor placed in a supersonic flow of combustion products. Operated in the saturation regime, thenionization sensor (Thomson probe) removes nearly all electrons from the flow and therefore acts as a globalnchemi-ionization detector. The results show that a relation between the equivalence ratio in the combustor and thenchemi-ionization current in the M u0001 3 flow can be used to maintain the equivalence ratio at the desired value. Thenexperiments have shown that using different target values of the chemi-ionization current in the feedback controlnprogram enforces transition from near-stoichiometric to fuel-lean and from fuel-lean to near-stoichiometricnconditions in the combustor. The experiments have also demonstrated that the feedback control system canncounter external perturbations, which either increase or decrease the equivalence ratio in the combustor andnbring the fuel–oxidizer mixture composition back to the specified values. The combustion feedback control systemnbased on a Thomson chemi-ionization probe is simple and straightforward and can be easily adapted for practicalnapplications.
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