Performance of propellant decomposition products as fuel in an airbreathing PDE

摘要

Decomposition products of a solid propellant are considered as a possible fuel in an airbreathing pulse detonation engine (PDE). However, these decomposition products contain not only gaseous species but also a significant amount of solid carbon particles. Whether performance can be improved by burning these particles is investigated numerically. Thermodynamic calculations allow predicting the quantity of additional air required for optimum performance. Gasdynamic numerical simulations indicate that particle burning has an effect on the pressure impulse on the thrust wall. The particle size determines the detonation structure, according to the model of hybrid detonations, thus governing the delay and rate of heat release from particle combustion behind the detonation front. In the situation investigated here, the particles are incompletely burnt inside a 0.6-m-long tube. As a result, smaller particles (<= 5 mu m) contribute to an increase in the impulse, by up to 6%. However, larger particles either have a negligible effect on the pressure impulse, if around 10 mu m, or result in a decrease, if around 20 mu m. Overall, the calculations show that the best efficiency is obtained for this fuel by diluting the gaseous decomposition products with an additional quantity of air, allowing for incomplete particle combustion rather than letting them behave as if inert, absorbing part of the energy released by gaseous combustion.