Experimental Investigation of Plasma Jet Ignition Characteristics in Kerosene–Air Mixtures
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 33, Issue 2
Abstract
Ignition and high altitude restarts under extreme conditions have always been key research problems due to low pressure and temperature of inlet air, so reliable ignition and wide ignition boundary is very necessary. In this study, the ignition characteristics of kerosene/air mixtures at different excess air coefficients with a plasma jet ignition and spark ignition were investigated experimentally in a model combustor. The plasma ignition system utilizes compressed air as plasma formation gas. The spontaneous emissions of O atoms (777 nm) and CH radicals (430 nm) were collected by photomultiplier tubes with corresponding filters to identify the ignition and combustion timing during the ignition process. A plasma jet can penetrate a recirculation zone and initiate flame kernel, and the larger plasma volume and the activated area is very helpful to achieve successful ignition. The results show that a plasma jet ignition delay time is much shorter than that for spark ignition in a wide range of excess air coefficients; the minimum plasma jet ignition delay time can be reduced by 88.74% compared to spark ignition in the same experimental conditions. With the increase in plasma arc current, the ignition delay time can be further reduced.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This work is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, Grant Nos. 51806245 and 51436008) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2019M653961).
References
Dutta, A., I. Choi, M. Uddi, E. Mintusov, A. Erofeev, Z. Yin, and I. Adamovich. 2009. “Cavity flow ignition and flame holding in ethylene-air by a repetitively pulsed nanosecond discharge.” In Proc., 47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including The New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition. Reston, VA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
He, L., G. Chen, B. Zhao, W. Qi, H. Zhang, and J. Su. 2015a. “Experimental investigation on spectral characteristics of air plasma jet igniter.” High Voltage Eng. 41 (9): 2874–2879. https://doi.org/10.13336/j.1003-6520.hve.2015.09.008.
He, L., W. Qi, B. Zhao, G. Chen, X. Bai, and K. Duan. 2015b. “Analysis of the dynamic process of air plasma jet.” High Voltage Eng. 41 (6): 2030–2036. https://doi.org/10.13336/j.1003-6520.hve.2015.06.036.
Kosarev, I., E. Mintoussov, S. Starikovskaya, and A. Starikovskii. 2005. “Control of combustion and ignition of hydrocarbon-air mixtures by nanosecond pulsed discharges.” In Proc., AIAA/CIRA 13th Int. Space Planes and Hypersonics Systems and Technologies Conf. Reston, VA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Liu, J., P. Ronney, A. Kuthi, and M. Gundersen. 2003. “Transient plasma ignition for lean burn applications.” In Proc., 41st Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit. Reston, VA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Matsubara, Y., and K. Takita. 2011. “Effect of mixing ratio of N2/O2 feedstock on ignition by plasma jet torch.” Proc. Combust. Inst. 33 (2): 3203–3209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proci.2010.05.091.
Matveev, I. 2013. Plasma assisted combustion, gasification, and pollution control. Denver: Outskirts Press.
Merola, S. S., L. Marchitto, C. Tornatore, G. Valentino, and A. Irimescu. 2014. “Optical characterization of combustion processes in a DISI engine equipped with plasma-assisted ignition system.” Appl. Therm. Eng. 69 (1): 177–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.04.046.
Mikolaitis, D. W., C. Segal, and A. Chandy. 2003. “Ignition delay for jet propellant 10/air and jet propellant 10/high-energy density fuel/air mixture.” J. Propul. Power 19 (4): 601–606. https://doi.org/10.2514/2.6147.
Shen, S., X. Jin, T. Deng, and P. Zhang. 2018. “Plasma assisted methane ignition based on shock tube.” J. Aerosp. Power 33 (3): 572–580. https://doi.org/10.13224/j.cnki.jasp.2018.03.008.
Starikovskiy, A., and N. Aleksandrov. 2013. “Plasma-assisted ignition and combustion.” Prog. Energy Combust. Sci. 39 (1): 61–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecs.2012.05.003.
Sun, W., M. Uddi, S. H. Won, T. Ombrello, C. Carter, and Y. Ju. 2012. “Kinetic effects of non-equilibrium plasma-assisted methane oxidation on diffusion flame extinction limits.” Combust. Flame. 159 (1): 221–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.combustflame.2011.07.008.
Wang, C., and W. Wu. 2014. “Roles of the state-resolved OH (A) and OH (X) radicals in microwave plasma assisted combustion of premixed methane/air: An exploratory study.” Combust. Flame. 161 (8): 2073–2084. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.combustflame.2014.01.019.
Yan, C., and W. Fan. 2008. Combustion. Xi’an, China: Northwestern Polytechnical University Press.
Zhang, H., L. He, G. Chen, W. Qi, and J. Yu. 2018. “Experimental study on ignition characteristics of kerosene–air mixtures in V-shaped burner with DC plasma jet igniter.” Aerosp. Sci. Technol. 2018 (74): 56–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ast.2017.12.023.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 33 • Issue 2 • March 2020
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 11, 2019
Accepted: Sep 3, 2019
Published online: Dec 11, 2019
Published in print: Mar 1, 2020
Discussion open until: May 11, 2020
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.