Initiation of detonation of fuel-air mixtures in a flow-type annular combustor

Initiation of detonation in a fuel-air mixture flow formed in an annular cylindrical combustor 306 mm in diameter is studied. The source of detonation initiation is the detonation wave entering the annular channel from a plane-radial vortex chamber, a jet of products, or a low-power heat pulse. It is demonstrated that continuous spin detonation (CSD) can be ensured by all these methods. Its formation is accompanied by a transitional process with a duration up to 10 ms, which is associated with violation of injection of the species (initiation by the detonation wave) or with the time of evolution of tangential instability in CSD (jet or spark initiation). Transfer of detonation to a flow of fuel-air mixtures with low chemical activity (propane-air, methane-air, kerosene-air, and gasoline-air mixtures) by the initiating detonation wave formed within fractions of a millisecond by a low-energy pulse or as a result of self-ignition of the hydrogen-air mixture in the plane-radial vortex chamber is realized. It is found that organization of CSD in these mixtures requires combustors with greater (than 306 mm) diameters. A possibility of CSD in kerosene-air and gasoline-air mixtures with low chemical activity by means of air enrichment by oxygen ahead of the combustor entrance is demonstrated.