Knock control in shockless explosion combustion by extension of excitation time

Abstract

Shockless Explosion Combustion is a novel constant volume combustion concept with an expected efficiency increase compared to conventional gas turbines. However, Shockless Explosion Combustion is prone to knocking because it is based on autoignition. This study investigates the potential of prolonging the excitation time of the combustible mixture by dilution with exhaust gas and steam to suppress detonation formation and mitigate knocking. Analyses of the characteristic chemical time scales by zero-dimensional reactor simulations show that the excitation time can be prolonged by dilution such that it exceeds the ignition delay time perturbation caused by a difference in initial temperature. This may suppress the formation of a detonation because less energy is fed into the pressure wave running ahead of the reaction front. One-dimensional simulations are performed to investigate reaction front propagation from a hot spot with various amounts of dilution. They demonstrate that dilution with exhaust gas or steam suppresses the formation of a detonation compared to the undiluted case, where a detonation ensues from the hot spot.