Combustion characteristics of multi-element swirl coaxial jet injectors under varying momentum ratios

Abstract

The combustion characteristics of a staged combustion cycle engine with an oxidizer-rich preburner were experimentally studied at different momentum ratios of multi-element injectors. Propellants were simultaneously supplied as a liquid–liquid–liquid system, and an injector was designed in which a swirl coaxial jet is sprayed. The injector burned the propellants in the inner chamber which had a temperature greater than 2000 K. To cool the combustion gas, a liquid oxidizer was supplied to the cooling channel outside the injector. To prevent the turbine blades from melting, the temperature of the combustion gas was maintained below 700 K. To confirm the combustion characteristics at different momentum ratios of the high-temperature combustion gas inside the injector and the low-temperature liquid oxidizer outside the injector, three types of injectors were designed and manufactured with different momentum ratios: MR 3.0, MR 3.3, and MR 3.7. In this study, the results of the combustion test for each type were compared for 30 s. For ORPB-A, a combustion pressure of 18.5 MPaA, fuel mass flow rate of 0.26 kg/s, oxidizer mass flow rate of 15.3 kg/s, and turbine inlet temperature of 686 K were obtained in the combustion stability period of 29.0–29.5 s. The combustion efficiency was 98% for MR 3.0 (ORPB-A), which was superior to that for other momentum ratios. In addition, during the combustion test for MR 3.0, the fluctuations in the characteristic velocity, combustion pressure, and propellant mass flow rate were low, indicating that combustion was stable. The three types of combustion instability were all less than 0.8%, thus confirming that the combustion stability was excellent.