Experimental study on microwave-induced puffing, micro-explosion, and combustion characteristics of ammonium dinitramide-based liquid propellant droplets

Microwave ignition technology has the advantages of high ignition energy, stable ignition, and spatial multi-point ignition. These advantages make this technology promising for future application in green single-component propellants. In this paper, the ignition characteristics of ammonium dinitramide (ADN)-based liquid propellant droplets under the influence of microwaves at room temperature are investigated using experimental methods. The effects of microwave power on puffing, micro-explosion, and combustion behavior of ADN-based liquid propellant droplets were studied. The droplet and flame diameters were statistically related to time, and the microwave-assisted droplet ignition mechanism was analyzed. A new rectangular waveguide resonant cavity was designed in which the droplet is placed at the maximum electric field strength of the device. The droplet morphology and flame profile inside the resonant cavity were photographed with a high-speed camera. The experimental results showed that the microwave positively influenced the puffing, micro-explosion, and combustion behavior of droplets. When the microwave power was increased from 200 to 280W, the total droplet evaporation time and ignition delay time were reduced by 56.5% and 35.2%, respectively. The positive effects of microwaves on combustion have been summarized as the thermal effect of microwaves on polar molecules and the promotion of fuel oxidation reactions by microwave-induced plasma. The plasma was found to control the development of the initial flame propagation front and to influence the temperature during the combustion reaction process. In this paper, we propose the mode of droplet combustion under microwave induction as a plasma discharge and several stages of the droplet combustion process. This research provides novel insight into the study of the microwave ignition mechanism of liquid fuels.