Supersonic flow ignition by plasma torch and H2/O2 torch

The effectiveness of an H-2/O-2 torch igniter, which injects H-2/O-2 combustion gas, and a plasma torch igniter in promoting ignition of an H-2/air mixture within a supersonic combustor was investigated analytically and experimentally. First, bulk temperature and bulk radical concentration in an O-2 plasma torch igniter were estimated by asymptotic analysis. Those in the H-2/O-2 torch igniter were also obtained by equilibrium calculation. Second, gas sampling was conducted to determine the concentration of igniter injectant and the equivalence ratio in the region of ignition, namely, the recirculation region at the base of a rearward-facing step. Then, ignition time of the mixture in the region was analytically estimated by using a two-step H-2/O-2 reaction mechanism and the results just-mentioned. The estimation showed that the ignition promotion effect of the plasma torch igniter was higher than that of the H-2/O-2 torch igniter at a given input energy. However, the H-2/O-2 torch igniter was also expected to sufficiently promote ignition because it was easy to increase the input energy by increasing the mass flow rate. Thus, an ignition experiment with the H-2/O-2 torch igniter was conducted in Mach 2.5 airflow. Comparison of the results with those of the plasma torch igniters showed that the H-2/O-2 torch igniter also had a sufficient ignition promotion effect as expected from analytical results.