Experimental and Numerical Studies of Vitiated Air Effects on Hydrogen-fueled Supersonic Combustor Performance

This paper deals with the vitiation effects of test air on the scramjet performance in the ground combustion heated facilities. The primary goal is to evaluate the effects of H2O and CO2, the two major vitiated species generated by combustion heater, on hydrogen-fueled supersonic combustor performance with experimental and numerical approaches. The comparative experiments in the clean air and vitiated air are conducted by using the resistance heated direct-connected facility, with the typical Mach 4 flight conditions simulated. The H2O and CO2 species with accurately controlled contents are added to the high enthalpy clean air from resistance heater, to synthesize the vitiated air of a combustion-type heater. Typically, the contents of H2O species can be varied within the range of 3.5%-30% by mole, and 3.0%-10% for CO2 species. The total temperature, total pressure, Mach number and O2 mole fraction at the combustor entrance are well-matched between the clean air and vitiated air. The combustion experiments are completed at the fuel equivalence ratios of 0.53 and 0.42 respectively. Furthermore, three-dimensional (3D) reacting flow simulations of combustor flowpath are performed to provide insight into flow field structures and combustion chemistry details that cannot resolved by experimental instruments available. Finally, the experimental data, combined with computational results, are employed to analyze the effects of H2O and CO2 vitiated air on supersonic combustion characteristics and performance. It is concluded that H2O and CO2 contaminants can significantly inhibit the combustion induced pressure rise measured from combustor wall, and the pressure profile decreases with the increasing H2O and CO2 contents in nonlinear trend; simulation results agree well with experimental data and the overall vitiation effects are captured; direct extrapolation of the results from vitiated air to predict the performance of actual flight conditions could result in over-fueling the combustor, possible inlet un-start and inappropriate combustion mode transition. The detailed analysis and discussion are presented and the research conclusions are summarized.