Numerical Study on the Plasma Generated by Different Discharge Modes at the Upstream of Fuel Jet in Scramjet Combustor

How to enhance the combustion and reduce the total pressure loss in scramjet combustor are very critical for the practical application of hypersonic aircraft. Based on the dominant thermal mechanism of arc plasma, the plasma generated in combustor is regarded as a promising method to improve the combustion. As a result, the combustor model with transverse fuel jet and plasma generated by two discharge modes at the upstream of flameholding cavity is established and it is used to study the mechanism of fuel mixing enhancement through numerical investigation. The results show that an oblique shock wave would be formed at the upstream of the pseudo small plasma hump, and interact with the separation shock wave induced by the transverse jet. This results in the recirculation zone at the upstream of fuel jet being enlarged obviously. Besides that, under the non-reaction flow conditions, the total pressure recovery coefficient increases due to the plasma generated. However, the total pressure recovery coefficient varies apparently and the shear layer above the cavity is fluctuant when the plasma is generated by periodical discharge mode. While under the reaction flow conditions, the shear layer develops thicker and the total pressure recovery coefficient decreases. And due to the existing of plasma, the mole fraction of product water increases. But compared with the steady discharge mode, the level of water is lower and the total pressure recovery coefficient decreases more under the periodical discharge mode. Though the plasma generated by steady discharge mode shows better performance in assisting combustion and reducing the pressure loss, considering the energy saving and the use of different parameters of the periodical discharge, the same effects of enhancing the fuel mixing through enlarging the recirculation zone located at the upstream of fuel jet and promoting the mass exchange of cavity can be reached. More numerical experiments have to be done to optimize the parameters of periodical discharge plasma to receive a best improvement on the performance of scramjet combustor.