Numerical investigation of injection within an axisymmetric rotating detonation engine

Abstract This investigation characterizes the mixing processes and injection flow field within a rotating detonation engine. The axisymmetric baseline geometry produces poor fuel/air mixing in the immediate injection region due to reduced fuel penetration into the wide, perpendicularly flowing air stream. Injection parameters including reactant flow rate, injection area, and placement of the fuel injection are varied from the baseline geometry to assess the impact on mixing. Decreasing reactant injection areas improves fuel penetration into the cross-flowing air stream, and turbulent diffusion of the fuel is enhanced within the annulus increasing local equivalence ratio. When fuel is injected into the air slot, local equivalence ratio is enhanced due to the increasing mixing length between the recirculation region and fuel injection. Emulating nozzle integration by increasing annulus back-pressure increases local equivalence ratio in the injection region due to increased convection residence time.