Client
U.S. Air Force
Project Objectives
- Develop and test an acoustic forcing system to control the atomization process of liquid fuel and subsequent effect on heat release and combustion instabilities in a liquid fueled rocket engin
- Current methods of controlling combustion instabilities in liquid rocket engines dramatically reduce the power and efficiency of the engines. An active method that would instead control the atomization of the liquid fuel was desired. This method would require little energy because it acted on the chaotic nonlinear initial process of atomization.
Summary of Project and Results (Non-Confidential)
- Designed and built the acoustic forcing channels and acoustic energy injection system that perturbed the liquid fuel jet that entered the combustion chamber of an ethanol burning rocket engine
- Designed and built the acoustic drivers and signal forcing system
- Built a system to equalize the pressure across the acoustic driver diaphragm and combustion chamber
- Built an automatic system to protect the acoustic forcing system from detonation waves that were present during the ignition process of the liquid rocket engine
- Demonstrated that acoustic forcing was able to control the atomization and combustion processes of a liquid rocket engine
Color Enhanced Image of Visible Emission from the Burning Spray of Liquid Ethanol