Effect of pilot hydrogen on the formation of dynamic flame in an ethylene-fueled scramjet with a cavity

Pilot hydrogen is used for the ignition of gaseous ethylene to improve combustion efficiency at low flight Mach numbers. The process of dynamic flame stabilization has been investigated experimentally in a scramjet equipped with a cavity by using a variety of fuel injection strategies involving the injection of pure hydrogen, pure ethylene, and combinations of fuels to understand the effects of pilot hydrogen on supersonic combustion. This study reports experiments conducted in a direct-connected facility that simulated flight conditions at a Mach number of 4, a total temperature of 953 K, and a total pressure of 0.82 MPa. The data were collected by using hydroxyl planar laser-induced fluorescence (OH-PLIF), methylene (CH), luminosity images, and 10-kHz static pressure transducers. The results show that the internal flow oscillated at a dominant frequency of approximately 450 Hz without fuel injection. Oscillation in internal flow was suppressed when pilot hydrogen was injected into the cavity, whereas the influence of other injection strategies was minor. The OH-PLIF images indicate that the pilot flame was unstable, with different locations and occupying different areas. The normalized pressure was apparently higher when pilot hydrogen was injected ahead of the cavity step. The pure ethylene flame was difficult to stabilize without the application of pilot hydrogen. Once the pilot hydrogen had been turned off, the ethylene flame moved toward the cavity ramp and its area expanded. Thus, pilot hydrogen is a precondition for the stabilization of the ethylene flame.