Investigation of the Plasma Effect on the Combustion Efficiency of Gaseous Methane in a Supersonic Flow

An experimental setup was created based on a model combustion chamber with a system for generating plasma exposure in the form of a surface electric discharge. This setup makes it possible to study the effect of plasma exposure on the combustion of gaseous methane in a high-enthalpy quasi-air flow in a cylindrical channel with the following inlet parameters: Mach number М = 2.8–3 and stagnation temperature T * = 1700–2500 K. The results of numerical simulation of the features of the flow structure in a model combustion chamber without combustion and during the combustion of gaseous methane are presented. The experimental data were obtained on an increase in the coefficient of completeness of methane combustion in a supersonic quasi-air flow after plasma exposure by varying the excess air coefficient in the range α = 1.2–2.3. The distributions of static pressure along the gasdynamic path and the values of the flow momentum in the outlet section of the model combustion chamber, which are realized under plasma exposure on the reacting flow, are obtained, which indicate the implementation of an effective working process.