Performance of a Multistream Injection Chemical Oxygen-Iodine Laser with Starlet Ejectors

A variant of an ejector-mixing nozzle for a chemical oxygen-iodine laser was experimentally tested with notched starlet ejectors. Cold-flow planar laser-induced fluorescence measurements indicated that the starlets provide faster mixing. Hot-flow testing demonstrated that the starlet design improved laser performance by 20-30% above the basic cylindrical ejector design. Furthermore, a conical ejector design with starlet notches was tested that resulted in approximately a 15% improvement above the cylindrical design and has the potential for higher pressure recovery. Pressures in the singlet-oxygen generator were relatively constant with ejector flow rate, suggesting that existing high-efficiency singlet-oxygen generators can be used with this ejector nozzle configuration without sacrificing generator performance for pressure recovery potential. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]