Ignition Characteristics of a Liquid-Kerosene-Fueled Scramjet during Air Throttling Combined with a Gas Generator

Abstract

The ignition characteristics of a flush wall, liquid-kerosene-fueled scramjet combustor are tested in a directly connected ground test rig. The total temperature and Mach number of the vitiated airflow at the exit of the nozzle are 1,505 K and 3.0, respectively. The ignition process is accomplished by air throttling and a micro hot gas generator (MHGG). Without any cavity or backward steps, the flame holding is also accomplished by the MHGG. By controlling the air-throttling pressure and overlap time of the air throttling and the MHGG, different ignition results can be achieved. This paper divides these different results into four ignition modes and provides a detailed description of the characteristics of each mode. In addition, this paper summarizes the experiment data and proves that the ignition laws have some relationship to the fuel–air equivalence ratio.