Nitrous oxide ( N 2 O ) has gained popularity as a unique oxidizer for propulsion applications due to its ability to decompose exothermically, producing nitrogen and oxygen. In the current work, the flame acceleration, deflagration-to-detonation transition, and detonation properties of bipropellant mixtures with N 2 O as the oxidizer are studied for potential applications in pulsed blowdown and detonation-driven thrusters. These properties are compared with those in mixtures with oxygen ( O 2 ) or nitrogen tetroxide ( N 2 O 4 ) as the oxidizer. The performance of N 2 O versus O 2 / N 2 O 4 for detonation engine applications is investigated using theoretical Chapman–Jouguet detonation calculations of bipropellant systems with ethylene ( C 2 H 4 ) and acetylene ( C 2 H 2 ) as fuels. A critical requirement for the application of bipropellant mixtures to pulsed propulsion systems is rapid flame acceleration to achieve significant chamber pressure rise in a short distance with the potential for a prompt transition to detonation. This deflagration-to-detonation transition behavior of mixtures using C 2 H 4 and C 2 H 2 with N 2 O and O 2 is investigated for increasing initial pressures in the experimental portion of this work. While C 2 H 2 is a highly energetic fuel with theoretically high performance, it presents serious practical storage concerns when considered for propulsion applications. These practical issues motivate investigation of C 2 H 4 as a potential alternative fuel, which is relatively easy to manage. The precompression of the bipropellant mixtures during flame acceleration is also estimated and compared.


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    Title :

    Deflagration-to-Detonation Transition in Nitrous Oxide/Oxygen-Fuel Mixtures for Propulsion



    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2019-05-31


    Size :

    9 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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