Exhaust Nozzle for a Multitube Detonative Combustion Engine

An improved type of exhaust nozzle has been invented to help optimize the performances of multitube detonative combustion engines. The invention is applicable to both air-breathing and rocket engines used to propel some aircraft and spacecraft, respectively. In a detonative combustion engine, thrust is generated through the expulsion of combustion products from a detonation process in which combustion takes place in a reaction zone coupled to a shock wave. The combustion releases energy to sustain the shock wave, while the shock wave enhances the combustion in the reaction zone. The coupled shockwave/reaction zone, commonly referred to as a detonation, propagates through the reactants at very high speed . typically of the order of several thousands of feet per second (of the order of 1 km/s). The very high speed of the detonation forces combustion to occur very rapidly, thereby contributing to high thermodynamic efficiency. A detonative combustion engine of the type to which the present invention applies includes multiple parallel cylindrical combustion tubes, each closed at the front end and open at the rear end. Each tube is filled with a fuel/oxidizer mixture, and then a detonation wave is initiated at the closed end. The wave propagates rapidly through the fuel/oxidizer mixture, producing very high pressure due to the rapid combustion. The high pressure acting on the closed end of the tube contributes to forward thrust. When the detonation wave reaches the open end of the tube, it produces a blast wave, behind which the high-pressure combustion products are expelled from the tube. The process of filling each combustion tube with a detonable fuel/oxidizer mixture and then producing a detonation repeated rapidly to obtain repeated pulses of thrust. Moreover, the multiple combustion tubes are filled and fired in a repeating sequence. Hence, the pressure at the outlet of each combustion tube varies cyclically. A nozzle of the present invention channels the expansion of the pulsed combustion gases from the multiple combustion tubes into a common exhaust stream, in such a manner as to enhance performance in two ways: (1) It reduces the cyclic variations of pressure at the outlets of the combustion tubes so as to keep the pressure approximately constant near the optimum level needed for filling the tubes, regardless of atmospheric pressure at the altitude of operation; and (2) It maximizes the transfer of momentum from the exhaust gas to the engine, thereby maximizing thrust. The figure depicts a typical engine equipped with a nozzle according to the invention. The nozzle includes an interface section comprising multiple intake ports that couple the outlets of the combustion tubes to a common plenum. Proceeding from its upstream to its downstream end, the interface section tapers to a larger cross-sectional area for flow. This taper fosters expansion of the exhaust gases flowing from the outlets of the combustion tubes and contributes to the desired equalization of exhaust combustion pressure. The cross-sectional area for flow in the common plenum is greater than, or at least equal to, the combined cross-sectional flow areas of the combustor tubes. In the common plenum, the exhaust streams from the individual combustion tubes mix to form a single compound subsonic exhaust stream. Downstream of the common plenum is the throat that tapers to a smaller flow cross section. In this throat, the exhaust gases become compressed to form a compound sonic gas stream. Downstream of the throat is an expansion section, which typically has a bell or a conical shape. (The expansion section can be truncated or even eliminated in the case of an air-breathing engine.) After entering the expansion section, the exhaust gases expand rapidly from compound sonic to compound supersonic speeds and are then vented to the environment. The basic invention admits of numerous variations. For example, the combustion tubes can be arranged around the central axin a symmetrical or asymmetrical pattern other than the one shown in the figure. For another example, the flow cross-sectional area(s) of one or more of the intake ports in the interface section, of the common plenum, the throat, and/or the expansion section can be varied, either symmetrically or asymmetrically, to adjust dynamics of the exhaust stream or to direct the thrust vector away from the central axis

CODE-1 : moored array and large-scale data report

The Coastal Ocean Dynamics Experiment (CODE) was undertaken to identify and study the important dynamical processes which govern the wind-driven motion of coastal water over the continental shelf. The initial effort in this multi-year, multi-institutional research program was to obtain high-quality data sets of all the relevant physical variables needed to construct accurate kinematic and dynamic descriptions of the response of shelf water to strong wind forcing in the 2 to 10 day band. A series of two small-scale, densely-instrumented field experiments of approximately four months duration (called CODE-1 and CODE-2) were designed to explore and to determine the kinematics and momentum and heat balances of the local wind-driven flow over a region of the northern California shelf which is characterized by both relatively simple bottom topography and large wind stress events in both winter and summer. A more lightly instrumented, long-term, large-scale component was designed to help separate the local wind-driven response in the region of the small-scale experiments from motions generated either offshore by the California Current system or in some distant region along the coast, and also to help determine the seasonal cycles of the atmospheric forcing, water structure, and coastal currents over the northern California shelf. The first small-scale experiment (CODE-1) was conducted between April and August, 1981 as a pilot study in which primary emphasis was placed on characterizing the wind-driven "signal" and the "noise" from which this signal must be extracted. In particular, CODE-1 was designed to identify the key features of the circulation and its variability over the northern California shelf and to determine the important time and length scales of the wind-driven response. This report presents a basic description of the moored array data and some other Eulerian data collected during CODE-1. A brief description of the CODE-1 field program is presented first, followed by a description of the common data analysis procedures used to produce the various data sets presented here. Then basic descriptions of the following data sets are presented: (a) the coastal and moored meteorological measurements, (b) the moored current measurements, (c) the moored temperature and conductivity observations, (d) the bottom pressure measurements, and (e) the wind and adjusted coastal sea level observations obtained as part of the CODE-1 large-scale component.Prepared for the National Science Foundation under Grant OCE 80-14941

Water Discharge, Nitrate Concentration and Nitrate Flux in the Lower Mississippi River

Thirty-five years of monthly lower Mississippi River water discharge, nitrate concentration and nitrate flux have been analyzed. The potential predictability of these quantities has been evaluated. Results indicate a large amplitude, long-term cycle in the nitrate concentration that is not observed in the water discharge. A decrease in average nitrate concentration from a peak in 1983 to the present confirms that this variability is more cyclic than trend-like. River-water discharge variation was greatest in association with the annual cycle. The annual water discharge and nitrate concentration cycles were similar; high nitrate concentrations usually occurred near the vernal freshet, and low concentrations usually occurred along with autumnal low-flow conditions. Nitrate flux variations exhibited a low amplitude, long-term modulation of a dominant, annual cycle. A predictor-hindcast analysis indicates that truly skilled forecasts of all three fields are feasible

Effect of Discharge Energy and Cavity Geometry on Flame Ignition by Transient Plasma

Effects of number of ignition site on burning times and comparison between pulsed corona and spark discharges with single ignition site and the same energy show that there are two possible mechanisms — chemical and geometric effects, which contribute to shortening delay and rise times of pulsed corona ignitions, respectively. Burning time shortening has also be demonstrated in a geometrically IC engine like combustion chamber at elevated pressure. Discharge efficiency of pulsed corona discharge is observed much higher than spark discharge