Ignition of premixed air/fuel mixtures by microwave steamer discharge

A variety of methods exists for fast and efficient combustion of air-fuel mixtures. In this study, a microwave subcritical streamer discharge is used to ignite propane-air mixtures at atmospheric pressure. The streamer is initiated at the inner surface of a dielectric tube with the help of a passive half-wave vibrator. By creating a network of ignition lines, the streamer discharge forms the network of burning channels with large total surface area. This leads to the apparent speed of combustion propagation along the cylinder in excess of 100 m/s, which is more than 200 times the laminar flame propagation speed. The axial propagation of the combustion front in a cylindrical tube filled with the air/propane mixture is investigated by high speed video recording in visible light. A simple model is presented to explain observed results