Characterizing combustion of a hybrid rocket using laser absorption spectroscopy

The combustion of an oxygen/paraffin hybrid rocket motor was experimentally characterized. Firing tests were conducted for different oxidizer mass fluxes ranging from 2.47 to 3.40 g/ (cm2.s). Variations in temperature and H2O partial pressure at the nozzle exit were diagnosed using mid-infrared tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) based on H2O absorption near 2.5 mu m. Three H2O absorption lines were simultaneously covered by only one distributed feedback (DFB) laser using scanned-wavelength direct absorption (DA) mode with 2.0 kHz repetition rate. Measurement uncertainty was analyzed in detail considering line-strength uncertainty and Voigt fitting residuals. A two-dimensional (2D) model of the nozzle was constructed using the ANSYS FLUENT CFD software package. The combustion efficiency of the hybrid rocket motor was evaluated from the perspectives of chemical reaction and heat release, respectively, based on TDLAS results and CFD simulations. The effectiveness of the evaluation was validated by comparing its results with characteristic velocity (C*)-based combustion efficiency. Finally, comparisons of combustion efficiencies among different cases show that increasing the oxidizer mass flux or oxidizer-to-fuel ratio improves the combustion efficiency of the hybrid rocket motor under our experimental conditions.

Automated summary

The combustion of an oxygen/paraffin hybrid rocket motor was experimentally characterized using TDLAS and CFD simulations, showing that increasing oxidizer mass flux or oxidizer-to-fuel ratio improves combustion efficiency under the experimental conditions.