US-12618565-B2 - Rotating detonation engines and related devices and methods

Abstract

A rotating detonation combustor includes a nozzle coupled to the combustor body at or near the exhaust opening to choke the exhaust opening. A rotating detonation combustor may include a diverting plate positioned radially inward of the inlet annulus and inlet channels for diverting flow of a mixture in an axial direction. A rotating detonation combustor may include a combustor body including an outer shell at least partially defining a detonation combustion chamber and extending axially from a base toward an exhaust opening of the detonation combustion chamber. The base defines a passageway in fluid communication with the detonation combustion chamber and includes an inlet annulus for axially directing a second fluid into the passageway and a plurality of inlet channels for radially directing a third fluid into at least one of the passageway or the detonation combustion chamber, and the detonation combustion chamber is free of any inner body.

Inventors

• Ephraim J. Gutmark
• Vijay G. Anand
• Andrew St. George
• William Stoddard
• Ethan Knight

Assignees

• UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20230816

Claims (4)

1. 1 . A rotating detonation combustor comprising: a combustor body including an outer shell at least partially defining a combustion chamber and extending axially from a hollow base toward an exhaust opening of the combustion chamber; a nozzle coupled to the combustor body at or near the exhaust opening to choke the exhaust opening, and an inner body positioned within the outer shell, wherein the inner body at least partially defines the combustion chamber.
2. 2 . The rotating detonation combustor of claim 1 , wherein the nozzle is removably coupled to the combustor body.
3. 3 . The rotating detonation combustor of claim 1 , wherein the nozzle includes a nozzle inlet, a nozzle outlet, and a converging surface between the nozzle inlet and the nozzle outlet.
4. 4 . The rotating detonation combustor of claim 1 , wherein the nozzle is configured to generate longitudinal pulsed detonations within the combustion chamber.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/602,433 filed Oct. 3, 2019 (pending), which is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/US2018/026498 filed Apr. 6, 2018 (expired), which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/482,401 filed on Apr. 6, 2017, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/650,648 filed on Mar. 30, 2018, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to rotating detonation engines and, more particularly, to hollow and annular rotating detonation engines and various devices and methods for inducing rotating and/or longitudinal pulsed detonations in a stable manner. BACKGROUND This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. Detonation is a supersonic combustion mode that produces a pressure gain across the front due to the shock wave linked to the combustion front behind it. This type of combustion can be activated in suitable mixtures in solid, liquid, or gas phase. Rotating detonation combustors or engines (RDCs or RDEs) use detonative combustion which provides stagnation pressure gain in gaseous mixtures and may significantly reduce the fuel consumption of a gas turbine or rocket engine. RDCs have relatively few moving mechanical components and operate at much higher frequencies than pulsed detonation combustors (PDCs). Thus, there may be an opportunity to integrate RDCs into existing gas turbines and rocket engine architectures. Referring now to FIG. 1A, a conventional RDC 10 includes a combustor body 12 defined by a concentric outer cylindrical shell 14 and hollow base 16 integrally formed together as a unitary piece. Alternatively, the outer cylindrical shell 14 and hollow base 16 may be separately formed as individual pieces and coupled together after formation. An annular combustion chamber 18 is provided between the outer cylindrical shell 14 and a concentric inner cylindrical body 20 such that the inner cylindrical body 20 and outer cylindrical shell 14 define inner and outer surfaces 22, 24 of the combustion chamber 18, respectively. As shown, the outer cylindrical shell 14 extends axially from the hollow base 16 and terminates at or near an exhaust opening 26 of the annular combustion chamber 18. An oxidizer spacer 30 and fuel plate 32, which may be integrally formed together as a unitary piece, are positioned within the hollow base 16 to define an oxidizer plenum 34 and a fuel plenum 36. The inner cylindrical body 20 extends axially from the fuel plate 32 toward the exhaust opening 26. The oxidizer plenum 34 is in fluid communication with the annular combustion chamber 18 via an oxidizer inlet annulus 40 provided between the fuel plate 32 and an upper wall of the hollow base 16, and the fuel plenum 36 is in fluid communication with the annular combustion chamber 18 via a plurality of fuel inlet channels 42 extending axially through the fuel plate 32. In this manner, an oxidizer O such as air may be radially directed into the annular combustion chamber 18 from the oxidizer plenum 34 via the oxidizer inlet annulus 40, and a fuel F such as hydrogen or ethylene may be axially directed into the annular combustion chamber 18 from the fuel plenum 36 via the fuel inlet channels 42. In operation, as oxidizer O and fuel F enter the annular combustion chamber 18 through the oxidizer inlet annulus 40 and fuel inlet channels 42, respectively, the oxidizer O and fuel F mix together and the mixture M is used to generate rotating detonations within the annular combustion chamber. In this regard, shock from a pre-detonator (not shown) may be injected tangentially into the annular combustion chamber 18 and may initiate a rotating detonation wave for transiting self-sustained detonation waves. Other means of initiating the detonation may be utilized, such as spark plugs or TNT sticks. As shown in FIG. 1B, the rotating detonation wave may propagate in a clockwise propagation direction P, with product expansion E occurring in all three axes downstream of the detonation wave D due at least in part to the directivity of the upstream reactants O, F. However, in most cases, product expansion is essentially two-dimensional due to the relatively small width of the annular combustion chamber 18. In any event, each wave may remain within the combustion chamber 18 at a relatively fixed axial position, such as at or near the oxidizer inlet annulus 40 and/or fuel inlet channel