Experimental study of cone-struts and cavity flameholders in a kerosene-fueled round scramjet combustor

Experimental investigations of liquid kerosene ignition and flameholding in a round supersonic combustor are presented. Three kinds of flameholders, a cone-struts structure, a cavity and the combination of the both, are studied for the kerosene ignition and flameholding. Results show that ignition and flameholding cannot be achieved by using the sole cone-struts flameholder, although flames are observed at the combustor outlet. The ignition and flameholding are achieved in a narrow range of equivalence ratios by using the cavity flameholder. This range is widened by employing the combination of the cone-struts and the cavity flameholders. It is observed that the back pressure disrupts the isolator entrance flow slightly by using the larger cone-struts (CR = 0.261). However, it does not happen when the smaller cone-struts (CR = 0.221) is employed. Then a characteristic air mass flow rate in the round combustor is redefined to calculate a modified Damkohler number that correlates the nonpremixed flame stability limits. The correlations are in good agreements with the experimental results.