Design and commissioning of TNO’s modular Rotating Detonation Engine (RDE) test facility
conference paper
Rotating detonation engines are an effective means of utilising detonation combustion in a wide variety of (aerospace) engines. The greater thermodynamic efficiency of detonative combustion, as compared to deflagrative combustion, can be used to fly farther, faster or longer with the same amount of fuel, an attractive prospect in many applications. This work reports on the design of an RDE test facility at TNO in the Netherlands, that was set up to facility research efforts on this promising technology. The results of a commissioning test campaign, which includes what is believed to be the first hot fire of an RDE in the Netherlands, are also presented. The test campaign was conducted using the modular TNO RDC, which is based on a design available in the literature, operating on hydrogen and air. The pressure gain and detonation wave speed measurements obtained in the test campaign are found to compare well to the results available in the literature.
Some issues were encountered with the engine diagnostics however, and alternatives to these diagnostics methods will be explored in the future. The air flow rate achieved by the facility is within 5% of the desired value, however the fuel mass flow deviated by as much as 20% from the desired value. This is likely a result of the way the fuel feed line is set up. As experience builds up this variability is expected to decrease, but it will require mitigating measures in the near future. More testing at higher mass flow rates and additional variations in engine geometry is foreseen in the future.
Some issues were encountered with the engine diagnostics however, and alternatives to these diagnostics methods will be explored in the future. The air flow rate achieved by the facility is within 5% of the desired value, however the fuel mass flow deviated by as much as 20% from the desired value. This is likely a result of the way the fuel feed line is set up. As experience builds up this variability is expected to decrease, but it will require mitigating measures in the near future. More testing at higher mass flow rates and additional variations in engine geometry is foreseen in the future.
TNO Identifier
995490
Source title
HiSST: 3rd International Conference on High-Speed Vehicle Science and Technology, Busan, Korea, 14-19 April 2024
Collation
14 p.
Place of publication
Den Haag
Files
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