Supersonic Spray Combustion Modeling for a Turbulent 3D Rotating Detonation Engine Model

In recent years, the rotating detonation engine (RDE) has been investigated extensively using experimental measurements and numerical simulations. One advantage of this type of engine is the pressure gain, which leads to higher propulsive force and efficiency when compared, for example, with the rocket engine. Most of the computational work has been based on premixed combustion. However, in a practical RDE, it is difficult to obtain premixed combustion, and undesirable issues such as flashback may occur. Therefore, the non-premixed case is of interest, where we focus on three-dimensionality, to complement our previous work, which has been based on two dimensional models. Furthermore, a liquid fuel is chosen to be mixed with ambient air. In our focus on airbreathing schemes, we develop a library for calculating the injection of a liquid state fuel into an ambient air stream and embed it to an existing high-accuracy CFD code. The physics of the flow, thermodynamic, and combustion variables are being investigated as functions of several critical non-dimensional parameters, using the explicit large-eddy simulation (LES) technique. Foundational results for several canonical conditions will be presented.