AFOSR

BASIC RESEARCH IN PLASMA-

PLASMA
ENHANCED CPMBUSTION
4 November 2009
Dr Julian Tishkoff
Program Manager
AFOSR/NA
Air Force Research Laboratory
Distribution A: Approved for Public Release. Distribution Unlimited
 PLASMA DYNAMICS FOR
AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS
RUSSIAN AJAX HYPERSONIC FLIGHT VEHICLE (1994)
TECHNICAL CHALLENGES
• Uniform Plasma Generation
• Power Required; System Impact
• High Re, Q Environment
• Measurement/Modeling

Directional energy
transfer systems
Plasma Shock Strength
g
Reduction PAYOFFS
• Drag Reduction

Electrric energy
ATPS • Thermal Management
Propellant Active TPS • Flight Control
• Size, Weight reduction
Kinetic energy of air stream Nozzle
• Few Moving Parts
MGD accelerator
Air Intake Combustion chamber • Power generation
MGD generator
• Ignition/Combustion
MHD Fl
Flow C M t l/t l
Control/ h iPlasma-Assisted
Plasma
Magnetoplasmochemical i Assisted
l engine Th
Thrust
t
Enhancement
Energy Extraction Ignition And Combustion

2
 PLASMA DYNAMICS FOR
AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS

THEME OBJECTIVE: Understand, Predict, And Control

Weakly Ionized Flows To Revolutionize The Performance
Of Aerospace Vehicles

3
 PLASMA DYNAMICS FOR
AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS
RESEARCH
• Aerodynamic Drag Reduction
• MHD Flow Control
• Glow Discharge Flow Control
• Plasma Generation
• Ignition / Combustion
Enhancement

AFOSR PROGRAM MANAGER TEAM

Bob Barker
Mike Berman
Fariba Fahroo
Arje Nachman
Julian Tishkoff
John Schmisseur

4
 PLASMA DYNAMICS FOR
AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS
1.2 U.S. RESEARCH
Pl
Plasma Generation
G ti AFOSR
1 PLASMA THEME
Tom0.8
McLaughlin/ Robert Mac Cormack/
USAFA Stanford
0.6
Robert Vidmar/ MHD
0.4
Nevada, Reno Greg Elliott
Noah Herschkowitz Illinois
Wisconsin
0.2
Doyle Knight/
0
Rutgers Norm Malmuth/
Rockwell Yiguang Ju/
Princeton
1. 338
3. 939
5. 588
7. 788
10 448
14 608
18 937
23 243

3
.3
.1

1
56

4.
Skip Williams/

28
12
16
57
12
08
58

.7
.5
.7
.1
AFRL/RZ
George Schatz
0.

Cam Carter/
Northwestern AFRL/RZ
Datta Gaitonde/
Aerodynamics
AFRL/RB Bish Ganguly/
AFRL/RZ
Bohadan
B h d Cybyk/
C b k/
JHU/APL
Wlater Lempert
Ignition/Combustion
Ohio State
5
 PLASMA DYNAMICS FOR
AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS
RUSSIAN/UKRAINIAN RESEARCH
Kiril Khodotaev
MRTI Igor Esakov
MRTI

Vladimir
Vl di i Bychkov
B hk Andrei
A d i Starikovskii/
St ik kii/
Moscow State MIPT

Plasma Generation Svetlana Starikovskaia

MIPT

Igor Kossyi/
Nina Yurchenko Gen Phys Inst
Institute of Hydromechanics Anatoli Klimov
IVTAN
Sergei Leonov Ignition/Combustion
IVTAN

Sergey Denisuk
MRTI
Aerodynamics

6
 PLASMA DYNAMICS FOR
AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS
PAYOFFS
Hypersonic
Drag Reduction
Localized
Plasma
Discharges

MHD Flow
Plasma Control
Ignition

Near Term Intermediate Term Long Term

Time
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 PLASMA-ENHANCED COMBUSTION

2009 MULTIDISCIPLINARY UNIVERSITY RESEARCH INITIATIVE

CHEMICAL ENERGY ENHANCEMENT BY NONEQUILIBRIUM

PLASMA SPECIES

The Legacy

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 PLASMA IGNITION

PLASMA IGNITION ALTERNATIVES

Glow Discharge Streamer Discharge Nanosecond Discharge

(Adamovich/Ohio State) (Gundersen/USC) (Starikovskii/MIPT)

dV/dt = 0 dV/dt > 1 kV/s dV/dt > 1 kV/ns

AFOSR PM:Tishkoff/NA 9
 PLASMA IGNITION
SHOCK TUBE EXPERIMENTS DEMONSTRATE IGNITION
DELAY REDUCTION BY FAST IONIZATION WAVES
• Results Validate Previous Model Predictions
5
CH4:O2:N2:Ar Mixture
Pressure
8004 Prediction –
(MPa) FIW? Polarit
Polarity Additive
Additi e
0.05 MPa 0.2 No None
Ignition 3 0.2 Yes - He
Delay 0.05 Yes - Air
(s))
( 4002 0.05 Yes + CO2
0.05 Yes - CO2
1

00
0
800 1 2
1200 3 4
1600 5 6
2000 7

Temperature (K)

• Nanosecond Corona Discharge at 0.2 MPa Pressure And By Volume Nanosecond

Discharge At 0.05
0 05 MPa Pressure
• Ignition Not Possible Without Fast Ionization Wave At 0.05 MPa Pressure

Starikovskii/MIPT 10
 PLASMA IGNITION

PLASMA STREAMER DISCHARGES MODELED

• Provides
Pro ides Initiali
Initialization
ation For Calculations
Calc lations Of Plasma-Enhanced
Plasma Enhanced Combustion
Comb stion

Emission Contours As Functions Of Pressure

Bar

Cathode
Anode

Plasma Streamer Discharge Excitation Chemistry

Image
N2+  N4+ (0.1 ns)
N4+  O2+ (1 ns)
• Modeling Based On Solving Transport Equations For Primary
And Secondary Electrons O2+  O4+ (5 ns)
e-  O2- (70 ns)
• Experimental Validation Through Measurements Of Electric
Field Strength For Streamer Discharges In Oxygen-Nitrogen
Gas Mixtures
Starikovskii/MIPT
11
 PLASMA-ENHANCED COMBUSTION
100% INCREASE IN DIFFUSION FLAME QUENCH VELOCITY
GRADIENT REALIZED WITH GLIDING ARC DISCHARGE
• Means To Stabilize Combustion In Scramjets
Methane + Nitrogen

2 02
2.0 90 W Plasma Power
70 W
50 W
Flat Diffusion Flame Quenching 1.5 30 W
Flow Plasma Off
Magnet Rate 1.01
(l/min)
0.5
Air
Cathode 00
0 1
Anode 18 22 2 3
26 4 5
30 6

Percent Methane in Nitrogen

• Gliding Discharge Initiated By Helical Inner Electrode And Stabilized Near The
Quenching Limit By Field From A 0.15 Tesla Magnet, Producing 20-50 Hz Rotation
• Plasma-Based Thermal Addition Found To Be Negligible, Implying Non-Thermal
Plasma Stabilization
Ju/Princeton 12
COMBUSTION AND DIAGNOSTICS

QUESTIONS?

13