MIDTERM REPORT

PULSE DETONATION SYSTEM

AND

ON

ITS ADVANCEMENTS

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY

ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION

TO
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

IN

SRI SAI INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

MANAWALA, AMRITSAR, PB.

Introduction to PDS & LabVIEW And STUDY OF VARIOUS IGNITION SYSTEMS

SUBMITTED TO:
Ms. Komal Sharma H.O.D - E.C.E

SUBMITTED BY:
Abhishek Sharma (100740418935) B. Tech. E.C.E 8th Sem.

Acknowledgement
It would be inappropriate to call this report complete and successful, if I dont thank the people who guided as in the preparation of this project. The submission of this project report gives me an opportunity to convey my gratitude to all those who have helped me to reach stage from where I have immense confidence to launch my career in the competitive world of electronics engineering. First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge my hearty thanks to the respected Ms. Komal Sharma, HOD (ECE) for being a source of perpetual inspiration and for providing me such a nice environment for training with timely help. I would also like to express my most sincere gratitude and indebtedness to Divisional Head of PDS group & my Project coordinator Mr. Manmohan Sandhu, Sc. E for his valuable help during the development of this project. Without his priceless suggestions and timely help I would not be able to complete this project. He has been a source of perpetual inspiration to me, towards a bright career. Not to forget the pain staking efforts of my college training and placement cell. Last but not the least I would express my utmost regards for the electronics and communication department of my Institute.

Abhishek Sharma 100740418935 B. Tech. E.C.E 8th Sem.

Abstract
Pulse detonation is a propulsion technology that involves detonation of fuel to produce thrust more efficiently than current engine systems. By literature survey and library research it is shown that Pulse Detonation Engine (PDE) technology is more efficient than current engine types by virtue of its mechanical simplicity and thermodynamic efficiency. As the PDE produces a higher specific thrust than comparable ramjet, scramjet engines at speeds of up to approximately Mach 2.3 to Mach 5, it is suitable for use as part of a multi-stage propulsion system. The PDE can provide static thrust for a ramjet or scramjet engine, or operate in combination with turbofan systems. As such, it sees potential applications in many sectors of the aerospace, aeronautic, and military industries. However, there remain engineering challenges that must be overcome before the PDE can see practical use. Current methods for initiating the detonation process need refinement. To this end, many government research bodies and a few private organizations around the world are working on PDS research & further development. In India only D.R.D.Os Terminal Ballistics Research Lab. (T.B.R.L) is working on such an advanced and challenging technology of Pulse Detonation System. Also, current materials used in jet engines, such as Nickel-based super-alloys, are inadequate to withstand the extreme heat and pressure generated by the detonation cycle. Apart of them installations of new piezoelectric sensors to measure <80 bar of pressure inside the PD tube and research to find new ignition system for work with minimum ignition energy (MIE) for propane/air mixture has done under my midterm training session.

Table Of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 THE BEGINNINGS ......................................................................................................... 1 WHAT IS DETONATION? ............................................................................................. 1 WHAT IS PULSE DETONATION ENGINE? ................................................................... 2 BRIEF LOOK AT VARIOUS PROPULSION SYSTEMS ................................................... 2 ALTERNATIVE CONSIDERATIONS FOR COMPARISON ............................................ 4 BRIEF WORKING OF PDE SYSTEM .............................................................................. 4 DETONATION VERSUS DEFLAGRATION .................................................................... 5 WAVE CYCLE ................................................................................................................ 6 DIFFICULTIES IMPEDING THE MATURATION OF PDEs ............................................ 7 2. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP FOR PDS ...................................................................................... 10 PDE MARK 2................................................................................................................ 10 FOR SUCCESSFUL PROPAGATION OF DETONATION ............................................. 11 3. LABVIEW AND DATA ACQUISITION ............................................................................... 13 HOW DOES LABVIEW WORK? ................................................................................... 13 BENEFITS OF LABVIEW .............................................................................................. 14 DATA ACQUISITION USING LABVIEW ..................................................................... 15 USE THE DAQ SOLUTION WIZARD ........................................................................... 15 INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING DAQ HARDWARE.............................................. 16 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LABVIEW, NI-DAQ AND DAQ HARDWARE ................ 17 LABVIEW FOR AUTOMATING TEST AND VALIDATION SYSTEMS ........................ 17 REASONS TO USE LABVIEW FOR AUTOMATING TEST AND VALIDATION .......... 18 LABVIEW AUTOMATION ........................................................................................... 19 4. INSTALLATION OF PIEZORESISTIVE SENSORS ............................................................... 20 EXPRESSION OF PIEZORESISTIVITY.......................................................................... 21 KISTLERS WATER COOLED ABSOLUTE PRESSURE SENSOR ................................. 22 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS .................................................................................... 23 APPLICATIONS ........................................................................................................... 23

5. STUDY OF VARIOUS IGNITION SYSTEMS ........................................................................ 24 DETERMINATION OF MIE FOR PREMIXED PROPANE/AIR MIXTURE ................... 25 IGNITION SOURCES.................................................................................................... 25 MIE THEORIES............................................................................................................. 25 THE STUDY OF LEWIS AND VON ELBE ..................................................................... 26 THE ASTM METHOD .................................................................................................. 27 ELECTRICAL SPARK GENERATION CIRCUIT ............................................................. 27 THE STUDY OF MOORHOUSE ET AL. ....................................................................... 28 DETERMINATION OF SPARK ENERGY [RANDEBERG ET AL. (2006)] .................... 29 COMPARISON OF VARIOUS RESEARCHERS FOR DETERMINING MIE .................. 29 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT WORKS ................................................. 30 KUHNERS MIKE 3 APPARATUS ............................................................................... 30 # BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................... 31

Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
The PDE is a propulsion system that has been receiving considerable interest in the last decade, due to the numerous Advantages that it offers over traditional jet engines. PDEs operate in an intermittent cyclical manner, by giving rise to detonation waves that combust the fuel-oxidizer mixture within the engine, release vast amounts of energy and develop much higher pressures than a deflagration process.

1.1 The Beginnings

An exact history of pulse detonation technology is not easily determined. The history is unclear for reasons such as the secrecy involved in research as this technology could prove to be very profitable. What is known is that the technology is derived from pulse jet engines, and many organizations within the past five to ten years have produced test-bed engines. The first flight of an aircraft powered by a pulse detonation engine took place at the Mojave Air & Space Port on January 31, 2008. The project was developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory and Innovative Scientific Solutions, Inc. The aircraft selected for the flight was a heavily modified Scaled Composites Long-EZ, named Borealis. The engine consisted of four tubes producing pulse detonations at a frequency of 80 Hz, creating up to 200 pounds of thrust (890 newton).

1.2 What is Detonation?

Detonation involves a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations are observed in both conventional solid and liquid explosives as well as in reactive gases. The velocity of detonations (VoD) in solid and liquid explosives is much higher than that in gaseous ones, which allows the wave system to be observed with greater detail (higher resolution). Gaseous detonations normally occur in confined systems but are occasionally observed in large vapor clouds. They are often associated with a gaseous mixture of fuel and oxidant of a composition, somewhat below conventional flammability limits. There is an extraordinary variety of fuels that may be present as gases, as droplet fogs and as dust suspensions. Other materials, such as acetylene, ozone and hydrogen peroxide are detonable in the absence of oxygen; a more complete list is given by both Stull and Bretherick. Oxidants include halogens, ozone, hydrogen peroxide and oxides of nitrogen.

1.3 What is Pulse Detonation Engine?

The engine operates on pulses, so controllers could dial in the frequency of the detonation in the "digital" engine to determine thrust. Pulse detonation rocket engines operate by injecting propellants into long cylinders that are open on one end and closed on the other. When gas fills a cylinder, an igniter such as a spark plug is activated. Fuel begins to burn and rapidly transitions to a detonation, or powered shock. The shock wave travels through the cylinder at 10 times the speed of sound, so combustion is completed before the gas has time to expand. The explosive pressure of the detonation pushes the exhaust out the open end of the cylinder, providing thrust to the vehicle. A major advantage is that pulse detonation rocket engines boost the fuel and oxidizer to extremely high pressure without a turbo pump an expensive part of conventional rocket engines. In a typical rocket engine, complex turbo pumps must push fuel and oxidizer into the engine chamber at an extremely high pressure of about 2,000 pounds per square inch or the fuel is blown back out. The pulse mode of pulse detonation rocket engines allows the fuel to be injected at a low Pressure of about 200 pounds per square inch.

1.4 Brief Look at Various Propulsion Systems

The first powered flight was performed by the Wright brothers in 1903, on an aircraft driven by a propeller and powered by a reciprocating internal combustion engine. The IC propeller engine was the only propulsion system available for flight until the first turbojet powered aircraft, the HE178, was flown by the German Heinkel company in 1939. Since then, the gas turbine engine has become the workhorse of the industry in powering aircraft, ships, tanks and electric power plants. The piston engine and the rotary engine are still in use today in smaller propellered aircraft. However, larger propellered aircraft and helicopters are powered by turboprop or turboshaft engines, which are limited to the low to mid subsonic regimes, because the propellers get extremely noisy and lose propulsive efficiency significantly over 550 kmph. Gas turbine engines have a wide Mach number range; between 0 and 3.5 for turbojets; making them very versatile. However, the ideal jet engine is less efficient at less than 700 kmph and modern aircraft engines are designed to operate at mid to upper subsonic speeds by combining the propeller and the gas

turbine engine concepts in the form of turbofan engines1. Beyond Mach 3.5, the ramjet is more effective until it reaches an upper limit of about Mach 6, above which the temperature of the

Decelerated air entering the combustor is high enough to cause the reactants to dissociate and the resulting expansion is not enough to provide the exhaust velocity needed to sustain ramjet operation. Therefore, at high supersonic flight speeds, it is not useful to decelerate the air flow to subsonic speeds, but rather to opt for a small amount of compression and deceleration using oblique shockwaves and to carry out the combustion at supersonic speeds, as in a scramjet4. Unfortunately, ramjets and scramjets have a high starting velocity, which is about Mach 0.8 for ramjets and about Mach 5 to 6 for scramjets. The only other engine system in use, with a wider range than the jet turbine, is the rocket, which can operate at all speed regimes, provided enough fuel and oxidizer are carried on board. Because of the need for the onboard storage of oxidizer, rockets have very low specific impulse. Rockets cannot be easily reused and are therefore limited to very specific applications such as in missiles and for space travel. The PDE is a big improvement over the pulsejet in that it makes use of detonation waves to compress and combust the fuel-oxidizer mixture, whereby the temperatures and pressures released and the available power are much higher than pulsejets, gas turbine engines or rockets.

1.5 Alternative Considerations for Comparison

PDE
Detonation combustion (pressure rise) Humphrey cycle (Higher cycle efficiency) Potentially lower SFC Simple architecture Compact Low cost to acquire, operate Broad operating range Reusable

Pulsejets
Deflagration combustion (pressure loss) Bryton cycle (Lower cycle efficiency) Very high SFC Simple Architecture Compact Low cost Subsonic Limited reusability

Turbofans
Deflagration combustion (pressure loss) Bryton cycle (Lower cycle efficiency) Acceptable SFC Complex architecture Bulky High cost Subsonic/low supersonic Limited reusability, salt water corrosion Mature technology high reliability Heavy, high T/W High-speed rotating parts

Rockets
Deflagration combustion (pressure loss) Bryton cycle (Lower cycle efficiency) Very high SFC Simple to complex architecture Bulky Low cost Limited operating range Limited reusability

New technology higher risk Lightweight, high T/W Few moving parts

Not well developed Lightweight, high T/W Few moving parts

Mature technology Heavy, high T/W Few moving parts

1.6 Brief Working Of PDE System

The PDE is a big improvement over the pulsejet in that it makes use of detonation waves to compress and combust the fuel-oxidizer mixture, whereby the temperatures and pressures released and the available power are much higher than pulsejets, gas turbine engines or rockets. Although the amount of energy released by deflagration and detonation is the same, because detonation is supersonic, the energy release occurs at a much faster rate; in other words, the power output is tremendously increased over deflagrative engines. Therefore, theoretically PDEs can be made smaller and faster than present day engine systems. The operational frequency of PDEs can range from a few tens to a few hundred cycles per second1. The uninstalled thrust produced by the engine is a function of the number of detonation tubes, area of cross section of each tube, frequency of operation and exit velocity of the exhaust gases. The PDE has a simple geometry, consisting essentially of a tube which is filled with fuel and oxidizer, before the mixture is detonated. These benefits that PDEs can offer have

spurred a growing worldwide interest in PDE research since the early 1990s, with the aim of realizing the next generation of propulsion systems to replace current gas turbines. Detonation is a supersonic combustion process, which may be modeled as a shock wave followed immediately by a reaction flame front, together traveling through the mixture at several times the speed of sound of the unburnt gas mixture. On the other hand, deflagration is a subsonic combustion process, ranging in speeds from less than a few m/s to nearly 1000 m/s, well below the speed of sound.

1.7 Detonation versus Deflagration

Deflagration is the relatively gentle process of burning fuel rapidly with flames. One of the main characteristics of deflagration is that the flame travels at subsonic speeds. Detonation, on the other hand, can be thought of as a violent reaction that travels at supersonic speeds. Detonation produces a much higher amount of pressure compared to deflagration. Detonation is a supersonic combustion process, which may be modeled as a shock wave followed immediately by a reaction flame front, together traveling through the mixture at several times the speed of sound of the unburnt gas mixture. On the other hand, deflagration is a subsonic combustion process, ranging in speeds from less than a few m/s to nearly 1000 m/s, well below the speed of sound. On the other hand, deflagration is a subsonic combustion process in which a flame front passes through the reactant mixture (or vice versa) with flame speeds from less than a few meters per second to a few hundred meters per second, releasing the heat of reaction at a much

slower pace. In the case of scramjets, the flow may be moving at supersonic speeds, but the reaction is still termed as a deflagration process because of the lack of shock waves. Deflagration can be premixed or non-premixed (diffusive). For propulsion applications the premixed reaction is preferred over improperly mixed or unmixed diffusion reactions.

1.8 Wave Cycle

The wave cycle of a PDE can be broken down into certain stages. In the first stage of the cycle, air and fuel are drawn in through individual inlets. Once the two have been combined to create a flammable mixture, the combination is passed to the front of the detonation chamber, where it is then detonated. Upon detonation, the pressure of the mixture increases tremendously, which creates a shockwave that travels the length of the chamber. There is no need for a series of shutters within the chamber, as in pulse jet engines, to ensure the explosion moves toward the rear; the shockwave instead serves the purpose of the shutters. When the shock wave reaches the end of the chamber all of the combustion products are discharged at once.

1.9 Difficulties Impeding the Maturation of PDEs

Although the first recorded flight of a PDE powered aircraft took place in early 2008, some six decades since the concept of detonation engines began to be studied, there are still many aspects of the design and operation that have to be refined or considerably improved. Presently, singleshot and short-duration multi-cycle PDE experimental studies in the laboratory setting along with the associated computational research are continuing worldwide. Obtaining detonations in singleshot pre-mixed tubes filled with fuel-air or fuel-oxygen mixtures is not a very challenging task. Quiescent mixtures are easy to ignite and take only small amounts of energy. Mixtures of fuels with oxygen ignite and progress to detonation effortlessly. Premixed mixtures of fuel and air can be detonated easily if the right conditions are met, including proper equivalence ratio, minimum tube diameter and adequate tube length for deflagration to transition to detonation. However, achieving detonations in multi-cycle setups is much more difficult. Inadequate supply of fueloxidizer mixtures and improper mixing lead to detonation failure. Short duration oxygen-based and pre-mixed fuel-air based multi-cycle detonation combustors have been successfully tested. Some of the main issues that have to be worked out before PDEs can transition from the theoretical realm into real world applications are described below. 1.9.1 Achieving Successful and Consistent Detonations Repeatedly The biggest hurdles to cross are to achieve detonations within the fuel-oxidizer mixture in as short a distance as possible and to attain detonations consistently. The detonations must also be fully controllable and the results repeatable at a very high rate in order to allow the effective ondemand throttling of a PDE-based propulsion system. As explained before, a deflagration propagating within a constant area tube filled with a fuel-oxidizer mixture will naturally transition to a detonation wave if the tube is long enough, typically on the order of 1 to 10 m, depending on the sensitivity or energy content of the fuel-oxidizer mixture. 1.9.2 Sustaining Detonations Repeatedly Even after detonation has been achieved, the unsteady nature of PDE operation can often lead to the deterioration and eventual extinction of the detonation wave. The main cause of this is improper mixing of fuel and oxidizer, so that some regions of lean or zero reactant concentration exist within the tube, while in some regions, the concentration may be fuel rich. As the detonation wave approaches the regions of low fuel concentrations, the detonation wave may weaken and decouple. Also, the cell size is very sensitive to fuel concentrations, being lowest at stoichiometric or slightly fuel rich condition. If the cell size increases due to change in the equivalence ratio away from unity and eventually becomes larger than the tube diameter, the detonation will fail. 1.9.3 Protection of Internal Structures and Components of the PDE The highly unsteady and extremely severe combustion process of the PDE is not favorable for the long-term survival of critical engine parts, such as valves, ignition plugs, DDT devices, fittings, joints, etc. Short-duration multi-cycle tests have demonstrated the extent of the damage suffered

by the combustion tube and various components38. In industrial fuel gas transmission tubes that experience detonations, a large bulge is seen at the location where deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) occurred. Consequently the region of DDT has to be reinforced. Making the whole tube of uniform thickness and rigidity may not be a feasible option for saving weight and design costs in a practical engine. Therefore, the regions of high stress intensities have to be identified. The deflagration process causes more heat buildup in the tube, since it is slower and lingers longer in the tube. Once the detonation wave has been created, it prefers a clean tube free from major barriers, which create drag and strip energy from the detonation wave. It has been noted from experiments that the location of the DDT device is where most of the heating takes place. The DDT devices can be heavily damaged and expelled out of the tube by the high pressures. These and other factors will be discussed in more detail later. 1.9.4 Inlet and Nozzle Design Unless the PDE is operated in a single chamber rocket mode, external flows heavily influence the dynamics of the engine. Moreover, the free stream airflow has to be diffused efficiently without raising the static temperature above the auto ignition point of the fuel, and then correctly diverted to the combustion chamber with no dead zones in the path. At supersonic speeds, shockwaves will form within the inlets and if the valves are suddenly closed the inlet can unstart. Hybrid PDEs or PDE with bypass flows also result in complex designs to ensure a smooth flow of air through the engine as well as the proper filling and purging of the combustors. Nonetheless, inlet design is not a concern in this study. 1.9.5 Valving Design The speed and consequently the thrust of a PDE can be effectively controlled with the help of valves. Thrust control is an essential requirement for an aircraft during takeoff, landing and for maneuvering. In a multi-combustor PDE, acoustic interactions of inlet and exhaust flows between the various chambers introduce added complexity to the system. Also, for high supersonic flight, valves and other flow control components pose a barrier that create drag or lead to the formation of shock waves. These are issues that will have to be dealt with in the design of a flight-weight PDE. 1.9.6 Ignition System The initiation of detonation can be achieved by transferring a large amount of energy into the fuel-oxidizer mixture, such as from a laser ignition system or arc discharge ignition system. High voltage low energy ignition systems have been in use on automobiles and in aircraft engines for about a century. One of the concerns is that the igniter itself has to survive the harsh detonation environment of the PDE. The various ignition systems will be compared in detail later on.

1.9.7 Fuel Selection PDEs, like gas turbine engines, can theoretically run on any type of conventional fuels, whether gaseous or liquid. In addition, coal particles, in the range of 10 m, forms highly detonable mixtures with air and may be used for a ground-based PDE-power generation system. The fuel delivery systems will have to be developed for special fuels. The sizing of the engine is dependent on the cell size of the fuels. Various fuels will be analyzed in more detail later. 1.9.8 Minimization of harmful or undesirable exhaust products Although detonations can ensure thorough burning of the fuels, preventing the formation of CO or soot, the higher temperatures can result in the formation of NOX. More research, possibly into the application of catalytic converters, need to be done to resolve the issue of adverse by products. 1.9.9 Vibration and Noise Vibration and noise are two of the factors that need to be dealt with when combining a PDE with other onboard aircraft systems. But these can be solved with active noise suppression and damping. Noise can also be minimized by increasing bypass for subsonic engines. 1.9.10 Control System, Diagnostics Instrumentation and Data Acquisition Systems Detonation is a very unsteady process and is prone to fail if the conditions are not just right within the combustor. Therefore, the conditions have to be monitored and controlled using a closedloop feedback system. Once the physical structure of the engine has been built and the overall geometry, including the DDT devices, has been set, the only control inputs to the combustor are the filling (which can be subdivided into mass flow rate, fuel-oxidizer ratio, mixing, timing of the valves, selection of the combustor, etc.) and the ignition (timing and ignition energy). But the status of the combustion and the location and speed of the detonation has to be determined. Therefore, sensors are required within the combustion chamber which can survive the severe temperatures and pressures caused by the detonations. The sensors allow the control system to regulate the valve timing and flow rates and the ignition settings so that the engine will produce the required thrust at the required speed. As detonation occurs at supersonic speeds, the computer onboard has to be able to process data from the various sensors at very high speeds. Present day computer systems are very small and fast, making PDE control possible. The author believes that the reason PDEs were not a reality until now has been due to the lack of small and fast computerized control systems. However, sensors are still not adequately developed to meet the requirements of the PDE. All transducers are affected by heat. When transducers are subjected to the extremely high temperatures and repeated shock pressure loading in a test PDE, they produce significant errors in their readings and may be destroyed after a few minutes of continuous exposure.

Chapter 2
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP FOR PDS
Since, there are four basic experimental setups are studied but because of available resources and experimental environments only one could be adopted for research & trails. Experimental Setups for Pulse detonation Systems are:

Bantam Pulsed Detonation Engine PDE Mark 1 PDE Mark 2 PDE Mark 3

2.1 PDE Mark 2

This PDE and the DDT-devices were designed and built at the National University of Singapores Temasek Laboratories by T.H. New, K.F. Chui, K.S. Lim and H.M. Tsai. The engine, its electronic valves and various DDT mechanisms were shipped over to the ARC. The author was involved in the engines assembly, testing and analysis. The main aim of the study was to test various DDT devices, including Shchelkin spirals, slotted sleeves, converging diverging nozzles, etc. for their efficiency in inducing DDT. The secondary objective was to test electronic valves and ignition systems for application on PDEs.

Propane and oxygen were chosen as the fuel and oxidizer for the study. The main detonation tube was made from ASME Schedule 80 stainless steel pipe with an i.d. of 24.3 mm and an o.d. of 33.4 mm, in the form of four detachable flanged sections that could be bolted together as shown in

10

Figure 4.4 to form one continuous combustor with an overall length of about 80 cm, giving it an L/D ratio of 32.9. The four sections were the gas injection section, the ignition section, the DDT section and the blow-down section, which contained the pressure transducer ports.

For successful propagation of Detonation: ASME Schedule 80 Stainless Steel pipe 24.3 mm i.d., 33.4mm o.d. Total length of PDE tube = 800 mm, L/D=~33 D > 13 , where is cell size, Cell size of Propane-Oxygen = 1.3mm , D/ = 18.7 > 13

The gas injection section contained four in. FPT tapped ports located on a thick flange, in a perpendicular fashion so that the gases entering the tube impinged on each other to improve the mixing of propane and oxygen. Three ports were allocated to oxygen injection and one was reserved for propane. Since the volumetric ratio of propane to oxygen for stoichiometric condition is 1:5, the proper flow rates were achieved by regulating the oxygen supply pressure to about 85 psig (6.8 atm) and that of propane to about 42 psig (3.86 atm).

Purge air was injected in from a in. FPT port on the rear end wall at 85 psig (6.8 atm). The DDT section was approximately 160 mm in length. The flanged construction allowed the DDT devices to be easily inserted into the tube and reassembled before testing and then quickly disassembled for inspection right after the test. The 400 mm long detonation blow-down section housed six pressure transducer ports spaced 65 mm apart. The ignition system used for this study was a lowenergy inductive ignition based on those found in automobiles. It consisted of an ignition driver

11

circuit (Mallory HyFire Ia, Part No. 29026A) and an ignition coil (Mallory Promaster Coil, Part No. 24440). Together, they were rated to emit sparks at 135 mJ, although this was reduced for the PDE tests with a resistor. The ignition system was powered by a 12 V lead acid automotive battery. The ignition plugs were assembled from 14 mm metric thread bolts and were arranged in a fashion. There were two plugs, a high-voltage plug and a ground plug. The high-voltage plug was constructed by first inserting a in. ceramic tube through an axially drilled hole in the bolt, with about 0.25 in. of its length protruding out of the end of the bolt. Then, a 5/32 in. diameter 2% lanthanide tungsten rod was inserted through the ceramic tube with about 0.25 in. of it projecting outside the end of the ceramic tube. The ceramic tube and the tungsten rod were glued in place in the bolt with high-strength epoxy. The ground plug only had the tungsten rod inserted right through the concentric hole with about in. of it projecting out of the end of the bolt. The tungsten rods were those used for TIG welding. The spark gap could be adjusted by screwing the bolts in or out. The spark gap was kept at about 2 to 3 mm. A 3 kW, 25 W high-power resistor was placed in series with the high-voltage electrode to reduce the current and energy output of the ignition coil. Compressed air was supplied at about 90 psig, whereas propane and oxygen were supplied from gas bottles at about 44 psig and 90 psig respectively. The exhaust of the PDE was directed towards the exhaust chamber of the hypersonic shock tube facility at the ARC. The whole PDE setup was mounted onto a slider and rail mechanism that allowed the PDE to move smoothly when unrestrained, allowing the thrust to be measured. The sampling rate was set at 240 kS/s for a period of 5 s of data writing, during which time the data would be written in text form and saved on a host computer. The test times ranged from 15 to 30 seconds. The computer was linked with the 1042Q chassis by means of a 100 m long fiberoptic cable to provide electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding to the data signals. LabVIEW 8.6 is used to create programs for data acquisition and for the valve controller TTL generator (counter output). This PDE design also does not consider water cooling. As a result, the external parts of the detonation tubes were cooled by wrapping wet pieces of cloth on them and continually wetting the cloths with running tap water.

12

Chapter 3
LABVIEW AND DATA ACQUISITION
LabVIEW (short for Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench) is a powerful programming environment used by engineers and scientists to help with asks like manufacturing, quality testing and data acquisition. It is a graphical software development tool that allows them to create powerful software applications that assist them in their research or work. During NASAs 1997 Mars Mission, LabVIEW was used to monitor the Sojourner Rovers position and status during its exploration of the planets surface. LabVIEW is a program development environment, much like modern C or BASIC development environments, and National Instruments LabWindows/CVI. However, LabVIEW is different from those applications in one important respect. Other programming systems use text-based languages to create lines of code, while LabVIEW uses a graphical programming language, G, to create programs in block diagram form. LabVIEW, like C or BASIC, is a general-purpose programming system with extensive libraries of functions for any programming task. LabVIEW includes libraries for data acquisition, GPIB and serial instrument control, data analysis, data presentation, and data storage. LabVIEW also includes conventional program development tools, so you can set breakpoints, animate the execution to see how data passes through the program, and single-step through the program to make debugging and program development easier.

3.1 How Does LabVIEW Work?

LabVIEW is a general-purpose programming system, but it also includes libraries of functions and development tools designed specifically for data acquisition and instrument control. LabVIEW programs are called virtual instruments (VIs) because their appearance and operation can imitate actual instruments. However, VIs are similar to the functions of conventional language programs. A VI consists of an interactive user interface, a dataflow diagram that serves as the source code, and icon connections that allow the VI to be called from higher level VIs. More specifically, VIs are structured as follows:

13

The interactive user interface of a VI is called the front panel, because it simulates the panel of a physical instrument. The front panel can contain knobs, push buttons, graphs, and other controls and indicators. You enter data using a mouse and keyboard, and then view the results on the computer screen. The VI receives instructions from a block diagram, which you construct in G. The block diagram is a pictorial solution to a programming problem. The block diagram is also the source code for the VI. VIs are hierarchical and modular. You can use them as top-level programs, or as subprograms within other programs. A VI within another VI is called a subVI. The icon and connector of a VI work like a graphical parameter list so that other VIs can pass data to a subVI. Because you can execute each subVI by itself, apart from the rest of the application, debugging is much easier. Furthermore, many low-level subVIs often perform tasks common to several applications, so that you can develop a specialized set of subVIs wellsuited to applications you are likely to construct.

LabVIEW communicates with most instruments through instrument drivers, which are libraries of VIs that control programmable instruments. LabVIEW instrument drivers simplify instrument control and reduce test development time by eliminating the need to learn the low-level programming protocol for each instrument. Instruments obey a set of commands to respond to remote control and requests for data. When you use LabVIEW instrument drivers, you run intuitive, high-level command VIs, such as the Read DC Voltage VI for a digital multimeter or the Configure Time Axis VI for a digital oscilloscope. The driver VI you call automatically sends the appropriate instrument-specific command strings to the instrument. The foundation for LabVIEW drivers is the VISA (Virtual Instrument Software Architecture) VI library, a single interface library for controlling GPIB, VXI, RS-232, and other types of instruments. Drivers using VISA are scalable across instrument I/O interfaces.

3.2 Benefits of LabVIEW

LabVIEW contains comprehensive libraries for data collection, analysis, presentation, and storage. LabVIEW also includes traditional program development tools. You can set breakpoints, animate program execution, and single-step through the program to make debugging and development easier.

Interfacing Code compilation Large libraries Code re-use Parallel programming Ecosystem

14

3.3 Data Acquisition Using LabVIEW

Most research today is done with the aid of computers. The computer is used to control the experiment, measure the data, and analyze the results. In this experiment, principles of data acquisition and equipment control are introduced. Specifically, LabVIEW is used to interface the computer with programmable measuring instruments such as the digital multimeter (DMM), power supply, function generator and digital oscilloscope.

The physical phenomenon may be electrical (voltage, current or resistance), optical (light intensity), mechanical (strain, speed, pressure, etc.), thermal (temperature), or anything else to be measured. The sensor reacts to changes in the phenomenon and produces a relative signal that may be transmitted, recorded, and analyzed. Signal Conditioning involves amplifying and filtering the signal in order to prepare it for analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion. An A/D Converter samples the analog (continuous) signal and converts the amplitude at each sample time to a digital value suitable to the computer. In the laboratory, the digital multimeter and digital oscilloscope perform this operation. In order to automate the process of acquiring data, a computer program must be written to control the hardware, collect the data, analyze the data, and present the results. Traditional programming languages (like Basic and C) may be used to accomplish this task, but they require a great deal of programming. Furthermore, traditional programming languages do not provide an easy way to produce and display graphs.

3.4 Use the DAQ Solution Wizard

If you are using DAQ hardware, you must configure analog input, analog output, digital input, or digital output channels. You can launch the DAQ Channel Wizard from the DAQ Solution Wizard to configure the channels. Then you can generate a DAQ solution from the Solutions Gallery. On Windows, you access the DAQ Channel Wizard by selecting ToolsMeasurement & Automation Explorer and clicking Data Neighborhood. On Macintosh you can access the DAQ Channel Wizard

15

by selecting ToolsData AcquisitionDAQ Channel Wizard. The DAQ Channel Wizard also can be accessed from the DAQ Solution Wizard.

3.5 Installing and Configuring DAQ Hardware

The LabVIEW installer prompts you to have the NI-DAQ driver software installed. All National Instruments data acquisition (DAQ) devices are packaged with NI-DAQ driver software. The version of NI-DAQ packaged with your DAQ device might be newer than the version installed by LabVIEW. You can determine the NI-DAQ version in LabVIEW by running the Get DAQ Device Information VI, located in FunctionsData AcquisitionCalibration and Configuration. After installing LabVIEW and the NI-DAQ driver, follow the steps in given figure to install your hardware and complete the software configuration. LabVIEW uses the software configuration information to recognize your hardware and to set default DAQ parameters. Step by Step Guide for installation of LabVIEW:
Click the DAQ Solutions button in the LabVIEW dialog box to launch the DAQ Solution Wizard and get started with analog input quickly and easily. Either launch LabVIEW or close all open VIs if you are already running LabVIEW to access the LabVIEW dialog box. 2. When the Welcome to the DAQ Solution Wizard dialog box appears, click the Go to DAQ Channel Wizard button. 3. Select the Data Neighborhood category from ToolsMeasurement & Automation Explorer. Right-click Data Neighborhood and select Create New from the shortcut menu to configure a new channel. In the Create New dialog box select Virtual Channel and click the Finish button. 4. Select Analog Input as the channel type to configure and click the Next button. You also can configure analog output and digital input/output in the DAQ Channel Wizard. 5. Type a channel name and channel description in the appropriate text boxes. Click the Next button to continue. 6. Select the type of sensor. If the channel is a temperature measurement, click the check box. Click the Next button to continue. 7. Define the physical quantity that you are measuring. Select the units for your measurement and enter the range for the signal in the appropriate boxes. Click the Next button to continue. 8. Define how the sensor scales the signal from the physical units to the hardware units. Click the Next button to continue. 9. Select the data acquisition device and channel settings. If you have multiple DAQ hardware devices installed, choose the device that will read this signal. Click the Finish button to configure the analog input channel. 10. Notice that the new configuration is listed under Data Neighborhood (Windows). You have finished configuring an analog input channel for your DAQ hardware. Select FileClose to close Measurement & Automation Explorer (Windows). Select Quit to exit the DAQ Channel Wizard (Macintosh). 1.

NI-DAQ driver software provides LabVIEW with a high-level interface to DAQ devices and signal conditioning hardware.

16

3.6 Relationship between LabVIEW, NI-DAQ and DAQ hardware

NI-DAQ 4.8.x for the Mac/Windows device drivers are bundled in a single file that determines which drivers to load. When you restart your computer, this control panel driver, called NI-DAQ, determines which devices are installed in the system and loads their corresponding drivers. NI-DAQ uses its control panel settings to determine what SCXI hardware is configured and what the default device settings are for devices in the computer. If you use DMA, NIDAQ also communicates with the NIDMA/DSP for DMA services. When you install LabVIEW, the installer places both of these files on your hard drive. 3.7 LabVIEW for Automating Test and Validation Systems NI LabVIEW, the leading system design software for automated test, is optimized to give the tools needed to quickly develop powerful test software. LabVIEW helps to stay ahead of demanding system needs by providing integration with a wide variety of instruments, ranging from traditional boxes to software-defined PXI modular instruments, so it can acquire nearly any measurement. The combination of reconfigurable hardware and LabVIEW system design software empowers Developers to build virtually any automated test system faster and with more confidence. The development of new analytical techniques often requires the building of specially designed devices, each requiring its own dedicated control software. Especially in the research and development phase, LabVIEW has proven to be one highly useful tool for developing this software. Yet, it is still common practice to develop individual solutions for different instruments.

17

3.8 Reasons to Use LabVIEW for Automating Test and Validation

Reduce Test Development Time with Intuitive Graphical Programming

The NI LabVIEW graphical programming language is intuitive in nature, allowing you to spend less time addressing text-based syntax and more time solving complex test system challenges. LabVIEW is easier to quickly understand because it is implemented through icons that closely resemble visual models, such as flowcharts, that test engineers already use for problem solving.

Automate Any Instrument Using Free Instrument Drivers

The Save time and money by automating all of your test equipment in one environment. LabVIEW can connect to a wide variety of instruments ranging from traditional boxes to software-defined PXI modular instruments, so you can acquire nearly any measurement.

Integrate With Test Management Software Like NI TestStand

Instead of building your own test executive from scratch, you can use test management software to sequence your code, generate reports, and log results to databases. NI TestStand , the most popular test management software,has best-in-class integration with LabVIEW so you can easily debug LabVIEW code, create code templates to develop tests faster, and increase execution performance through low-level control of the LabVIEW run-time engine.

Decrease Maintenance Costs Using Commercial Off-the-Shelf Software

By building your application with LabVIEW, you can take advantage of the continuing NI pledge to support new OSs and technologies. Instead of worrying about how to support advances such as multicore processors and 64-bit processors, LabVIEW, as a commercial off-the-shelf software tool, helps you focus on testing your product.

Secure Your Investment with Long-Term Support and Legacy Code Integration

As a LabVIEW developer, you have access to world-class phone support and discussion forums in your local language. National Instruments is dedicated to the long-term support of LabVIEW, which means that NI helps you keep your application running for years to come. LabVIEW also helps you reuse legacy code in the form of DLLs, .NET assemblies, or .m files as you migrate to the LabVIEW platform.

Stay Ahead With the Latest PC Technologies

With LabVIEW you can take advantage of the latest technologies, such as multicore processors and high-performancefield-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), helping to improve your test system performance inside the same software environment. LabVIEW evolves over time to integrate cutting-edge technologies for better system performance while saving you time and money.

18

Quickly Understand Your Data

With LabVIEW, you can quickly and easily analyze your data using more than 850 built-in signal processing, analysis, and mathematics functions. Choose how you implement analysis in your LabVIEW application, whether inline or offline, to fully customize your algorithms, make better measurements, or get results faster.

Easily Create Professional User Interfaces

With LabVIEW, you get more than just acquisition and analysis; you can also easily create user interfaces that display measurement-specific data and test results within the same environment. LabVIEW contains a full collection of test-specific drag-and-drop controls and indicators that intuitively describe your system to engineers, technicians, or operators.

Interact With Source Code Control, Validation, and Requirements Management Tools

When you develop large-scale test applications, you probably follow standard software engineering practices. LabVIEW helps you integrate with standard software engineering process systems such as requirements management and source code control. In addition, you can use LabVIEW tools for validation and software quality assurance.

Collaborate and Develop With a Worldwide Community of Engineers

Because millions of users have successfully adopted LabVIEW for a wide range of applications, you lower your risk by tapping into an extensive technical support network. You can find a wealth of example programs, white papers and Knowledge Base articles online. You also can participate in an extensive network of LabVIEW user groups, product partners, and select integrators around the world.

3.9 LabVIEW Automation

The LabVIEW Automation tool is used to control and monitor a LabVIEW application. Automating LabVIEW is done either when the LabVIEW application is the system to test or when the LabVIEW application is used as part of the test system. The tool has several different ways to control, monitor and exchange information with the connected application. The most important are:

Get and set values on almost any control or indicator on any VI panel. Call VIs. Receive events sent from LabVIEW. Send log-messages from LabVIEW to SeqZap to trace the execution flow of the application.

19

Chapter 4
INSTALLATION OF PIEZORESISTIVE SENSORS
A piezoresistive sensor is a device which makes use of changes in the resistivity of certain semiconductor materials when subjected to mechanical stress to effect an electronic action. This piezoresistive phenomenon is based on these materials tendency to undergo changes in their latent resistive characteristics when flexed by exposure to pressure or stress. This causes a corresponding change in any electrical current passing through the device which translates into a measurement or readout. Semiconductor materials commonly used in piezoresistive devices are generally the same basic metallic and silicone families used in most electronic components. These components are available with a wide range of sensitivity characteristics to suit the requirements of diverse industries. By strict definition, piezoresistors refer to resistors whose resistivity changes with applied strain. Metal resistors change their resistance in response to strain mainly due to the shape deformation mechanism. Such resistors are technically called strain gauges. The resistivity of semiconductor silicon changes as a function of strain. Silicon is therefore a true piezoresistor. When certain semiconductor materials are exposed to mechanical stress, their resistivity, or basic ability to oppose electrical current flow, changes. This change in the materials resistive character obviously changes its specific resistance value. This results in a rise or fall in any current passed through the device which is then used to indicate or measure the stress involved. The piezoresistive effect is harnessed to create a range of deflection sensitive semiconductor devices used to record and measure stress inducing forces such as acceleration and pressure. This kind of sensor is typically constructed of semiconductor substrates such as germanium, polycrystalline silicone, amorphous silicon, and single crystal silicone. A typical sensor consists of a pressure sensitive semiconductor diaphragm with several n+ and p+ contacts attached to it. Electrical current is passed through the wafer at a rate depending on its resistance. This current transfer and resultant readout differs according to the resistance changes in the component when the diaphragm is exposed to pressure. These sensors range in complexity from simple piezoresistors with limited range and temperature stability to highly stable and accurate Piezo-FETs. The piezoresistive sensor is used in a wide variety of applications involving mechanical stress measurement. The automotive industry employs them as vacuum and pressure sensors or to give indication of oil and gas levels. They are also used in the medical field in devices such as blood

20

pressure measurement equipment. Depth gauges used by deep sea divers also employ piezoresistive sensor technology to produce accurate depth readings. These devices are also used in aircraft altimeters and barometric pressure instruments. Pressure dependent sensors of this type are also often used in electronic measurement instruments which use circuits and components such as the Wheatstone bridge and bipolar transistors. Accelerometers used to measure positional orientation, acceleration, and vibration forces also utilize piezoresistive sensor technology to produce their readouts. This technology has also found its way into the domestic environment with many dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, and washing machine manufacturers using them in their products.

4.1 Expression of Piezoresistivity

First discovered by Lord Kelvin in 1856, the piezoresistive effect is a widely used sensor principle. Simply put, an electrical resistor may change its resistance when it experiences a strain and deformation.This effect provides an easy and direct energy/signal transduction mechanism between the mechanical and the electrical domains. Today, it is used in the MEMS field for a wide variety of sensing applications, including accelerometers, pressure sensors, gyro rotation rate sensors, tactile sensors, flow sensors, sensors for monitoring structural integrity of mechanical elements, and chemical/biological sensors. The resistance value of a resistor with the length l and the cross-sectional area A is given by;

The resistance value is determined by both the bulk resistivity and the dimensions. Consequently, there are two important ways by which the resistance value can change with applied strain. First, the dimensions, including the length and cross section, will change with strain. This is easy to understand, though the relative change in dimensions is generally small. Note that transverse strains may be developed in response to longitudinal loading. For example, if the length of a resistor is increased, the cross section will likely decrease under finite Poissons ratios. Secondly, the resistivity of certain materials may change as a function of strain. The magnitude of resistance change stemming from this principle is much greater than what is achievable from the first one.

21

4.2 Kistlers Water Cooled Absolute Pressure Sensor

The water cooled piezoresistive absolute pressure sensor Type 4049A is a small, rugged sensor suitable for exposure to hot gaseous media. It is particularly well suited for exhaust pressure measurement in internal combustion engines. The piezoresistive pressure sensor Type 4049A with integrated water cooling is capable of continuous high temperature operation. Available in absolute pressure range 0 5 and 0 ... 10 bar it is designed for use in varied applications but specifically for exhaust pressure measurement without the use of additional water cooled adapters. Salient Features Of Type 4049A piezoresistive absolute pressure sensor:

Rugged design for exhaust pressure measurement for temperatures in excess of 1100 C Compact size Digital temperature compensation Media separated measuring element

Sensor Type 4049A utilizes a Wheatstone bridge implanted in a silicon measuring element to generate an electrical signal which is proportional to the applied pressure. The measuring element is situated behind a thin steel isolation diaphragm and an oil fill providing excellent media compatibility. This core element is placed within a cooling jacket whereby the internal temperature can be suitably managed and is somewhat independent of the applied hot gases. This approach allows the sensor to be exposed to gas temperatures in excess of 1100 C. Due to the constant water cooling and stable temperature, thermal effects are minimized therefore improving overall accuracy. Further performance improvements are made using analog and digital characterization techniques whereby, the effects of zero and sensitivity changes due to temperature can be further reduced without sacrificing signal bandwidth. The sensor requires cooling to avoid damage! By using

Kistler Temperature conditioning unit Type 2621E

optimal sensor cooling can be assured and the best performance achieved.

22

4.3 Technical Specifications

4.4 Applications
The sensor can be used wherever the pressure of high temperature gaseous media has to be measured and limitations are set by conventional uncooled sensors. Applications such as: Exhaust manifold pressure Turbine pressure measurement (e.g. exhaust turbo charger) Measurement in combustion systems

23

Chapter 5
STUDY OF VARIOUS IGNITION SYSTEMS
An explosion is often identified by a loud noise, or bang resulting from the sudden release of energy. A more precise definition in the present context (Eckhoff, 2005) is to define an explosion as an exothermal chemical process that, when occurring at constant volume, gives rise to a sudden and significant pressure rise. Accidental explosions in the process industries include gas, spray/mist and dust explosions. These three categories of chemical explosions have similar ignition and combustion properties. In the oil and gas industries, most gas explosions happen when combustible gas from accidental releases, mixes with air in the atmosphere and generates an explosive cloud. If the fuel/air ratio in the cloud is within the flammability limits, and there is a presence of an ignition source, an explosion will occur. The purpose of the ignition system is to generate a very high voltage from the PDE system and to send this to each sparkplug in turn, igniting the fuel-air mixture in the engine's combustion chambers. The coil is the component that produces this high voltage. It is an electromagnetic device that converts the low-tension (LT) current from the battery to high-tension (HT) current each time the distributor contact-breaker points open. The automotive ignition system has two basic functions: it must control the spark and timing of the spark plug firing to match varying engine requirements, and it must increase battery voltage to a point where it will overcome the resistance offered by the spark plug gap and fire the plug. The first step in understanding a PDE's ignition system is to learn about basic electricity.

24

5.1 Determination of the Minimum Ignition Energy (MIE) for Premixed Propane/Air Mixture Minimum Ignition Energy (MIE) Concept
The term minimum ignition energy (MIE) is an important parameter in explosion hazard evaluation. It refers to the smallest amount of energy that an electric spark discharge must have to cause an ignition of a given gas mixture at given conditions. For the last century, many experimental studies have been done to investigate the true values of the minimum ignition energy for different hydrocarbon fuels. MIE values depend not only on the composition of the mixture, but also on the method of the spark generation and properties of the electric circuit. Parameters such as gas concentration, pressure, temperature, flow characteristics, spark gap length, and discharge duration also influence the MIE.

5.2 Ignition sources

Explosive gas mixtures can be ignited by many types of ignition sources or sources of energy that initiates combustion (Babrauskas, 2003). (Eckhoff, 2005) lists the following 8 types of ignition sources:

Open flames Glowing or smoldering materials Hot solid surfaces Burning metal particles and thermite flashes from impacts, grinding etc Electrical and electrostatic sparks, arcs, and other forms of discharges Jets of hot combustion gases Adiabatic compression Light radiation

Extensive reviews of the standard test methods and published experimental studies concerning the determination of critical ignition parameters, such as Tmin (minimum ignition temperature) and MIE (minimum ignition energy), for gaseous fuel-air mixtures can be found in the books of Babrauskas (2003) and Magison (1998). These parameters can vary substantially with the actual ignition source characteristics, the dynamics, pressure and temperature of the gas mixture.

5.3 MIE theories

There are two basic theories of ignition process by electric sparks: The electrical model considers transport of chemical energy by the internal diffusion of reactants and reaction products while the thermal model considers the transport of the thermal energy i.e. heat. Even while no complete ignition theory was available, Strid (1973) concluded that the hypothesis of thermal ignition seemed to be supported by the experimental MIE determination. A recent overview of ignition theories is given by Babrauskas (2003). According to the thermal theory of electric spark ignition

25

of Lewis and von Elbe (1961), the spark establishes instantly a small volume of hot gas immediately after the discharge. At first the temperature within this flame kernel increases rapidly, but as the ignition volume grows in size, the temperature decreases due to the flow of heat to the ambient unburned gas. In the adjacent layer of ambient gas the temperature rises and induces chemical reactions, so that a combustion wave is formed and propagates outwards. At the time that the temperature within the flame kernel has decreased to the order of normal flame temperature, the diameter of the flame kernel must have grown to a certain size for self-sustained combustion, i.e. ignition, to be established. The flame kernel has more or less a spherical shape. If the size is too small, the heat loss to the unburned gas continuously exceeds the heat gain by chemical reaction, so that the reaction will gradually cease, leading to the extinction of the combustion wave (after only a small amount of gas around the original spark has burned). The minimum ignition energy is the energy required to establish the flame kernel of the minimum critical size for subsequent selfsustained flame propagation. 5.4 The Study of Lewis and Von Elbe The classical MIE data reported by Lewis and von Elbe (1961) are often referred to as absolute standards. According to the results of their experimental work, MIE of propane/air mixture was 0.26 mJ at ambient conditions. The optimal concentration for ignition was about 5.3 % vol.

5.4.1 Test Apparatus

The original apparatus was first described by Guest (1944) and later modified by Blanc, Guest, von Elbe and Lewis (1947). The stainless steel test bomb had an inner diameter of 127 mm and the spark gap was located in the Centre. The gap length could be adjusted by a built-in micrometer. 1.6 mm diameter pointed and flanged electrodes were used to determine MIE for different conditions. Glass flanges were mostly used because metal flanges are electrically conductive and had a tendency to cause ignition even within the quenching distance. However, due to the electrical conductivity of the glass surface, Lewis and von Elbe did observe irregular discharges, particularly corona discharges, during their experiments even with glass flanges. To eliminate this source of error, the glass flanges could be coated with paraffin wax. But according to Strid (1973), Litchfield (1967) pointed out that the flanges should in fact be slightly conductive in order to equalize the electric potential.

26

5.5 The ASTM Method

The standard test method for MIE and QD in gaseous mixtures from American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) (2007) is based on the Bureau of Mines/Lewis and von Elbe method. The method is applied to mixtures of specified fuels (gases and vapors of liquids) with air. The mixing ratio is varied from the most easily ignitable mixture to mixtures near to the flammable limit compositions. The breakdown voltage of the spark gap follows Paschens law, which means that it depends on the gas mixture pressure, spark gap distance and the gas mixture composition. With this standard test method, the expected accuracy is 10% in minimum ignition energy for MIE and 2% for QD. For mixture compositions near the flammable limits, the MIE increased rapidly as the flammable limits are approached and hence the standard deviation of 10% does not apply here.

5.5.1 Electrical Spark Generation Circuit

The energy storage capacitance is in the range of 8-12pF. A large isolating resistor is placed at the power supply terminal, and the other divider resistor at the bomb energy storage capacitance. For most ignitable mixture, the desirable value of the isolating resistor is 1012 ohms. For less easily ignitable mixtures, the resistance values are reduced inversely as the energy storage capacitance is increased. Usually an electrostatic voltmeter is used to measure the spark gap voltage at breakdown. If the voltmeter has a capacitance greater than the energy storage capacitance, then a static voltmeter is used in conjunction with a voltage divider network. The divider resistor should be at least 1014 ohms. The time constant, T (s), of the resistive-capacitive charging circuit equals T = RC where T and R is the resistance () and C the capacitance (F).

5.5.2 Test Apparatus

The recommended reaction chamber is 1 dm3 spherical stainless steel vessel of inner diameter (125mm). The 1.6 mm diameter metal electrodes shall be flanged with glass plates. The glass flanges should have a diameter of 5 to 10 times the electrode gap and a thickness of 2.38 - 3.18 mm. For maximum testing flexibility, a DC power supply that can deliver 1-30 kV is recommended.

27

5.6 The Study of Moorhouse et al.

Moorhouse et al. (1974) determined the MIEs for C1 to C7 hydrocarbon/air mixtures. They also investigated the dependence of MIE on initial pressure and temperature. Their conclusion seemed to support the results reported by others. They found that MIE decreased with increasing temperature and pressure of the unburned gas mixture. It is interesting to note that the MIE values reported by Moorhouse et al. were generally significantly higher than those reported by Lewis and von Elbe (1961). For example, the reported MIE of propane/air at ambient conditions and at optimal propane concentration of 5.3 vol. % was 0.46 mJ, whereas the value reported by Lewis and von Elbe (1961) was only 0.25 mJ.

5.6.1 Electrical Spark Generation Circuit

Based on the technique of Cheng (1967), the sparks of Moorhouse et al. (1974) were generated by means of the variable air capacitor device. The capacitor consisted of two parallel plates, each 100x200 mm. The fixed plate was connected to the high-voltage electrode in the explosion vessel and the movable plate connected to the other earthed electrode. When the fixed plate had been charged from a high voltage source, the spring loaded movable plate was released and opened from its closest separation to the fixed plate (about 1 mm). The distance between the plates was increased rapidly. This caused a decrease of the capacitance and a corresponding increase of the voltage across the capacitor, and hence across the spark gap. A discharge between the electrodes occurred when the plate separation had caused a sufficient rise in voltage. This circuit essentially behaved as a simple capacitance discharge circuit with a very low inductance of about 1H. The external circuit resistance was also very low, about 2 . Therefore practically all the energy stored in the capacitor ( 1/2 CU2) was deposited in the spark gap. The capacitance was in the range of 19-64 pF. The spark was equivalent to a damped oscillating wave of 9 MHz of about 1 s duration.

28

5.7 Determination of Spark Energy [Randeberg et al. (2006)]

Ignition tests were performed in series of ten successive trials at each energy level. The net spark energy in each trial, E, was calculated by the following equation:

Where U and i are the instantaneous spark voltage and current, measured across the spark gap during the life time of the spark pulse. The second term is the energy lost to the measurement resistors. The spark voltage as a function of time was measured by using a high-voltage probe. This probe had a capacitance of 3 pF and had to be taken into account for calculation of the total capacitance involved in the discharge. The current was measured by two independent probes to reduce the noise influence (which was pronounced for the low spark energies).

5.8 Comparison of Various Researchers for Determining MIE

The given figure shows the published results for minimum ignition energy of propane/air obtained by Randeberg et al. (2006). For the various gas concentrations studied considerable ranges of spark energies were obtained both within ignition and non-ignition. As can be seen from Figure, no non-ignitions were obtained in the gas concentration range between 4.0 and 7.0 vol. %, and hence no MIE could be determined. However, the results seemed to be supported by some data from Kono et al. (1976) and Parker (1985), indicating an MIE below 0.1mJ.

29

5.8.1 Comparative Analysis of Different Works

S. No 1 2 3 4 5 Name Of Researcher Lewis and Von Elbe Moorhouse et al. Parker et al. Randeberg et al. ASTM Apparatus Determined MIE 0.25mJ 0.46mJ 0.3mJ <1mJ 0.48mJ Year 1961 1974 1985 2006 2007 Vol. Conts. 03% 5.3% 2.7% 05%

The propane concentration of 5.2 vol. % was selected, because this was the concentration given the lowest ignition energy in the ASTM spark generator tests. About 50 tests were performed to determine the highest total spark energy below which there were no ignitions. A firm conclusion cannot be drawn due to the limited number of tests. However, the experimental data indicate a MIE value for 5.2 vol. % propane/air mixtures of 0.36 mJ, which is lower than the MIE value obtained by using the ASTM method (0.48 mJ). It was observed that the shape and amplitude of the tail/undershoot of the spark pulses varied from test to test, indicating that the synchronized-spark generator requires further improvement.

5.9 Kuhners MIKE 3 Apparatus

Minimum Ignition Energy Apparatus (Mike3) is supposed to use for PDE System in DRDO. Measurement Range Experiments have shown that dust/air mixtures can easily have MIE values less than 10 mJ. The measurement range of the MIKE 3 has thus been extended to lower energy values. The highvoltage component has been specially designed for the low ignition energies. Thanks to pneumatically actuated high-voltage switches, the parasitic capacitances have been reduced by an order of magnitude. Operation A modified Hartmann tube made of glass with a volume of 1.2 liter is used as the explosion vessel. The dust dispersion system at the base of the tube is of the "mushroom-shaped" type around which the sample is loosely scattered. A blast of compressed air at 7 bar is used to disperse the dust in the glass cylinder where it is ignited by a spark between two electrodes. Energy range: 1mJ ... 1000mJ

30

BIBLIOGRAPHY Thesis:
THE DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF PULSED DETONATION ENGINE GROUND DEMONSTRATORS BY PHILIP KOSHY PANICKER PULSE DETONATION ENGINE TECHNOLOGY: AN OVERVIEW APSC 201 DETERMINATION OF THE MINIMUM IGNITION ENERGY (MIE) OF PREMIXED PROPANE/AIR BY MY NGO PULSE DETONATION PROPULSION SYSTEMS BY FRANK K. LU GETTING STARTED WITH LabVIEW BY NI.com

Web Links:
http://india.ni.com/ http://www.wikipedia.org/ https://www.google.com/ http://arc.uta.edu/research/pde.htm

31