Propagation of detonation in fuel–air mixtures in flat channels

Abstract

The wide scatter of the values of the measured detonation cell size in fuel + air mixtures restricts the applicability of this parameter in the estimation of the geometric limits of detonation propagation, including in rectangular channels whose height is much larger than their width. The critical channel height for the propagation of detonation has been experimentally determined for hydrogen + air, propane + air, and ethylene + air mixtures. In order to reveal the specific features of the propagation and decay of detonation in a narrow channel, numerical simulation has been carried out for a hydrogen + air mixture with account taken of the cellular structure of the detonation wave.