Andrew B. Wright, Jason E. Elsasser, M. Keith Hudson, and Ann M. Wright
ABSTRACT: The oxygen injector head in UALR’s labscale hybrid rocket motor has been redesigned to include a coaxially located optical port. This port permits viewing directly into the space in front of the fuel grain where combustion is initiated. It is designed to allow a visible-imaging fiber optic, a UV-Vis fiber optic, or an infrared fiber optic to be aligned coaxially with the motor. The imaging fiber optic shows swirling and pulsating flow fields, which indicate that one-dimensional flow model assumptions are not valid. The quartz fiber optic is used with a UV-Vis spectrometer to perform spectral studies using fuels doped with metals. It is demonstrated that the same species that are seen in the plume can be detected in the combustion zone, which permits comparison of species at the two end points of the combustion process.
Keywords: hybrid rocket motor, spectroscopy, flow patterns, metal emission spectra, combustion diagnostics
Ref: JPyro, Issue 21, 2005, pp21-30
(J21_21)
© Journal of Pyrotechnics and CarnDu Ltd
