Keywords

shock waves, chemical kinetics, driver-gas tailoring, shock tube

Abstract

To study combustion chemistry at low temperatures in a shock tube, it is of great importance to increase experimental test times, and this can be done by tailoring the interface between the driver and driven gases. Using unconventional driver-gas tailoring with the assistance of tailoring curves, shock-tube test times were increased from 1 to 15 ms for reflected-shock temperatures below 1000 K. Provided in this thesis is the introduction of tailoring curves, produced from a 1-D perfect gas model for a wide range of driver gases and the production and demonstration of successful driver mixtures containing helium combined with either propane or carbon dioxide. The He/CO2 and He/C3H8 driver mixtures provide a unique way to produce a tailored interface and, hence, longer test times, when facility modification is not an option. The tailoring curves can be used to guide future applications of this technique to other configurations. Nonreacting validation experiments using driver mixtures identified from the tailoring curves were performed over a range of reflected-shock temperatures from approximately 800 to 1400 K, and some examples of ignition-time experiments that could not have otherwise been performed are presented.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2006

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Petersen, Eric

Degree

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (M.S.M.E.)

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Department

Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering

Degree Program

Mechanical Engineering

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0001318

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0001318

Language

English

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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