Combustion chambers tests

We carry out tests on deflagration and detonation combustion processes in the combustion chambers of turbine engines. The air system can supply air with a flow rate of up to 2 kg/s, with pressure of up to 0.6 MPa and with temperature of up to 200°C. Combustion is implemented for liquid and gaseous fuels. The stand is equipped with a multi-channel measuring and recording apparatus with a sampling frequency of up to 2 MHz.

Rotating detonation tests

Detonation is a type of combustion in which a supersonic exothermic front propagates through a mixture of fuel and oxidizer. In this way, it drives the shock wave directly in front of it. The development of tests on the use of detonation combustion in engines opens up a number of new possibilities, both in the way of designing engines and in obtaining higher efficiency. The main advantage of the present solution is the possibility of reducing the size of jet engines, which at the same time means reducing their weight and production costs – the greatest challenge faced by designers of modern aeronautical engines.

At the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Aviation, we have constructed two automated laboratory stands prepared for conducting detonation tests of combustion chambers and small rocket engines.

Over the past decade, we have conducted intensive tests on the application of detonation combustion in various engines, including turbine engines fueled with hydrogen fuel and kerosene, rocket engines fueled with methane and oxygen, and mixed-cycle rocket/jet engines. Recently, tests are being been conducted on the use of liquid rocket engine propellants, as well as on a ramjet engine fueled by aviation kerosene.