6/20/2007 Detonation 1

IX. Detonation Waves

Steadily propagating wave (CJ)
Shock-induced chemical reaction (ZND)
Characteristic reaction zone length
Propagating pressure wave
Induces a flow and pressure variation behind
detonation
Instability of front
Characteristic cellular structure and length scale
Critical conditions for propagation
6/20/2007 Detonation 2
What is a Detonation Wave?
A supersonic combustion wave
characterized by a unique coupling
between a shock front and a zone of
chemical energy release referred to as
the reaction zone.
Not just shock-initiated combustion!
6/20/2007 Detonation 3
Detonations are pressure waves
6/20/2007 Detonation 4
Detonations Are Driven by Hot
Combustion Product Expansion
Fuel + Oxidizer Products
CH
4
+ O
2
CO
2
+ 2H
2
O
Volume expansion pushes shock wave
Shock front
expansion
u = 0
u = 0
D
Chemical reaction
u
6/20/2007 Detonation 5
Chemical kinetics is initiated behind the shock
wave
In connection with the problem of the process of the chemical
reaction in a detonation wave, the objections raised against the
conceptions of Le Chatelier and Vieille of the 19
th
century with regard
to the ignition of the gas by the shock wave are refuted. Ya. B.
Zeldovich On the theory of the propagation of detonation in gaseous
systems JETP 1940
Ya. B. Zeldovich 1940
J. H. von Neumann 1942
W. Dring 1943
Detonation as a shock-initiated,
convected explosion of combined
chain-thermal nature
6/20/2007 Detonation 6
Wave Speed is Determined by Thermodynamics
CJ Hypothesis:
1. Wave travels at slowest possible speed consistent with themodynamics
2. Product velocity relative to wave is sonic (= sound speed)
Physical explanation:
Expansion waves catch up to wave and slow it down until CJ state is reached.
6/20/2007 Detonation 7 6/20/2007 Detonation 8
Steady Reaction Zone
law rate kinetic by given :
where
2
1
2
1
1
, ,
1
2
2
2
i
Y e
N
i i
i
i
i
i k
Y
P
c

dx
dY
u
M
u
dx
dP
u
M
u
dx
du
u
M dx
d
u
O
|
|
.
|
c
c O
=
O =

=
=
_
=

o
o
o

C2H4
CO2
H2O
CO
C2H4-3O2-9N2, 20kPa Warnatz
OH
H
O
Convection-reaction balance
6/20/2007 Detonation 9
C2H4-3O2-9N2, 20kPa Warnatz
Characteristic thicknesses determined by energy
release time and rate
A
o
A
c
Characteristic induction zone width A
o
Characteristic energy release zone width A
c
o

2
c cdu dP + =
6/20/2007 Detonation 10
Chemical Length and Time Scales
0.8 1 1.2 1.4
10
-2
10
-1
10
0
Normalized velocity, U/U
CJ
I
n
d
u
c
t
i
o
n

Z
o
n
e

l
e
n
g
t
h
,

c
m
0 0.5 1
0
1000
2000
3000
0
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
OH
T
Distance, cm
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e
,

K
O
H

m
o
l
e

f
r
a
c
t
i
o
n
2H
2
-O
2
-60%N
2
A
6/20/2007 Detonation 11
Measuring Detonations
GDT
280mm diameter, 7.3m long
Velocity from time of arrival
Pressure from piezoelectric gauges
Cell size from soot foils
Structure from schieren, shadowgraph, PLIF imaging
6/20/2007 Detonation 12
Propagating Pressure Wave
6/20/2007 Detonation 13
Taylor-Zeldovich Expansion Wave
c
l
o
s
e
d

e
n
d
L
x
particle path
t
0
o
p
e
n

e
n
d
2
1 - at rest
3
detonation
expansion fan
Stationary region
6/20/2007 Detonation 14
Multifront waves
150 x 150 mm
Schlieren
OH emission
6/20/2007 Detonation 15
Laminar and Turbulent Detonations
scale:4mm
2H2-O2-85%Ar
P
o
=20kPa
C3H8-5O2-60%N2
P
o
=20kPa
6/20/2007 Detonation 16
Turbulent detonations?
2H2+O2+2CO
0.0263 atm 2.7 km/s 0.3 atm 2.2 km/s
Generalizations of available observations suggests that turbulence
is a common property of detonation waves. This leads to the
speculation that perhaps the limits of propagation of detonation are
in part by the conditions required for generating and maintaining a
turbulent zone of combustion. D. R. White Turbulent Structure of
Gaseous Detonation PF 1961
Overdriven Near CJ
6/20/2007 Detonation 17
Cellular Structure of Detonations
H2+O2+7Ar mixture
Self-propagating near CJ velocity
6/20/2007 Detonation 18
The sooted foil and cellular structure
C2H4-O2 75% Ar H2-O2 40% Ar C3H8-O2 C2H2-O2
Notice that because of its innate complexity, there is virtually no hope that
theoreticians will piece together an a priori theory for detonation structure; they
must necessarily rely on detailed experimental observations. R. A. Strehlow
1970
Equilibrium Configuration time average steady
B.V. Voytsekhovsky and V.V. Mitrofanov and M.Ye. Topchiyan "The
Structure of a Detonation Front in Gases 1966
6/20/2007 Detonation 19
Detonation Cell Widths
Cell width measurements
A sooted aluminum sheet
Soot foil:
1 < < 1000 mm, ~ A A, A = 10100
6/20/2007 Detonation 20
Cell Size
Measurements for
Common Fuels
Data from R. Knystautas,
McGill university
CH
4
C
4
H
10
C
3
H
8
C
2
H
6
H
2
C
2
H
2
Fuel Smoke Pressure
Foil Oscillations
EQUIVALENCE RATIO
D
E
T
O
N
A
T
I
O
N

C
E
L
L

S
I
Z
E



(
c
m
)
0 1 2 3 4
100
50
20
10
5
2
1
0.5
0.2
C
2
H
4
6/20/2007 Detonation 21
Chemical structure of Detonation
PLIF and Schlieren Images
6/20/2007 Detonation 22
How PLIF works
B
12
: stimulated absorptiion
B
21
: stimulated emission
P
2
: predissociation
Q
21
: collisional quenching
A
21
: spontanious emission
Signal Intensity:
S
F
= C B
12
N
0
I
v
I
Quenching Q
21
= f (T,background)
Absorption I
v
= f (x)
Boltzmann fcator N
0
= f (T)
Overlap integral I = f (T,p,background)
A
21
A
21
+ Q
21
+P
2
.
.
6/20/2007 Detonation 23
What PLIF Measures
Distance behind shock [cm]
N
(
O
H
)
[
m
o
l
/
m
3
]
0 1 2 3 4
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
N(OH) based on ZND calculation
calculated fluorescence based on ZND
experimental PLIF fluorescence
Compare predicted fluoresence
from ZND and PLIF models
with measured fluorescence
Experimental data obtained by
vertical averaging over
horizontal stripe
2H2+O2+85%Ar, 20kPa
6/20/2007 Detonation 24
2H
2
-O
2
-12Ar,P
1
=20kPa
18x150mm test section
image height 60mm
Reference: J. Austin, F. PIntgen and J.E. Shepherd, Reaction
Zones in Highly Unstable Detonations, 30
th
Combustion
Symposium, Chicago, 2004.
image height 150mm
Narrow channel simultaneous PLIF-
Schlieren
6/20/2007 Detonation 25
Reaction zone structure
Normalized velocity (U/U
CJ
)
I
n
d
u
c
t
i
o
n
L
e
n
g
t
h
(
c
m
)
0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
10
-2
10
-1
10
0
2 H
2
+ O
2
+ 17 Ar
Sharp rise in OH-concentration profile marks end of induction-zone
Induction zone length is stongly dependent on shock-velocity
keystone shapes features of lower reactance
6/20/2007 Detonation 26
Reaction zone structure
Sharp rise in OH-concentration profile marks end of induction-zone
Induction zone length is stongly dependent on shock-velocity
keystone shapes features of lower reactance
2H2+O2+17Ar,
20kPa (Pintgen et al 2002)
20 mm
6/20/2007 Detonation 27
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
0 2 4 6 8 10
M
CJ
E
a
/
R
T
S
Neutral stability
boundary
C3H8-O2-N2
H2-O2-N2
H2-O2-AR
H2-N2O-N2
H2-N2O-O2-N2
H2-O2-CO2
C2H4-O2-N2
f=1
weakly unstable
(low E
a
/RT
S
)
highly unstable
(high E
a
/RT
S
)
stable
unstable
Lee and Stewart
JFM 1990
Classification of Detonation Front Structure
6/20/2007 Detonation 28
2H2+O2+17Ar 2H
2
+O
2
+ 8 N
2
H2+ N2O +3 N2
C2H4-3O2-10.5N2 C3H8-5O2-9N2 C3H8-5O2-9N2
6/20/2007 Detonation 29
Numerical Tools for Shocks and
Detonation (CJ) Computations
NASA CeC code
STANJAN (in CHEMKIN)
Cantera
Shock and detonation toolbox from
Caltech
GASEQ
Computation not quite correct for
detonations
CHEETAH (export controlled)
LLNL
6/20/2007 Detonation 30
Numerical Tools for Reaction Zone
Structure
Chemkin-based programs
Reaction Design
ZND fortran program
Cantera-based programs
Caltech shock and detonation toolbox
NASA,
6/20/2007 Detonation 31
Detonation Phenomena
Initiation by Blast Waves
Diffraction through tubes openings
and orifices
Limiting tube diameter
Deflagration-to-Detonation
Transition
6/20/2007 Detonation 32
Initiation of Detonations
Direct initiation
Requires a strong blast wave
Fuel-oxygen mixtures
Exploding wire or
Electric discharge (spark) in air
Fuel-air mixtures
High explosives
Fuel-oxygen mixtures with DDT initiation
Deflagration-to-detonation transition
Weak ignition source (glowplug or spark plug)
6/20/2007 Detonation 33
Direct Initiation
What is the critical E needed to start a detonation?
6/20/2007 Detonation 34
Blast Wave Initiation
Subcritical, E<Ec Supercritical E>Ec
6/20/2007 Detonation 35
Plastic Bag
Containing C
2
H
4
-air
Inside View Showing
Instrumentation
Direct Initiation of Spherical Detonation
6/20/2007 Detonation 36
High-Explosive Detonating Cord Positioned on Bag Axis
Direct Initiation of Cylindrical Detonation
6/20/2007 Detonation 37
LEGEND
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
EQUIVALENCE RATIO
100,000
10,000
1,000
100
10
1
0.1
0.01
I
N
I
T
I
A
T
I
O
N

E
N
E
R
G
Y

(
g
r
a
m
s

t
e
t
r
y
l
)
C
2
H
4
H
2
C
2
H
2
C
3
H
8
CH
4
Spherical Initiation
Energy Data
Ec ~ 400U
CJ
2

3
6/20/2007 Detonation 38
Detonation Wave Diffraction
Detonation can fail, i.e., shock wave and
reaction zone decouple during
diffraction
detonation
shocked reactants
shock
products
flow
d
6/20/2007 Detonation 39
Detonation Diffraction Cases
Success
Failure
Supercritical Critical
Subcritical
Increasing cell size and reaction time
6/20/2007 Detonation 40
Tube Diameter = 1.83 m ; Bag Diameter = 3.66 m
Critical Tube Diameter Test
6/20/2007 Detonation 41
Data from I.O Moen et al.
EQUIVALENCE RATIO
C
R
I
T
I
C
A
L

T
U
B
E

D
I
A
M
E
T
E
R

d
c
(
m
)
0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
5.0
2.0
1.0
0.5
0.2
0.1
PROPANE
ETHYLENE
HYDROGEN
ACETYLENE
No
Go
Critical Tube
Diameter Data
Fuel-air d
c
~ 13
or d
c
~ 400 A
6/20/2007 Detonation 42
R
S
Critical Radius for Reinitiation
6/20/2007 Detonation 43
Tube Initiation Configuration
High-Explosive Initiation
Influence of Confinement on Propagation
6/20/2007 Detonation 44
Transmitted Air
Shock Wave
Detonation Wave
Bag Trajectory
(Contact Surface)
Still Frame from High-Speed Film
6/20/2007 Detonation 45
Deflagration to Detonation
Transition in gases
Flames and detonation propagation regimes
Effect of confinement on flame propagation
Mechanisms of flame acceleration
Mechanisms involved in DDT
Pressure waves and structural response
6/20/2007 Detonation 46
Flames can become detonations!
6/20/2007 Detonation 47
Example: DDT in tubes
Obstacles or roughness is very
significant
6/20/2007 Detonation 48
The path of DDT
6/20/2007 Detonation 49
Flame passing an orifice
6/20/2007 Detonation 50
burned unburned
1. A smooth flame with laminar flow ahead
2. First wrinkling of flame and instability of upstream flow
3. Breakdown into turbulent flow and a corrugated flame
4. Production of pressure waves ahead of turbulent flame
5. Local explosion of vortical structure within the flame
6. Transition to detonation
DDT Process
6/20/2007 Detonation 51
Effect of FA on Pressure
6/20/2007 Detonation 52
Criteria For FA and DDT
Sufficient expansion ratio (>4)
Sufficiently high burning velocity
Sufficient confinement
Need to reach choking regime
Sufficiently large volume
L > 7 large volumes (Dorofeev)
d > obstructed tubes (Lee)
d > 13 diffraction
6/20/2007 Detonation 53
Scaling of Detonation Onset
6/20/2007 Detonation 54
Effect of Expansion Ratio
6/20/2007 Detonation 55
References
1. A discussion of high explosive detonation from a practicing
engineers perspective is given by: P. W. Cooper. Explosives
Engineering. VCH, 1996.
2. More in-depth discussions are given in the compilation of: J. A.
Zukas and W.P. Walters, editors. Explosive Effects and
Applications. High Pressure Shock Compression of Condensed
Matter. Springer, 1995.
3. The classic reference on detonation is: Ya. B. Zeldovich and A. S.
Kompaneets. Theory of Detonation. Academic Press, NY, 1960. This
is an English translation of original Russian. Out of print and in
many ways out of date.
4. A more up to date theoretical treatment is given by: W. Fickett
and W. C. Davis. Detonation. University of California Press,
Berkeley, CA, 1979 Now available as a Dover paperback.
5. Gaseous detonations are discussed in most textbooks on
combustion.