Effect of the plasma location on the deflagration-to-detonation transition of a hydrogen–air flame enhanced by nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharges

This work presents a method for using nanosecond repetitively pulsed (NRP) plasma discharges for accelerating a propagating flame such that the deflagration-to-detonation transition occurs. A strategy is developed for bringing the location of the plasma near the tube wall and, thus, reducing the presence of the electrodes in the combustion tube as well as presenting a configuration in which cooling of the electrodes is viable for practical applications. Time-of-flight measurements were used in combination with energy deposition measurements and high-speed OH*-chemiluminescence imagery to investigate the flame acceleration process. For stoichiometric hydrogen–air flames, successful transition to detonation was achieved by applying a burst of 110 pulses at 100 kHz, with energies as low as 10 mJ per pulse. This was also achieved when plasma discharges were applied in the vicinity of the wall. Two enhancement mechanisms for flame acceleration were identified. The essential role of shock–flame interaction was established as being the main mechanism for flame acceleration when the discharges are located near the wall. This work presents an effective alternative that allows for NRP discharges to be applied near the wall while successfully maintaining a promising success rate for detonation transition.