Ignition of propane-air mixtures by a repetitively pulsed nanosecond discharge

Sergey V. Pancheshnyi (1) , Deanna Lacoste (2) , Anne Bourdon (2) , C. Laux (2)

1 CPAT - Centre de Physique des Plasmas de Toulouse
2 EM2C - Laboratoire d'Énergétique Moléculaire et Macroscopique, Combustion

Results of an experimental study of the efficiency of the ignition of propane-air mixtures by a high voltage repetitively pulsed nanosecond gas discharge (10 kV, 10 ns, 30 kHz) are presented for the pressure range 0.35-2.0 bar. The measured minimal energy for ignition is found to decrease with the pressure. A significant reduction of the ignition delay and a decrease of the overall combustion duration were obtained by using a train of high-voltage pulses. Spectroscopic measurements in a 1-bar air just after a 10-pulse train (300 mu s) of about 10 mJ in total energy show the presence of N, N+, O, and O+ atomic species and a gas temperature increase up to 3000 K.

Domaines: Milieux fluides et réactifs; Plasmas

Sergey V. Pancheshnyi, Deanna Lacoste, Anne Bourdon, C. Laux. Ignition of propane-air mixtures by a repetitively pulsed nanosecond discharge. IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 2006, 34, pp.2478-2487. ⟨10.1109/TPS.2006.876421⟩. ⟨hal-00492171⟩