External combustion of high-speed multicomponent hydrocarbon-air flow under conditions of low-temperature plasma

The stabilization of external combustion (at the plate surface) of high-speed multicomponent (air, alcohol, and propane) flows is realized experimentally. It is shown that heat fluxes during alcohol combustion rise by a factor of about 7 and during propane combustion by a factor of 15, in comparison with the heat flux from a discharge in a high-speed air flow. The electron concentration measured at a distance of 10 cm down-stream from the electrode ends is approximately 10$^9$ cm$^{−3}$ in the case of the discharge in an air flow, whereas during alcohol combustion it attains 2×10$^{11}$ cm$^{−3}$ and during propane combustion it is 3×10$^{11}$ cm$^{−3}$. The flame temperature in the area of the discharge existence varies from 2000 up to 2500 K and outside the discharge at the distance of z=20 cm from electrodes is 1800 K, gradually decreasing downstream. It is shown that the combined discharge in the subsonic flow allows for complete combustion of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons. The completeness of combustion in supersonic flows attains 95%, depending on the flow velocity.