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Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Reichenbach, Roy Earl
URN	etd-06282006-143052
Persistent URL	http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-06282006-143052
Title	Combustion research
Degree	PhD
Option	Mechanical Engineering
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title S. S. Penner Committee Chair
Keywords	none
Date of Defense	1960-01-01
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract In Part 1 an iterative procedure is described for the solution of nozzle flow problems with one-step, reversible chemical reactions. The efficiency of the method of calculation is illustrated by comparing the results with data obtained through the use of machine computations for the recombination of hydrogen atoms in a deLaval nozzle. Two topics concerned with droplet burning are considered in Part 2. Droplets of several important propellants, viz., RP-1, UDMH and N2H4, were burnt in air and in oxygen. The (effective) evaporation constants were determined experimentally for these fuels. The second topic involves the determination of the propagation rates and mechanism of propagation of a flame in a one-dimensional array of n-octane droplets. The flame propagation rates were found to be a function of the initial droplet size, of the droplet spacing, and directly of the depth of immersion of the droplet in the hot-gas zone. Part 3 consists of a study of the effect of an inert diluent on spectral intensity ratios in propane-oxygen-nitrogen flames. Experiments were conducted with inert diluent contents of 50, 60, 70, and 80 percent nitrogen (by mass) and with equivalence ratios of 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.4 and 1.6. The spectral intensity ratio was found to be a function not only of the equivalence ratio but also of the percentage of inert diluent. Hence it is not possible, in general, to use spectral intensity ratios as measures of mixture composition, a procedure that has been used erroneously by a number of investigators.
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