Investigations of Subcritical Streamer Microwave Discharge in Reverse-Vortex Combustion Chamber

In this paper, we report on the experimental investigations of two innovative technologies combined in one device, namely, the application of an initiated streamer microwave (MW) discharge for ignition and flame control in a reverse-vortex combustion chamber, also known as a Tornado combustor. The pulsed subcritical streamer MW discharge (SSD) in a quasi-optical wave beam was experimentally investigated in the atmospheric-pressure model of a Tornado combustor with transparent dielectric walls. The possibility of a surface MW streamer discharge formation at new conditions, particularly on the dielectric walls of the cylindrical combustion chamber, has been confirmed. The mechanism of SSD realization, at which the discharge development takes place in a volume of the combustion chamber, has been proposed. It was shown that SSD could be applied for ignition of fuel/air mixtures in an axial area of the reverse-vortex combustion-chamber bottom plate, which is normally used for a fuel feeding.