Experimental investigation of ignition by multichannel gliding arcs in a swirl combustor

In the extreme conditions of high altitude, low temperature, low pressure and high speed, the aircraft engine has a strong tendency to extinguish and it is then difficult to start secondary ignition, which means that re-ignition of the aircraft engine faces great challenges. Additionally, the ability of the single-channel gliding arc (1-GA) in assisting the ignition under extreme conditions is weak. In this paper, to solve this problem, a multichannel gliding arcs (MGA) system is proposed, using the principle of multichannel discharge. Experiments on the electrical characteristics and ignition performance of MGA were conducted under atmospheric pressure in a swirl model combustor. The electrical characteristics of MGA were investigated under different air velocities. The ignition process of MGA was recorded by using a high-speed camera with CH* filter. Results show that the three-channel gliding arcs (3-GA) and five-channel gliding arcs (5-GA) generated more averaged power than the 1-GA under a constant air velocity. For example, the 3-GA and 5-GA generated 112.8% and 187.3% more averaged power than that of the 1-GA at 74.6 m s(-1), respectively. The arc shapes of gliding arcs with different channel numbers were different and the duration time of 'breakdown-stretching-extinguishing' of MGA shortened. Furthermore, compared with the 1-GA, the percentage of the lean ignition limit widening of the 3-GA and 5-GA can reach 13.5% and 20.9% respectively. The frequency of re-breakdown in the discharge process using different gliding arc channel numbers is different, which can continuously inject energy into the combustor and generate the 'flame combination' phenomenon producing a larger flame area. The ignition process of MGA can be divided into three stages: sliding stage, flame combination stage and flame stabilization stage.