Experimental Evaluation of Catalytic Flame Stabilization for Aircraft Afterburners

Catalytic flame stabilization encompasses the use of a porous catalytic surface to initiate, stabilize, and provide a continuous pilot for flame propagation. A preliminary assessment of the feasibility of employing catalytic flame stabilization to the design of flameholders for aircraft afterburners has been completed. Initial testing has demonstrsted that catalytic flame stabilization in aircraft afterburners can be achieved. For the non-optimal catalytic flameholders evaluated, smooth light-off and stable operation were obtained; higher combustion efficiencies were measured and higher pressure losses were observed. During the course of the experiment a significant number of design aspects were determined to require further investigation. These design aspects along with other results of this study are discussed in this paper.