Abstract
This paper describes the results of an experimental investigation carried out on a small-scale aerothermopressor both in subsonic and supersonic flow. These are compared with numerical solutions of the equations originally derived by Shapiro. In subsonic flow the agreement between theory and experiment closely follows that of previous investigators but in supersonic flow there is a considerable difference between the estimated and measured static pressure distribution along the duct. Photographic studies of the initial break-up of the water spray in supersonic flow show that the spray does not distribute itself uniformly across the duct as in subsonic flow. A variety of techniques of water injection designed to overcome this shortcoming are described and some improvement is possible. However, this discrepancy between theory and experiment is still so great that it appears that the supersonic aerothermopressor must be inferior to its subsonic counterpart.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.