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Passive Optical Combustion Sensors for Scramjet Engine Control

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Air Force
Contract: FA8650-12-M-2256
Agency Tracking Number: F121-191-1515
Amount: $149,977.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: AF121-191
Solicitation Number: 2012.1
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2012
Award Year: 2012
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2012-06-12
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
P.O. Box 71
Hanover, NH -
United States
DUNS: 072021041
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Daniel Micka, Ph.D.
 Principal Investigator
 (603) 643-3800
 djm@creare.com
Business Contact
 James Barry
Title: President
Phone: (603) 643-3800
Email: contractsmgr@creare.com
Research Institution
 Stub
Abstract

ABSTRACT: Dual-mode scramjet engines must operate over a wide range of flight Mach numbers. Closed loop engine control is necessary to maintain thrust and flame stability while preventing unstart over the large flight envelope. High-frequency sensors and actuators will be a key component of future scramjet Full Authority Digital Engine Controllers (FADECs) due to the short time scales associated with these engines. These sensors and actuators must be rugged, simple, lightweight, low power, and minimally intrusive. In the proposed effort, Creare and the University of Michigan will develop passive optical heat release and equivalence ratio sensors and control schemes which utilize them for closed loop scramjet engine control. These sensors are high frequency and rugged and will be easy to integrate with flight engines. In Phase I, we will build and test these sensors in a laboratory scramjet combustor and determine how the signals could be used to predict unstart and maintain flame stability for some key engine transients. In Phase II, we will optimize the sensors for scramjet conditions and develop and test active control schemes for preventing unstart and maintaining flame stability using the sensor input. BENEFIT: Technology derived from this program will be in the form of high-frequency passive optical sensors optimized for scramjet conditions and closed loop engine control schemes which utilize these sensors for feedback. These sensors and control schemes will enable optimal performance of scramjet engines over a larger flight envelope.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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