PSU HPCL

The HPCL has recently acquired extensive advanced diagnostic equipment. Included among this equipment is a high-power real-time X-ray radiography system, which is one of a kind for university research. A shock tunnel facility, the largest in any American University, is used for a variety of combustion and fluid dynamic research, such as ignition of solid fuels and propellants by convective heating and shock waves. Some of the other major equipment employed for data acquisition and analysis includes:

1. a four-beam, two-color laser velocimetry system for measuring turbulent flow velocities and correlations;
2. a fast wavelength tracking Smeets-George interferometer for accurate measurement of instantaneous gas and particle velocities of flows under hostile environments and supersonic streams with a velocity up to 3500 m/s;
3. facilities for machining propellant samples and consolidating explosive charges from granular powders by remote control circuits;
4. a color Schlieren system for flow visualization;
5. a non-intrusive Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) diagnostic system for measuring temperature and combustion product species;
6. a multi-channel optical analyzer system for obtaining transmission spectra of combustion products;
7. a high powered copper vapor laser for flow visualization;
8. an air supply system for a blowdown supersonic wind tunnel; and
9. test facilities for combustion studies in solid-propellant ducted rockets and solid fuel ramjets.

The High Pressure Combustion Laboratory itself provides five test cells with 18-inch reinforced concrete walls, two test cells with 1/2" steel walls and two test areas for combustion measurements and diagnostics. Surrounding the test cells is a restricted area with a 15-foot high earth bank. All test firings are conducted from remote control rooms. Two Class-A propellant magazines are also available for storage of test propellants. These magazines are well-barricaded and are located at sites remote from the laboratory. Currently, under the funding of NASA for the Center for Space Propulsion Engineering at Penn State (directed initially by Professor C. L. Merkle and currently by Prof. R. L. Santoro), a cryogenic combustion facility was developed under the guidance of Profs. Santoro and Kuo. This facility is specifically designed for studying the mixing and combustion behavior of liquid propellants for space applications.