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LIQUID‑PHASE DETONATION TUBE

SHOCK TUBE EXPERIMENTS · SUB‑MS DIAGNOSTICS

Detonation tube experiments at the Stanford NanoEnergy Lab investigating liquid‑phase detonation of monopropellants and hydrocarbon fuels in an argon carrier shock tube. Studying shock‑induced ignition, reaction kinetics, and detonation onset mechanisms.

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PROBLEM / APPROACH / OUTCOME

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PROBLEM. Liquid‑phase fuels can support detonation, but the coupling between gas and liquid phases during shock‑induced ignition is not well characterized. The events of interest happen on sub‑millisecond timescales, so diagnostics have to be fast and synchronized.

APPROACH. Run shock tube experiments with an argon carrier on monopropellants and hydrocarbon fuels, including n‑dodecane to study gas‑liquid coupling in detonation propagation. Instrument the system with high‑frequency pressure diagnostics and synchronized data acquisition to resolve sub‑millisecond pressure rise, wave velocity, and multiphase energy release dynamics.

OUTCOME. Ongoing. Building out an experimental dataset on reaction kinetics and onset mechanisms across fuel and carrier conditions, including Mach 5 shock characterization. Coauthor on a work‑in‑progress submission to the 41st International Symposium on Combustion.

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DETAIL B

SPECIFICATIONS

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ROLE
Undergraduate Researcher, NanoEnergy Lab
DURATION
2025 – present
FUELS
Monopropellants, hydrocarbon fuels (incl. n‑dodecane)
CARRIER
Argon shock tube
DIAGNOSTICS
High‑frequency pressure transducers, synchronized DAQ
RESOLUTION
Sub‑millisecond pressure rise, wave velocity
TOPICS
Shock‑induced ignition, reaction kinetics, detonation onset
DETAIL C

REFERENCES

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LAB
Stanford NanoEnergy Lab
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SHEET 1 / INDEX
REV DATE DESCRIPTION BY
–2026-05-08INITIAL RELEASE · ONGOING WORKCC
DRAWN BY COLIN HENRY CROWN
DATE 2026-05-08
TITLE LIQUID‑PHASE DETONATION TUBE · SHEET 4
SCALE 1 : 1
UNITS SI
SIZE B
DWG NO. PRT-004
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