Experimental Study on the Pulsed Operating Characteristics of a Hydrogen–Oxygen Engine Based on Microwave Ignition Technology

Zijie Xiong, Zibo Wang, Shenbin Wang and Yusong Yu ()
Additional contact information
Zijie Xiong: Hydrogen Energy and Space Propulsion Laboratory, School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Zibo Wang: Hydrogen Energy and Space Propulsion Laboratory, School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Shenbin Wang: Hydrogen Energy and Space Propulsion Laboratory, School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Yusong Yu: Hydrogen Energy and Space Propulsion Laboratory, School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 12, 1-20

Abstract: The fuel produced through water electrolysis is non-toxic and clean, and the water propulsion system offers low cost and easy integration with other systems. This study investigates the pulse operating characteristics of a water electrolytic chemical propulsion engine using microwave ignition technology. A high-speed camera captured flame images, while a spectrometer and pressure sensor were used for data quantification. Three peak gas pressure points were selected for data analysis. The experimental results revealed that the flame color changes at different combustion stages, starting white and turning blue at the flame tip during stable combustion. Combustion pressure fluctuated between −0.53 kPa and 765 kPa, with an average of ≈32 kPa, showing a rapid pressure rise followed by smooth decay. At all three operating points, the thrust was small (0.38 N, 0.37 N, and 0.35 N), but after the third operating point, thrust increased significantly to 2.25 N, an enhancement of 508.1%. Spectral data indicated that the combustion products included H, O, and N atoms. This study is the first to investigate the pulsed conditions of a direct microwave ignition system and provide insights into its operating characteristics. The system will be optimized in the future.

Keywords: microwave ignition; water electrolysis thruster; pulse condition analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/12/5549/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/12/5549/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:12:p:5549-:d:1680375

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().