Somewhat successful igniter test.
We finally got together for another revision of the igniter. We
wanted to give it a try with a spark plug instead of the glow
plug. We finally got it to stay lit but only after reducing the
volume of the chamber. The design is very flexible. It
intentionally had an extended volume. The extra length would
allow us to wrap copper around it and test it as a vaporizer for liquid
Helium, Nitrogen, or Oxygen. The little bottles of O2 I wanted to
use don't last very long and we had a little leak at first and we used
it up. We did not have long enough hose for the big O2 bottle so
we went with compressed air again. We will try again but probably
with a liquid fuel this time. I liked the idea of having it as a
completely separate component with its own tanks but we can plumb it to
use the engine LOX and fuel once those parts are completed and that
will cut down on the part count.
Here are some photos of the igniter. It is much larger than
needed due to adding adapters for pressure transducers.
Some video clips. The flame can
be
seen but it can be heard.
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