Detonation Studies of High- Frequency- Operation Pulse Detonation Engine with Air/Hydrogen

An experimental study on pulse detonation engine (PDE) is conducted using hydrogen/air mixtures. Several key issues for PDE development, including valve operation, injection, mixing, filling, cycle repetition, ignition timing, DDT distance and propagation of detonation/quasi-detonation, are investigated. The fuel and oxidizer are injected into PDE from opposite sidewall directions to be well mixed by collision of two jets. The PDE performance is acquired to give the specific impulse about 2000 sec, which is measured from the pressure history on PDE head end. Operation at a maximum frequency 32 Hz is successfully performed. The deflagrationto-detonation transition (DDT) characteristics are measured in conjunction with operational frequency and ignition delay.