Experimental Study of Key Issues on Pulse Detonation Engine Development

An experimental study on the 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 the PDE from opposite sidewall directions so as to be well mixed by collision of the two jets. A good agreement is obtained between the calculated and measured mixing ratios, indicating the occurrence of nearly instant mixing. Before the detonation velocity has reached the CJ value, it was found that the wave propagation velocity at the PDE exit increases with the increase in diameter, length and blockage ratio of the Shchelkin wire, and initial pressure. The PDE performance acquired was a specific impulse of about 2000 s, which was measured from the pressure history at the head end of the PDE.