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A pulse detonation engine, or "PDE", is a type of propulsion system that has the potential
to be both light and powerful and can operate from a standstill up to supersonic speeds.
To date no practical PDE engine has been put into production, but several testbed engines
have been built, proving the basic concept to some extent at least. In theory the design
can produce an engine with an efficiency far surpassing more complex gas turbine
All regular jet engines and most rocket engines operate on the deflagration of fuel, that is,
the rapid but subsonic combustion of fuel. The pulse detonation engine is a concept
currently in active development to create a jet engine that operates on the supersonic
detonation of fuel.
The basic operation of the PDE is similar to that of the pulse jet engine; air is mixed with
fuel to create a flammable mixture that is then ignited. The resulting combustion greatly
increases the pressure of the mixture to approximately 100 atmospheres, which then
expands through a nozzle for thrust. To ensure that the mixture exits to the rear, thereby
pushing the aircraft forward, a series of shutters are used with careful tuning of the inlet
to force the air to travel in one direction only through the engine.
The main difference between a PDE and a traditional pulsejet is that the mixture does not
undergo subsonic combustion but instead, supersonic detonation. In the PDE, the oxygen
The other difference is that the shutters are replaced by more sophisticated valves.
CONTENTS
1) INTRODUCTION…………………………...………………………………………4
1.1 CONCEPT………………………………………………………………..4
1.2 COMBUSTION…….…………………………………………………….5
1.3 DEFLAGRATION………………………………………………….……7
(i) APPLICATIONS………………………………………………….12
5) WORKING OF PDE………………………………………………………………..21
9) REFERENCES……………………………………………..………………………28
2
1.INTRODUCTION
1.1 CONCEPT
All regular jet engines and most rocket engines operate on the deflagration of fuel, that is,
the rapid but subsonic combustion of fuel. The pulse detonation engine is a concept
currently in active development to create a jet engine that operates on the supersonic
detonation of fuel.
The basic operation of the PDE is similar to that of the pulse jet engine; air is mixed with
fuel to create a flammable mixture that is then ignited. The resulting combustion greatly
increases the pressure of the mixture to approximately 100 atmospheres, which then
expands through a nozzle for thrust. To ensure that the mixture exits to the rear, thereby
pushing the aircraft forward, a series of shutters are used with careful tuning of the inlet
to force the air to travel in one direction only through the engine.
The main difference between a PDE and a traditional pulsejet is that the mixture does not
undergo subsonic combustion but instead, supersonic detonation. In the PDE, the oxygen
The other difference is that the shutters are replaced by more sophisticated valves. In
some PDE designs from General Electric, the shutters are even removed because the
process can be controlled by timing on the periodic sudden pressure drops that occur after
each shock wave when the "combustion" products have been ejected in one shot.
3
The main side effect of the change in cycle is that the PDE is considerably more efficient.
In the pulsejet the combustion pushes a considerable amount of the fuel/air mix (the
charge) out the rear of the engine before it has had a chance to burn (thus the trail of
flame seen on the V-1 flying bomb), and even while inside the engine the mixture's
volume is continually changing, an inefficient way to burn fuel. In contrast the PDE
deliberately uses a high-speed combustion process that burns all of the charge while it is
still inside the engine at a constant volume. The maximum energy efficiency of most
types of jet engines is around 30% a PDE can attain an efficiency theoretically near 50%.
Another side effect, not yet demonstrated in practical use, is the cycle time. A traditional
pulsejet tops out at about 250 pulses per second, but the aim of the PDE is thousands of
pulses per second, so fast that it is basically continual from an engineering perspective.
This should help smooth out the otherwise highly vibrational pulsejet engine -- many
small pulses will create less volume than a smaller number of larger ones for the same net
thrust. Unfortunately, detonations are many times louder than deflagrations. To know
1.2 COMBUSTION
a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light in the
rapidly with oxygen and gives off heat. The original substance is called the fuel, and the
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source of oxygen is called the oxidizer. The fuel can be a solid, liquid, or gas, although
for airplane propulsion the fuel is usually a liquid. The oxidizer, likewise, could be a
During combustion, new chemical substances are created from the fuel and the oxidizer.
These substances are called exhaust. Most of the exhaust comes from chemical
combinations of the fuel and oxygen. When a hydrogen-carbon-based fuel (like gasoline)
burns, the exhaust includes water (hydrogen + oxygen) and carbon dioxide (carbon +
oxygen). But the exhaust can also include chemical combinations from the oxidizer
alone. If the gasoline is burned in air, which contains 21% oxygen and 78% nitrogen, the
exhaust can also include nitrous oxides (NOX, nitrogen + oxygen). The temperature of
the exhaust is high because of the heat that is transferred to the exhaust during
combustion. Because of the high temperatures, exhaust usually occurs as a gas, but there
can be liquid or solid exhaust products as well. Soot, for example, is a form of solid
5
During the combustion process, as the fuel and oxidizer are turned into exhaust products,
heat is generated. Interestingly, some source of heat is also necessary to start combustion.
Gasoline and air are both present in an automobile fuel tank; but combustion does not
occur because there is no source of heat. Heat is both required to start combustion and is
itself a product of combustion. Also, once combustion gets started, heat source need not
There are different types of combustion like rapid combustion, slow combustion,
complete combustion, turbulent combustion etc. But in pulse detonation engine, primary
1.3 DEFLAGRATION
combustion that usually propagates through thermal conductivity (hot burning material
heats the next layer of cold material and ignites it). Most "fire" found in daily life, from
It is the set of phenomena accompanying the rapid passage of a reaction front, e.g., the
constant velocity that is high but remains of the same order of magnitude of many
a walker or a runner (as opposed to detonation that propagates several times faster than
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sound in air). A deflagration takes place during the rapid inflammation of the mixture of
air and gas above a burner in a stove. If the amount of gas is small, this is uneventful; if
the amount is important, the result may be an explosion. The flame of a gas burner is a
deflagration moving at a constant velocity, in the direction opposed to that of the gas flux.
Consequently, they are better suited when the goal is to move an object (a bullet in a gun,
or a piston in an internal combustion engine) with the force of the expanding gas. Typical
model consisting of a uniform one-dimensional tube of unburnt and burned gaseous fuel,
separated by a thin transitional region of width in which the burning occurs. The
thermal diffusion across the flame front is balanced by the heat supplied by burning.
There are two characteristic timescales which are important here. The first is the thermal
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conductivity. The second is the burning timescale τb, which is approximately equal to
where ε is the total energy released by burning per unit mass, and is the
In equilibrium, these two rates are equal: The heat generated by burning is equal to the
heat carried away by heat transfer. This lets us find the characteristic width δ of the flame
front:
Now, the thermal flame front propagates at a characteristic speed Sl, which is simply
a result, this derivation gives the laminar flame speed -- hence the designation Sl.
maximum flame velocity. When flame velocities are low, the effect of a deflagration is
the release of heat. Some authors use the term flash fire to describe these low-speed
deflagrations. At flame velocities near the speed of sound, the energy released is in the
form of pressure and the results resemble a detonation. Between these extremes both heat
8
When a low-speed deflagration occurs within a closed vessel or structure,
pressure effects can produce damage due to expansion of gases, as a secondary effect.
The heat released by the deflagration causes the combustion gases and excess air to try to
expand thermally as well. The net result is that the volume of the vessel or structure needs
to either expand/fail to accommodate the hot combustion gases, or build internal pressure
to contain them. The risks of deflagration inside waste storage drums is a growing
1.4 DETONATION
forward due to energy release in a reaction zone behind it. It is the more powerful of the
two general classes of combustion, the other one being deflagration. In a detonation, the
shock compresses the material thus increasing the temperature to the point of ignition.
The ignited material burns behind the shock and releases energy that supports the shock
propagates at a subsonic speed (i.e., slower than the sound speed of the explosive
material itself), and without a shock or any significant pressure change. Because
detonations generate high pressures, they are usually much more destructive than
deflagrations.
The simplest theory to predict the behavior of detonations in gases is known as Chapman-
Jouguet (CJ) theory, developed around the turn of the 20th century. This theory, described
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shock wave accompanied by exothermic heat release. Such a theory confines the
A more complex theory was advanced during World War II independently by Zel'dovich,
von Neumann, and Doering. This theory, now known as ZND (explosion) theory, admits
finite-rate chemical reactions and thus describes a detonation as an infinitely thin shock
which the shock is stationary, the flow following the shock is subsonic. Because of this,
energy release behind the shock is able to be transported acoustically to the shock for its
support. For a self-propagating detonation, the shock relaxes to a speed given by the
Chapman-Jouguet condition, which induces the material at the end of the reaction zone to
have a locally sonic speed in the reference frame in which the shock is stationary. In
effect, all of the chemical energy is harnessed to propagate the shock wave forward.
Both CJ and ZND theories are one-dimensional and steady. However, in the 1960s
in predicting these complex flow fields. Many features can be qualitatively predicted, but
the multi-scale nature of the problem makes detailed quantitative predictions very
difficult.
Detonations can be produced by high explosives, reactive gaseous mixtures, certain dusts
and aerosols.
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(i) APPLICATIONS
Detonations are hard to control and are used primarily for demolition and in warfare. A
of jet propulsion, the pulse detonation engine, uses a series of well-timed detonations to
generate thrust.
Increasing the temperature of the fuel-air charge increases the speed of combustion until
the flame propagates at supersonic speeds, resulting in a pressure shockwave. This force
is extremely destructive to common piston engines, and often results in holes blown
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1- A detonation is initiated in a detonation tube filled with reactants.
2- The detonation propagates through the detonation tube and exits at the open end.
4- At the end of the exhaust process, the tube contains expanded combustion products.
5- The valve opens and reactants flow into the tube, pushing the combustion products out
of the tube.
6- When the tube is filled with reactants, the valve closes and the cycle repeats.
At first the air is allowed inside the combustion chamber. Fuel, controlled by a solenoid
valve in the head end of the tube, is allowed to enter through a mixing element for a
volume based on the velocity of air through the system. The fuel valve is then closed and
the mixture is initiated using a spark located just downstream of the mixing element. The
initial flame kernel grows as it begins to propagate down the tube. The flame speed
excess of 1960 m/s (for hydrogen-air mixtures) or 1800 m/s (for ethylene-air mixtures)
burning the remaining reactants and pushing the gases out of the open end of the tube,
resulting in a thrust. The tube is then purged of the combustion products by the
continuously flowing air and refilled with fuel to repeat the cycle
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3. DETONATION INITIATION IN PDEs
Basically there are two methods in which detonation is initiated in a pulse detonation
engine:
1- Direct initiation.
(DDT). The former mode is dependent upon an ignition source driving a blast wave of
sufficient strength such that the igniter is directly responsible for initiating the detonation.
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The latter case begins with a deflagration initiated by some relatively weak energy source
which accelerates through interactions with its surroundings into a coupled shock wave-
mixture requires an energy deposition of over 100 kJ. This six order of magnitude
difference in ignition source energy is indicative of the general difficulty associated with
employing direct initiation techniques in pulse detonation engines. On the other hand,
after a small spark has created a deflagration, the transition process can take several
meters or longer and a corresponding large amount of time. The key to detonation
A detonation, formed in a tube that is ignited at a closed end, begins with a combustion
wave that accelerates due to heating of the unburned gases ahead of the wave. This
heating occurs from successive compressive waves formed from the expansion of the
burned gas products, which have a specific volume that is 10-15 times greater than the
unburned gases ahead of the flame. The higher temperature of the unburned gases causes
the sound velocity to increase enabling the succeeding waves to catch up to the initial
wave. The higher temperature in the unburned gases also contributes to increasing the
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flame speed, accelerating the unburned mixture. Turbulence in the flow initiates due to
this unburned gas acceleration, the natural instability of high Reynolds number flows and
the vortices associated with flow over defects or obstructions in the tube. This turbulence
causes a distortion of the flame front. As flow turbulence in the tube increases, additional
increases in the velocity and acceleration cause the formation of additional compression
waves in addition to further distorting the flame front separating it into distinct sheets.
The positive feedback between the flame and the flow ahead of it progresses to a point
where the flame breaks into a distributed reaction zone with strong straining motions and
large fluctuations in the temperature and species concentrations at the characteristic flame
scale length. Some portions of the flame front are extinguished due to the locally high
strain rates. As parts of the previously extinguished mixture re-ignite in the form of
exploding eddies; weak shock waves are formed ahead of the front. At this point the
burning rate increases slightly and the interaction of reaction waves, hotspots, and the
amplification of weak shock waves results in the reactants exploding close behind the
shock. This energy release is sufficient to maintain the shock’s strength, thus forming a
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detonation.
is used to create a flame. The energy release from the initiator device along with
radical production and energy release from the mixture compete with loss
processes including expansion of the reacting flow field and thermal conduction
and species transport away from the flame front. Flammability limits which result
Flame acceleration: Increasing energy release rate and the formation of strong
shock waves are caused by flame acceleration. The observed mechanisms for
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Formation and amplification of explosion centers: One or more localized
(the so-called explosion within the explosion). Critical temperatures are typically
around 1100 K and 1500 K for fuel-oxygen and fuel-air mixtures, respectively.
The explosion centers create small blast waves which rapidly amplify in the
surrounding mixture.
Formation of a detonation wave: The amplified blast waves and existing shock-
reaction zone complex merge into a supersonic detonation front which is self-
sustaining.
17
Fig.5 Deflagration to Detonation Transition [Ref no: 5]
The following list of factors was deemed to be important to DDT behavior in a pulsed
detonation engine.
18
a. Blockage ratio
b. Spacing
c. Length
4. Fuel/Air mixing
7. Initial pressure/temperature
8. Mixture characteristics
ρ: Density
19
(ii) TIME VS POSITION GRAPH:
The time required for a directly initiated wave trajectory is much less than that for DDT
wave trajectory which is even less than that for a laminar flame trajectory.
20
Fig.7 Block diagram of PDE [Ref no: 12]
5. WORKING OF A PDE
21
Fig. 9 Cross-sectional view along sections [Ref no: 12]
22
The pulse detonation engine provides an intermittently opening and closing valve in the
open end of the combustor outlet referred to as an "exit valve". In addition to a large flow
of combustion gas at high pressure and high temperature passing through this exit valve,
it is also required to rapidly open and close, and conventional butterfly solenoid valves
and mushroom valves therefore cannot be employed. A cylindrical rotary valve has been
invented for the present invention to achieve the necessary function and durability. It is
able to handle large flows of operating fluid at high pressure and high temperature in a
pulse detonation engine, and employs a valve mechanism for rapid operation. FIG. 8 is a
precombustor, a fuel injector, an igniter, a supply valve, a combustor, an exit valve, and a
nozzle. In the pulse detonation engine, ram-compressed air received at the intake is
cooled by heat-exchange with a cryogenic coolant and increased in density, and supplied
to the combustor (combustion tube) via the supply valve. It is desirable that liquid
hydrogen fuel be employed as the coolant of the air cooler. As a result, the fuel is heated
in the air cooler, and subsequently supplied to the combustor via the fuel injector and
(sixteen combustors shown in FIG. 9), combustion start timing differing for each
combustor. The sixteen combustors are labeled sequentially "a" through "p" (in FIG. 9).
As shown in FIGS. 10, the supply valve is of tubular shape with the end on the inlet side
closed and the other end open, and a plurality of supply holes (two holes spaced at 180°)
are provided in the tube surface such that the gaseous mixture flows into the
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precombustor and combustors only when the phases of the supply holes in the supply
valve and the holes in the combustors match. In the condition shown in sectionin FIG. 9,
air and fuel (air and fuel are referred to as a "gaseous mixture") are supplied to the
combustors a, b, i, and j facing the supply hole. At this time, the combustors c, d, k, and 1
previously filled with the gaseous mixture are ignited with the igniter from the closed end
of the precombustor, and combustion occurs with the detonation wave. Initial combustion
immediately after ignited forms a deflagration wave, however since the diameter of the
precombustor is less than the combustor, the transition from deflagration to detonation is
The exit valve is provided at the outlet of the combustors, and a plurality of outlet holes
are provided in the tube surface at positions at which the phase differs from the supply
valve such that the exit valve is closed when the gaseous mixture is supplied to the
combustors. Thus, the supply pressure of the gaseous mixture may be equalized with the
outlet pressure of the intake. As shown in FIG. 9, at the time the detonation wave reaches
the exit valve, the outlet holes in the exit valves rotate to overlap with the combustor
outlet, and the detonation wave reaches the exterior of the engine (combustors e, f, m,
and n) via the exit valve and the nozzle. After the detonation wave reaches the nozzle
atmosphere via the nozzle generating thrust. The supply valve and exit valve rotate
rapidly, and supply, combustion, and exhaust are repeated at a frequency of between 10
Hz and 100 Hz to match the phase of rotation. Since satisfactory thrust is not generated if
the timing of opening and closing of the supply valve and the exit valve is disturbed, the
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supply valve and exit valve are connected by a central shaft and rotated by an electric
FIGS. 10 show perspective views of the cylindrical rotary valve wherein the supply valve
and the exit valve are integrally configured by connection via a central shaft. As shown in
FIG. 8, the central shafts are connected with an appropriate driving actuator such as a
motor and the like via a transmission mechanism, and rotated with the prescribed timing.
The supply valve and exit valve are always rotated in the same phase relationship.
Realization of the pulse detonation engine requires that the timing of supply, ignition, and
exhaust for each combustor be maintained in the same phase without disturbance,
however by mechanically connecting the supply valve and exit valve, it is possible to
prevent disturbance of the phases of the cylindrical rotary, and to always maintain the
same phase in operation. Furthermore, by controlling the ignition timing of the igniter
with the position signal of the drive mechanism, disturbance of the ignition timing is
reduced. Since the vicinity of the supply valve and the exit valve are periodically subject
to high temperature and high pressure due to detonation, there is the possibility of
deterioration in strength and brake due to metal fatigue and thermal fatigue, and a robust
structure is required. The cylindrical rotary valve of the present invention ensures that the
processes of supply, combustion, and exhaust always occur at phases differing by 180°,
and by ensuring that high-pressure air acts on the outside of the valve, suppresses metal
fatigue and thermal fatigue. In other words, the pressure due to combustion always acts in
the direction of the central axis of the tube, and by constantly generating an equal force in
the opposite phase, cancels out the force acting on the entire valve. Thus, it is possible to
improve reliability of the supply valve and exit valve, reduce the valve drive force, and
25
reduce the size and weight of the drive mechanism. Furthermore, the life of the bearing
mechanism supporting the valve and shaft can be increased and its size reduced.
There are quite a number of practical problems to be overcome before a working PDE
can be built.
Firstly there's the issue of valving. The effective life of a traditional pulsejet tends to be
measured in minutes rather than hours -- and that's even though they're only called on to
handle the relatively low pressures generated by deflagration. If the same fragile valves
are used when detonating an air/fuel mixture they would instantly be destroyed.
26
To get around this problem, some of the existing PDE designs appear to use robust rotary
valves -- but this often requires a sophisticated synchronization system to ensure that the
externally driven valves open and close at exactly the right times.
Another alternative is to use a valve less setup and rely on a careful synchronization of
Other problems with PDEs at this stage of their development include being able to inject
and detonate the trigger charge at exactly the right moment to produce detonation of the
main air-fuel charge. Too early and there won't be enough air/fuel to provide a good blast
-- to late and the air/fuel will have already started leaving the tailpipe.
Then there is the problem of structural integrity. What you're effectively doing with a
PDE is repeatedly setting off a small charge of hi-explosive inside a metal tube. This
obviously requires that a PDE be massively stronger than a pulsejet. It also means that the
The main focus is currently being placed on researching and improving the
detonation process.
The current generation of PDEs don't seem capable of continuous running for any
length of time.
27
They are more or less just single-shot devices requiring several seconds to
Many developers have high hopes that the PDE will ultimately become the most cost-
obtained by detonation offer the potential for much better fuel-efficiency than even the
best turbojet, and the fact that they are an air-breathing engine reduces the fuel-load and
Unfortunately there are still a number of negative issues that will need to be addressed.
Firstly there's the noise.Then there's the issue of vibration. Although multiple engines
could possibly be synchronized to fire in a manner that reduces vibration levels, they will
still be significantly greater than those generated by turbojet or rocket motors. High levels
of vibration place incredible demands on the materials from which motors and airframes
are constructed.
9. REFERENCES
1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse_detonation_engine
2) http://aardvark.co.nz/pjet/pde.shtml
28
5) Pulse Detonation Engine Simulations with Alternative Geometries and
6) http://www.seas.ucla.edu/combustion/projects/pulsed_detonation_wave.html
Karagozian, A. R., Journal of Scientific Computing, Vol. 19, Nos. 1-3, pp.201-
8) http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/combst1.html
11) Takayuki Kojima, Tetsuya Sato, Hiroaki Kobayashi, Pulse Detonation Engine
29