Liquid-Fueled, Air-Breathing Pulse Detonation Engine Demonstrator: Operation Principles and Performance

A demonstrator of the liquid-fueled air-breathing pulse engine with relatively low energy requirements for repeated initiation, with no fuel preconditioning, no use of onboard oxygen, and reasonable geometrical dimensions has been designed and tested. The design of the demonstrator combined several new principles and technologies. One of the most important design principles is the use of the detonation peninsular in the tube comprising the Shchelkin spiral followed by the tube coil. For the cold startup of the demonstrator, a new method for initiation by successive triggering of two igniters was applied. The demonstrator design was optimized for attaining stable operation in the mode. The thrust was measured by the ballistic pendulum technique during the operation of the demonstrator at frequencies of 2.2, 3.1, and 3.9 Hz. The maximal measured thrust was about 30 N. Because of acceptable weight and size characteristics of the pulse engine demonstrator, the proposed process design can be regarded as promising for practical applications.