Effects of partial filling on the impulse of pulse detonation engine

Partial-tube fill experiments were conducted in a fixed length PDE tube with a fuel section of different length, covering a wide range of the detonation tube fill fraction (ratio of fuel length to tube length), using gasoline as fuel and air as oxidizer. Impulse was calculated by integrating the pressure at the closed end of the tube. Based on the results obtained experimentally, It is found that the fuel-based specific impulse declines with fill fraction. On the other hand, the total-mixture-based specific impulse rises as fill fraction increases. A partial-fill model is developed to predict the impulse obtained from a partially-filled detonation tube.