Experiment on the effect of ignition energy in pulse detonation engine

The ignition energy and operation frequency effects on the ignition-detonation performance and propulsion performance of gasoline-air two-phase valveless pulse detonation engine (PDE) were presented. In order to observe the effects of ignition energy and operation frequency on ignition-detonation time and PDE performance, the proof-of-principle experiments of PDE were carried out. The results indicates that the ignition energy and operation frequency have important effects on ignition-detonation time. As the ignition energy increases, the ignition-detonation time decreases and the average thrust of PDE increases. As the operation frequency increases, the ignition-detonation time decreases and the ignition energy effect on ignition-detonation time degenerates. The optimum fuel/air equivalence ratio decreases and the average thrust of air-breathing PDE increases nearly linearly with the operation frequency increasing.