THE DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF PULSED

DETONATION ENGINE GROUND

DEMONSTRATORS

by

PHILIP KOSHY PANICKER

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Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of
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The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements
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for the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
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THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON

August 2008
 3320088

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3320088
2008
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Copyright © by Philip K. Panicker

All Rights Reserved

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Psalm 53:1 (Please do not be one.)

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2 Peter 3: 2-9 (Sign of the times.)

Psalm 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the
LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Mark 8:36, 37
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For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own
soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Psalm 103:2-5 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all
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thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from
destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies; Who
satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the
eagle's.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
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The Holy Bible, Authorized KJV

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would first like to thank Dr. Frank Lu for his long and continual support and

encouragement throughout this educational endeavor. I am grateful for the freedom to pursue

research in my own direction, mostly, and for the opportunity to work at the ARC. I also am

thankful for the pep talks, the apt refocusing of my attention during wavering moments and for all

the help with research. I am extremely indebted to Dr. Lu for his diligent editing and proofreading

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of my dissertation manuscript. I wish to thank Dr. Don Wilson, who helped me with my

scholarships and assistantships and other aid during my study here. I am grateful to him for
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making it possible for me to travel to Canberra, Australia and Reno, NV, for the AIAA

conferences. I am also very thankful for his advice on the research subjects and for reading and
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editing my dissertation.

I want to thank Dr. George Emanuel for his advice and instructions during the brief time

that he was on my committee. I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Brian Dennis, Dr.
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Kamesh Subbarao and Dr. Albert Tong for their advice and feedback. I would like to thank Dr. J.

Craig Dutton, who during his time here, encouraged me in my research work. I am also grateful to

Dr. Wen S. Chan, who as graduate advisor, arranged for my teaching assistantships. In addition,

I am obliged to Dr. S.M. You for granting me the opportunity to teach the MAE2381 class for two

semesters.

I would like to thank the administrative staff of the MAE department, including Louella

Carpenter, Janet Gober, Sally Thompson, Barbara Sanderson and Donna Woodhead, for their

timely management of all bureaucratic procedures and for all their help in maintaining the smooth

flow of operations without a hitch. Connie Niece will always be remembered for her friendly

words and for her help with travel arrangements. I would like to thank Rodney Duke, Engineering

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Technician at the ARC, who converted all the articles within my drawings and without into

tangible material and for all other help in setting up our research apparatus.

I wish to thank Jiun-Ming (Jimmy) Li, who was my research partner during his one-year

stint here at UTA and ARC, during which time we drew up designs, performed experiments and

wrote papers together. I want to thank Dr. Daniel T.S. New, who got me started on the research

on PDEs and also took on the bigger role in writing papers of our research. I am also grateful to

Kin Fong Chui and Kim Seng Lim, who joined us here for research on PDEs. I want to thank

Naveen Kumar Reddy and Harsha Shivashankar, who were co-researchers on the early PDEs.

I want to thank Rafaela Bellini, for her love, friendship and support for which I am truly

indebted. I am grateful to her for wielding her great skills with MS Word for the formatting and

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typesetting of this manuscript and all other help she extended to me during my days writing this

work.
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I am very grateful to Albert Ortiz, my colleague and co-researcher, for all his invaluable

help and partnership in performing the experiments and setting up equipment and instruments,
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and analyzing data; and as co-GTA of MAE2381. I want to thank my other colleagues here at

ARC, Eric Braun, Richard Mitchell, Adam Pierce and Prashaanth Ravindran, who helped with

research work and in running the PDEs. Along with the other inhabitants of the ARC, they made
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life here interesting and fun.

I want to thank my father P. Koshy Panicker, my mother Deenamma for their love,

prayers and continued support for all my education. I also want to thank my brother, John, who

supported me financially and spiritually in my education. I want to thank my sister, Anu Koshy and

brother-in-law Binu John, for their love. I want to thank the Kuruvilla family for all their love, help

and prayers during my life here in DFW.

I want to thank all who helped me along the way and could not be included by name here

in this short list.

Above all, I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave me life and

blessed my life abundantly. May all glory be to God.

July 23, 2008

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 ABSTRACT

THE DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF PULSED

DETONATION ENGINE GROUND

DEMONSTRATORS

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Philip K. Panicker, PhD.
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The University of Texas at Arlington, 2008

Supervising Professor: Frank K. Lu

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The successful implementation of a PDE running on fuel and air mixtures will

require fast-acting fuel-air injection and mixing techniques, detonation initiation techniques such

as DDT enhancing devices or a pre-detonator, an effective ignition system that can sustain

repeated firing at high rates and a fast and capable, closed-loop control system. The control

system requires high-speed transducers for real-time monitoring of the PDE and the detection

of the detonation wave speed. It is widely accepted that the detonation properties predicted by

C-J detonation relations are fairly accurate in comparison to experimental values. The post-

detonation flow properties can also be expressed as a function of wave speed or Mach number.

Therefore, the PDE control system can use C-J relations to predict the post-detonation flow

properties based on measured initial conditions and compare the values with those obtained

from using the wave speed. The controller can then vary the initial conditions within the

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combustor for the subsequent cycle, by modulating the frequency and duty cycle of the valves,

to obtain optimum air and fuel flow rates, as well as modulate the energy and timing of the

ignition to achieve the required detonation properties. Five different PDE ground demonstrators

were designed, built and tested to study a number of the required sub-systems. This work

presents a review of all the systems that were tested, along with suggestions for their

improvement. The PDE setups, ranged from a compact PDE with a 19 mm (3/4 in.) i.d., to two

25 mm (1 in.) i.d. setups, to a 101 mm (4 in.) i.d. dual-stage PDE setup with a pre-detonator.

Propane-oxygen mixtures were used in the smaller PDEs. In the dual-stage PDE, propane-

oxygen was used in the pre-detonator, while propane-air mixtures were used in the main

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combustor. Both rotary valves and solenoid valve injectors were studied. The rotary valves

setups were tested at 10 Hz, while the solenoid valves were tested at up to 30 Hz on a 25 mm
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i.d. PDE. The dual-stage PDE was run at both 1 Hz and 10 Hz using solenoid valves. The two

types of valves have their drawbacks and advantages which are discussed, along with ways to
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enhance their functionality. Rotary valves with stepper motor drives are recommended to be

used for air flow control, while an array of solenoid injectors may be used for liquid or gaseous

fuel injection. Various DDT enhancing devices were tested, including Shchelkin spirals (with
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varying thicknesses, lengths and pitches), grooved sleeves and converging-diverging nozzles.

The Shchelkin spirals are found to be the most effective of all, at blockage ratios in the region of

50 to 55 %. To improve the durability of Shchelkin spirals, it is recommended that they be

grooved into the inside of tubes or inserted as replaceable sleeves. Orifice plates with high

blockage ratios, in the region of 50 to 80 %, are also recommended due to their simple and

rugged design. All these devices along with the PDE combustor will require a strong cooling

system to prevent damage from the extreme detonation temperatures. High energy (HE) and

low energy (LE) ignition systems were tested and compared along with various designs of

igniters and automotive spark plugs. It is concluded that while HE ignition may help

unsensitized fuel-air mixtures to achieve detonations faster than LE systems, the former have

severe drawbacks. The HE igniters get damaged quickly, and require large and heavy power

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supplies. While the HE ignition is able to reduce ignition delay in a propane-oxygen pre-

detonator, it did not show a significant improvement in bringing about DDT in the main

combustor using propane-air mixtures. The compact pre-detonator design with a gradual area

change transitioning to a larger combustor is found to be effective for detonation initiation, but

the pre-detonator concept is recommended for high-speed applications only, since higher

speeds requires more sensitive, easily detonable fuels that have short ignition delays and DDT

run-up distances. Dynamic pressure transducers, ion detectors and photo-detectors were

compared for the diagnostics of the detonation wave. The ion detector is found to be a safe,

cheap and effective choice for obtaining detonation or flame velocities, and better than the

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optical detector, which is not practical for long-duration PDE operations. The piezoelectric

dynamic pressure transducer has problems with heating and requires an effective cooling
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system to enable it to function in a PDE. Other diagnostics studied include thrust measurement

and mass flow rate measurement techniques. Additionally, fuel sensitizing techniques, such as
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hydrogen blending, along with the DDT devices can ensure that detonations are produced

successfully.
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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... iv

ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................ ix

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ...................................................................................................... xiii

LIST OF TABLES.................................................................................................................... xxi

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NOMENCLATURE ................................................................................................................. xxiii

Chapter IE Page

1. INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................1

1.1 Brief Look at Various Propulsion Systems ...................................................1

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1.2 The Pulsejet Engine ....................................................................................3

1.3 The Pulse Detonation Engine ......................................................................5

1.4 History of the PDE..................................................................................... 15

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1.5 PDE Research at the University of Texas at Arlington................................ 18

1.6 The PDE Cycle.......................................................................................... 20

1.7 Scaling the PDE ........................................................................................ 21

1.8 Motivation for PDE Research .................................................................... 23

1.9 The Main Difficulties Impeding the Maturation of PDEs .............................. 24

1.10 Objectives of This Study .......................................................................... 29

2. THEORY OF DETONATION ........................................................................... 32

2.1 Detonation vs. Deflagration ....................................................................... 32

2.2 Chapman-Jouguet Theory ......................................................................... 34

2.3 ZND Theory .............................................................................................. 42

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 2.4 Three-Dimensional Structure of Detonation Waves and Cell
Size ................................................................................................................ 47

2.5 Detonation Nomenclature ..........................................................................55

2.6 Initiation of Detonation............................................................................... 58

2.7 Detonation Parameters.............................................................................. 60

3. A BRIEF REVIEW OF FUELS FOR PDE APPLICATION................................. 63

3.1 Definitions ................................................................................................. 63

3.2 Fuels Selection for Pulse Detonation Engines............................................ 68

3.3 Brief Review of Aviation Fuels ...................................................................73

3.4 Ignition Time Delay of Fuels ......................................................................78

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3.5 Reduction of Ignition Delay Times of Hydrocarbon Fuels ........................... 82

3.6 Summary .................................................................................................. 86

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4. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP................................................................................ 88

4.1 Bantam Pulsed Detonation Engine ............................................................ 88

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4.2 PDE Mark 1............................................................................................... 90

4.3 PDE Mark 2............................................................................................... 94

4.4 PDE Mark 3............................................................................................... 98

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4.5 PDE Integration With Turbocharger and Generator Study ........................ 102

4.6 The Dual-Stage PDE: PDE With Pre-Detonator ....................................... 110

5. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF DEFLAGRATION-TO-

DETONATION TRANSITION DEVICES ........................................................ 123

5.1 DDT Devices ........................................................................................... 123

5.2 Study of The Effect of Shchelkin Spiral Parameters on DDT .................... 125

5.3 Comparison of Various DDT Devices....................................................... 127

5.4 Discussion .............................................................................................. 131

5.5 Summary ................................................................................................ 134

6. STUDY OF PRE-DETONATOR DESIGN ...................................................... 136

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 6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 136

6.2 Constant Area Pre-detonator ................................................................... 138

6.3 Pre-detonator with Abrupt Area Change .................................................. 139

6.4 Pre-detonator with Smooth Area Change................................................. 140

6.5 Pre-detonator With Smooth Curving Bend ............................................... 143

6.6 Summary ................................................................................................ 146

7. STUDY OF IGNITION SYSTEMS FOR THE PDE ......................................... 147

7.1 Brief Introduction of Ignition Systems....................................................... 147

7.2 Study of the High-Energy Arc Ignition System.......................................... 155

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7.3 Study of High-Voltage Low-Energy (HVLE) Ignition System ..................... 160

7.4 Comparison of HE Arc Discharge with HV LE Ignition in Pre-

Detonator of The Dual-Stage PDE................................................................. 162
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7.5 Corona Discharge for Pre-ionizing Air Flow ............................................. 171

7.6 Summary ................................................................................................ 176

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8. STUDY OF VALVES FOR PDE GROUND DEMONSTRATOR...................... 177

8.1 Mechanical vs. Electrical Systems and Mechatronics............................... 177

8.2 Rotary Valves.......................................................................................... 179

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8.3 Experimental Rotary Valves Used in PDE Tests ...................................... 181

8.4 Application of Solenoid Valves in PDE Ground Demonstrators................. 184

8.5 Achieving The High Flow Rates Required For PDE Operation ................. 194

8.6 Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Injectors for PDE Application ........................... 200

8.7 Pressure Regulator to Prevent Line Pressure Drop and To

Maintain Flow Rates...................................................................................... 202

8.8 Summary ................................................................................................ 205

9. STUDY OF DIAGNOSTICS, INSTRUMENTATION, DATA

ACQUISITION AND CONTROL SYSTEM FOR PDE GROUND
DEMONSTRATORS ..................................................................................... 207

9.1 Requirements For a PDE Control System ................................................ 207

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 9.2 Dynamic Pressure Transducers............................................................... 213

9.3 Optical Transducers ................................................................................222

9.4 Ion Detectors........................................................................................... 226

9.5 Temperature Measurements ................................................................... 232

9.6 Mass Flow Rate Measurements .............................................................. 236

9.7 Thrust Measurement ...............................................................................248

9.8 Sound Measurement ...............................................................................255

9.9 Summary ................................................................................................ 258

10. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................................. 261

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APPENDIX

A. STATION NUMBERING SCHEME FOR THE PDE........................................ 267

B.
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CIRCUIT DIAGRAMS OF THE IGNITION CIRCUIT ...................................... 270

C. UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS .......................................................................... 275

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D. PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE PDE APPARATUS .............................................. 280

REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 288

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION........................................................................................... 302

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 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Page

1.1 Specific impulse vs. Mach number regime of various propulsion

systems................................................................................................................. 3

1.2 Schematic of a basic pulse detonation engine with valves at the inlet
and a nozzle at the exhaust. .................................................................................. 6

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1.3 The four stages of a PDE cycle. ............................................................................ 7

1.4 Schematic of a multi-chambered PDE, with each chamber in a different

stage of the cycle. ................................................................................................. 8

1.5
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Schematic of a three stroke PDE cycle. ............................................................... 10

1.6 Schematic of an ejector-augmented PDE. ........................................................... 10

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1.7 Schematic of a turbofan-PDE-hybrid. ................................................................... 11

1.8 Schematic of hybrid PDE with turbine and generator for electric power
production. .......................................................................................................... 12
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1.9 Schematic of the method of injecting water or a methanol solution into

the PDE plenum chamber.................................................................................... 14

1.10 The T-s and p-v diagrams of the pulsejet, the Brayton and the PDE
cycles respectively. ............................................................................................. 21

2.1 Wave-centric schematics of a detonation wave and a deflagration

wave. .................................................................................................................. 33

2.2 A family of rectangular hyperbolic Rankine-Hugoniot curves. ............................... 39

2.3 Schematic of Rankine-Hugoniot curve corresponding to the C-J theory

of detonation.. ..................................................................................................... 40

2.4 Schematic of the pressure, temperature and density profiles of a ZND

detonation model. ................................................................................................ 44

2.5 Schematic of the Rankine-Hugoniot plot corresponding to the ZND

detonation theory ................................................................................................ 45

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2.6 The pressure history of an actual detonation wave of a stoichiometric
propane-oxygen mixture ...................................................................................... 46

2.7 Schematic of the Rankine-Hugoniot curve showing the path taken for a
C-J detonation as well as a strong detonation wave. ............................................ 47

2.8 Schematic of detonation cells formed within a tube as the detonation

wave travels down its length ................................................................................ 49

2.9 Detailed schematic illustrating the formation of the diamond pattern by

the movement of the triple points. ........................................................................ 50

2.10 A plot of cell size vs. equivalence ratio for various mixtures. ................................ 51

2.11 A plot of cell size vs. equivalence ratio for hydrogen-air mixtures. ........................ 52

2.12 A plot of cell size vs. initial pressure for propane with oxygen with
diluents. .............................................................................................................. 53

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2.13 A plot of cell size vs. initial pressure for hydrogen ................................................ 54

2.14 A plot of cell size vs. initial pressures for a handful of gaseous fuels at
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initial temperature of 293 K. ................................................................................. 55

2.15 The location where DDT occurred in fuel lines is often seen by the
presence of a bulge in fuel lines that have undergone a flashback or
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unwanted detonation ........................................................................................... 59

2.16 A schematic showing the minimum and critical diameters for tubes and
ducts. .................................................................................................................. 62

3.1 Vapor pressure of propane versus temperature, with the p − T curve

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projected up to a temperature of 200 °C. ............................................................. 73

3.2 Schematic of ignition time delay between the arrival of the reflected
shock wave and the onset of ignition in a shock tube. .......................................... 80

3.3 The combustion stage of the PDE is expanded to show the various
processes that occur within it. .............................................................................. 81

3.4 Schematic of a plasmatron-based hydrogen gas generator for use

onboard a PDE-based aircraft. ............................................................................ 85

4.1 Schematic of the Bantam PDE. ........................................................................... 88

4.2 Schematic of PDE Mark 1.................................................................................... 91

4.3 Schematic of the ignition plugs used in PDE Mark 1 and Mark 2 .......................... 93

4.4 Schematic of PDE Mark 2.................................................................................... 95

4.5 Schematic of PDE Mark 3.................................................................................... 99

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4.6 Schematics of the gas injection module and the spiral section of PDE
Mark 3. ................................................................................................................ 99

4.7 Schematic of the PDE-turbocharger-generator setup. ........................................ 102

4.8 Schematic of the ac generator with the speed reduction wheels. ........................ 106

4.9 Output voltage of the generator acquired by the DAQ at 500 kS/s in 1 s
periods .............................................................................................................. 108

4.10 Voltage output of the generator showing a sinusoidal waveform ........................ 109

4.11 Schematic of the dual-stage PDE showing the dimensions and the
locations of transducers..................................................................................... 111

4.12 Schematic of the dual-stage PDE showing the various parts. ............................. 112

4.13 Schematic of the swirl injector block .................................................................. 115

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4.14 Circuit diagram of the driver circuit developed for the Denso gasoline
injectors. ........................................................................................................... 117

4.15
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Schematic of the liquid fuel mixing chamber. ..................................................... 119

4.16 Schematic of the liquid fuel pumping system developed for the dual-
stage PDE. ........................................................................................................ 119
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4.17 Schematic of the ion detector and the circuit diagram of its amplifier. ................. 122

4.18 Schematic of the photo-detector and the circuit diagram of its amplifier.............. 122

5.1 Schematic of the Shchelkin spiral, showing the various parameters

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used to specify it. .............................................................................................. 124

5.2 Schematic of orifice plates. ................................................................................ 125

5.3 Schematic of the various DDT devices tested on PDE Mark 2............................ 128

5.4 (Top) The average TOF velocities for various DDT devices tested at 15
Hz. (Bottom) Success rate for the various devices at 15 Hz ............................... 129

5.5 A sample Shchelkin spiral after testing in the PDE Mark 1 showing
evidence of massive wear and deformation. ...................................................... 132

5.6 Fragment of a Shchelkin spiral after testing the PDE Mark 1. ............................. 132

5.7 The remains of a Shchelkin spiral that fused together after testing
within PDE Mark 1. ............................................................................................ 133

5.8 Picture of the PDE Mark 1 undegoing a test, using stoichiometric

propane-oxygen mixture at 10 Hz. ..................................................................... 134

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6.1 Schematics of various pre-detonator designs..................................................... 137

6.2 Photographs of smoked foil records from detonation propagating

through smooth nozzles in C 2 H 2 + 2.5O 2 mixtures. ....................................... 141

6.3 Test results from the Dual-Stage PDE with pre-detonator and 30°
nozzle for stoichiometric propane-oxygen mixture.............................................. 143

6.4 Smoked foil records of detonation propagation in 15 mm channels

containing C 2 H 2 + 2.5O 2 mixtures .................................................................. 145

7.1 Minimum spark ignition energy of various jet fuel sprays in air at 1 atm .............. 152

7.2 Schematic of the PDE timing. ............................................................................ 153

7.3 Pressure history from a no-flow test of PDE Mark 1 with the HE ignition

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system turned on for about 1.25 s shows very high intensity EMI ....................... 154

7.4 Schematic of the HE arc ignition system used on the Bantam PDE,
PDE Mark 1 and earlier PDE studies. ................................................................ 156

7.5
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Schematic of the igniter used on the Bantam PDE for the HE arc
ignition system. ................................................................................................. 157

7.6 The HE igniter developed for the Bantam PDE before testing (left), and
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testing with a propane-oxygen stoichiometric mixture (right). ............................. 158

7.7 Schematic of the igniters used in HE and HVLE ignition used on PDE
Mark 1 and PDE Mark 2. ................................................................................... 159

7.8 The electrodes used for HE and HVLE ignition on the PDE Mark 1 and
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the PDE Mark 2 suffered erosion as a result of the detonation. .......................... 160

7.9 Schematic of the placement of the automotive igniter used in the PDE
Mark 3 and the dual-stage PDE. ........................................................................ 161

7.10 Schematic of HE arc discharge igniter used in the pre-detonator of the

Dual-Stage PDE. ............................................................................................... 163

7.11 A schematic of the HE ignition circuit is shown................................................... 163

7.12 Schematic of the Dual-Stage PDE with pre-detonator, showing the

location of the igniters and the pressure transducer ports................................... 164

7.13 Time of flight calculations for PDE operating at 1Hz and 10 Hz.. ........................ 167

7.14 History of the TTL signal and the pressure readings for a test of the
dual-stage PDE with the HE arc discharge ignition system at 10 Hz. .................. 168

7.15 Pressure history for PDE test with the HE arc discharge ignition system
at 1 Hz.. ............................................................................................................ 169
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7.16 Pressure history for PDE test with the HVLE ignition system at 1 Hz. ................. 170

7.17 Pressure history for PDE test with the low-energy system at 10 Hz. ................... 171

7.18 Corona discharge schemes are shown for PDE application. .............................. 174

8.1 Schematic of the flow through an orifice............................................................. 180

8.2 Schematic of the rotary valve system used in the PDE demonstrators. .............. 182

8.3 Schematic of the rotary valve showing the variation in the area of the
valve opening as the rotor is spun ..................................................................... 184

8.4 A typical TTL output from the PDE control program, for a three device
setup.. ............................................................................................................... 187

8.5 Schematic of the TTL signals and valve operations for a two valve
system.. ............................................................................................................ 188

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8.6 The schematic of a two way, normally closed solenoid valve. ............................ 189

8.7 (a) The response of a solenoid valve to the application of a voltage

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pulse, and (b) reaction of the solenoid valve when a modified voltage
pulse is applied. ................................................................................................ 190

8.8 The typical B-H curve of ferromagnetic materials is as shown above.................. 191
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8.9 A schematic of the B-H hysteresis loop of a ferromagnetic material
shown using dashed line. .................................................................................. 192

8.10 The force-vs.-position of core curve, along with the force-vs.-coil

current curve of a solenoid valve. ...................................................................... 193
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8.11 The typical magnetization vs. temperature curve of a ferromagnetic

material. ............................................................................................................ 194

8.12 Results of from an earlier study of a multi-cycle PDRE performed at

various frequencies. .......................................................................................... 195

8.13 The air mass flow rate vs. combustor inlet Mach number for a 1 m long
combustor of various diameters, calculated at 1 atm, 300 K.. ............................. 197

8.14 The frequency attainable when the combustor inlet Mach number is
given is shown in the frequency vs. Mach number plot for various
combustor lengths.. ........................................................................................... 198

8.15 Schematic of inline side wall fuel injection to increase filling and mixing
speed on a single tube PDE. ............................................................................. 199

8.16 Schematic of a multi-combustor PDE with sidewall fuel and air

injection............................................................................................................. 199

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8.17 A schematic of the staggered injection scheme to increase the
frequency of operation. ...................................................................................... 202

8.18 The dramatic drop in line pressures of propane, oxygen and air supply
is seen during a test of the dual-stage PDE at 10 Hz. ........................................ 204

8.19 Schematic of a pulse-width-modulated pressure regulator system to

control the line pressure on a PDE. ................................................................... 205

9.1 Schematic of a detonation wave moving over the sensing surface of a

transducer, going right to left. ............................................................................ 210

9.2 Plot of magnitude vs. frequency ratio (top) and phase shift vs.
frequency ratio (bottom) for second order systems............................................. 212

9.3 Schematic of a recessed water-cooling envelope (a) and a flush

mounted water-cooling envelope (b) for pressure transducers are
shown. .............................................................................................................. 215

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9.4 Pressure history from a 15 Hz test of the PDE Mark 2 with
stoichiometric propane-air. ................................................................................ 216

9.5
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A schematic of the flush and recessed pressure transducer. .............................. 218

9.6 A sample pressure history from a test of the PDE Mark 3 running in
single shot mode, showing the difference in pressure readings from
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flush-mounted and recessed pressure transducers.. .......................................... 219

9.7 A sample single detonation wave pressure trace sampled at 240 kS/s
(top) and 2 MS/s (bottom). ................................................................................. 221

9.8 Schematic of the hand built optical transducers and the associated
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circuit diagram used in this study. ...................................................................... 223

9.9 The spectral response range of the S1226-18BU photo-diode. .......................... 223

9.10 A typical set of signal history from the Dual-Stage PDE, showing data
from the pressure and optical transducers ......................................................... 225

9.11 A schematic of the dual probe (left) and the single probe (right) ion
detectors. .......................................................................................................... 227

9.12 Schematic of the ion probe and the amplifier circuit used for detonation
wave detection. ................................................................................................. 229

9.13 A sample signal history from a dual-stage PDE test at 5 Hz showing

pressure, optical and ion sensor readings. ......................................................... 230

9.14 Schematic of the NANMAC eroding-junction thermocouple. ............................... 235

9.15 Schematic of a sonic flow nozzle mass flow meter. ............................................ 237

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9.16 The dramatic drop in line pressures of propane, oxygen and air supply
is seen during a test of the dual-stage PDE at 10 Hz. ........................................ 239

9.17 The pressures upstream of the sonic flow nozzles of oxygen and air
are shown for a 10 Hz run of the dual-stage PDE .............................................. 240

9.18 A schematic of the gas supply system for the PDE ............................................ 242

9.19 The flow rate is proportional to the square root of the pressure
difference across a valve. .................................................................................. 243

9.20 The calibration curves of two identical Denso DI gasoline injectors. ................... 245

9.21 Schematic of the flow rate calibration system for gaseous valves using
balloons and a sensitive weighing scale............................................................. 247

9.22 Results of volumetric flow rate tests performed on an AFS Gs series

gaseous fuel valve............................................................................................. 247

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9.23 Schematic showing how to avoid edge loading of the load cell by using
a curved attachment to concentrate the force at the center of the load
cell. ................................................................................................................... 250
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9.24 A schematic of the slider system used for the PDE thrust
measurement. ................................................................................................... 251
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9.25 The thrust readings from a 10 Hz run of the dual-stage PDE using
propane-oxygen mixtures. ................................................................................. 252

9.26 Thrust history from a 1 Hz run of the dual-stage PDE with near
stoichiometric propane-oxygen mixtures. ........................................................... 253
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9.27 Expanded time view of a single thrust pulse from Figure 9.26. ........................... 254

9.28 Schematic of a possible control system for a PDE. ............................................ 260

A.1 Cross sectional view and station numbering scheme of a turbojet

engine with afterburner. ..................................................................................... 268

A.2 Cross sectional view and station numbering scheme of a scramjet

engine. .............................................................................................................. 268

A.3 Cross sectional view and station numbering scheme of a hybrid PDE. ............... 269

A.4 Cross sectional view and station numbering scheme of a hybrid

turbofan-PDE. ................................................................................................... 269

B.1 Layout of the complete circuit of the dual-voltage, high energy ignition
system used in the Bantam PDE and PDE Mark 1. ............................................ 271

B.2 Circuit diagram of the main control circuit used for the above dual-
voltage, high energy ignition system. ................................................................. 272

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B.3 Circuit diagram of the SCR control circuit used in the above dual-
voltage, high energy ignition system. ................................................................. 273

B.4 Circuit diagram of the high-voltage, low energy ignition system used in
PDE Mark 2, PDE Mark 3 and the dual-stage PDE. ........................................... 274

D.1 Detail of the Bantam PDE. ................................................................................. 281

D.2 Detail of the PDE Mark 1 showing the detonation tube wrapped in
wetted cloth for cooling. ..................................................................................... 281

D.3 Detail of the PDE Mark 2, with the transducer section wrapped with
wetted cloths for cooling. ................................................................................... 282

D.4 Detail of a Shchelkin spiral that was tested in the PDE Mark 2 using
stoichiometric propane-oxygen mixtures at 15 Hz for about 15 to 20 s. .............. 282

D.5 Detail of the ignition plugs used in the PDE Mark 2 shown prior to

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testing. .............................................................................................................. 283

D.6 Detail of the ignition plug used in the PDE Mark 2 shown after testing................ 283

D.7
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Detail of the slotted-sleeve DDT device used in the PDE Mark 2. ....................... 284

D.8 Detail of the spiral-sleeve DDT device used in the PDE Mark 2.......................... 284
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D.9 Detail of the PDE Mark 3. .................................................................................. 285

D.10 Detail of the dual-stage PDE.............................................................................. 285

D.11 Another picture of the dual-stage PDE. .............................................................. 286

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D.12 Details of the ion detectors (left) and the photo detectors (right) used in
the dual-stage PDE. .......................................................................................... 286

D.13 Detail of the gas supply cart showing the sonic flow nozzles, flash-back
arrestors and pneumatic valves. ........................................................................ 287

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 LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

2.1 Comparison of properties of detonation vs. deflagration. ........................................33

2.2 Comparison of detonation velocities obtained by C-J theoretical

calculations with experimental values. ................................................................... 41

2.3 Detonation properties calculated using the C-J model by the CEA code................. 42

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2.4 List of cell sizes for various fuel-air mixtures at stoichiometric condition. ................ 50

3.1 List of a few well known fuels and their properties. ................................................. 70

3.2
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List of some aviation fuels ..................................................................................... 74

3.3 C-J detonation properties obtained from the CEA code for propane
with small concentrations of H2 . ........................................................................... 86
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4.1 Results of the PDE-turbocharger-generator system test....................................... 109

5.1 List of test cases and results in brief. ................................................................... 126

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5.2 Dimensions of the DDT devices tested on PDE Mark 2. ....................................... 128

6.1 The length and volume of a nozzle that expands from 25.4 mm to
101.6 mm for angles from 0° through 45°............................................................. 142

7.1 Comparison of thrust measured for the HE arc discharge ignition

system and the HVLE ignition system. ................................................................. 168

7.2 Results of C-J detonation calculations of propane obtained from the

CEA code, for various concentrations of ozone. ................................................... 175

8.1 Curie temperatures of a few ferromagnetic elements. .......................................... 194

9.1 Characteristic frequencies for various wave speeds and sensor widths. ............... 210

9.2 List of standard thermocouple types. ................................................................... 233

9.3 Calibration results of two Denso DI gasoline injectors. .........................................245

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C.1 Uncertainty in temperature reading calculated using the RSS method
for a variety of thermocouples.............................................................................. 278

C.2 Uncertainty in the static pressure transducer readings calculated using

the RSS method. ................................................................................................. 278

C.3 The uncertainty calculated for various sampling rates for the case of
∆x = 50.8 mm and ∆t = 20 µs. ..........................................................................279

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 NOMENCLATURE

a speed of sound
A area, area of each detonation chamber
A ampere, (unit of current)
a0 speed of sound at inlet
ac alternating current
atm atmosphere, (unit of pressure)
b bit

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B magnetic field, Wb/m2 or T
B, kB, MB byte, kilobyte, megabyte
BR blockage ratio
cd discharge coefficient of valve/nozzle meter
CDWE
C-J
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continuous detonation wave engine
Chapman-Jouguet
cp specific heat capacity at constant pressure
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CRDI common-rail diesel injector
cv specific heat capacity at constant volume
D internal diameter of detonation tube
DAQ data acquisition system
dB decibel
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dc critical diameter of detonation tube

dc direct current
DCJ detonation velocity
DDT deflagration -to-detonation transition
E electro-motive force (emf), voltage (unit is Volts)
E electric field intensity, V/m
EMI electro-magnetic interference
F uninstalled thrust
f frequency of individual combustor
fa fuel-to-air ratio (by mass)
fc characteristic frequency for a transducer, Hz
fn natural frequency of a transducer/actuator, Hz
g acceleration due to gravity (9.81 m/s2)
G gain of amplifier
h, h1, h2 specific enthalpy, 1 is before wave, 2 is behind wave
H Magnetic field intensity, A/m
HE high energy (ignition system)
hp Horse power (unit of power, 1 hp = 745 W)

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