Pulse Detonation Engine (PDE) has been considered as a future propulsion system for broad range of operation and higher thermal efficiency. Various subsystem technologies have been studied for more than decade to improve the performance of the potential system. New valve systems has been developed for the stable operation at high frequency including inflow-driven valve, rotary valve and valveless system. To foster the detonation initiation with a little ignition energy, plasma ignition method and DDT (deflagration to detonation transition) acceleration method such as swept ramp mechanism have been studied. Fluidic nozzle system and other nozzle system are the ongoing research topics to maximize the propulsion performance of the PDE. Present paper introduces the state of the art of PDE subsystem technologies developed in recent years.
Most of the aerospace propulsion is based on the Brayton cycle, in which the combustion is held through the constant pressure process, but further improvement of performance by increasing compression ratio is challenged by mechanical limits. Detonation propulsions, regarded promising for high-speed propulsion for a lase decade, is more rigorously studied in these days as a game-changer for the improvement of thermodynamic efficiency of propulsion and power generation systems.Since, the additional compression by the strong shock of the detonation wave is considered increasing thermodynamics efficiency that is hardly achievable by the conventional compression systems. Present paper will give an introduction the latest technical trends on the Pulse Detonation Engines(PDEs) and the activities on the Pressure Gain Combustion (PGC) based on Constant Volume Combustion (CVC).
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