Experimental Study on Pulse Detonation Engine with Two-Phase Inhomogeneous Mixture

In order to investigate the effects of fuel distribution on the operation of two-phase pulse detonation engine (PDE), a series of cold flow and multicycle PDE experiments was carried out with 9 mixing schemes. Homogeneity degree with fuel distribution considered in terms of space and time was proposed to quantitatively evaluate the mixing of liquid fuel and air by particle image velocimetry (PIV) in cold flow experiments. Operation stability of multicycle PDE was presented by statistical analysis of peak pressure at the outlet of a detonation tube. The relationship between operation stability and homogeneity degree was quantitatively elaborated. These experimental results indicated that not only using mixing reinforcement devices (such as pore plate and reed valve) was fuel distribution improved but also the effect of inlet ways on the homogeneity degree was weakened. The homogeneity degree of fuel distribution ζ=0.72 was a critical value for stable working of multicycle PDE. When homogeneity degree was lower than 0.72, stable state was not maintained and detonation wave in some cycles was not established due to poor fuel distribution. Therefore, it is necessary to hold homogeneity degree larger than 0.72 to achieve stable operation of PDE. These results contribute to enhancing the operation stability and offering guidelines for the design of PDE’s mixing scheme.