What are pulse detonation engines?
Moozimoo
25-04-2004, 19:38
And how do they work?
Superpower07
25-04-2004, 19:39
sounds like some future sci-fi stuff
Moozimoo
25-04-2004, 19:41
no, something called a pulsejet is used on model planes, and pulse det....?
Ernst_Rohm
25-04-2004, 19:44
no, something called a pulsejet is used on model planes, and pulse det....?
didn't the german v1 buzzbombs use so kind of pulse jet engine which gave them a distinctive sound that earned them their nickname.
Moonshine
25-04-2004, 20:19
Pulse detonation engines (http://www.aardvark.co.nz/pjet/pde.shtml)
What is a Pulse Detonation Engine?
One of the newest and most exciting areas of pulse-jet development is the Pulse Detonation Engine (PDE).
While they work on similar principles to a regular pulsejet, the PDE has one very fundamental difference -- it detonates the air/fuel mixture rather than just allowing it to simply deflagrate (burn vigorously).
Amateur PDE Development
Unfortunately pulse detonation engines are probably not the sort of thing that is well suited to amateur development.
The risks of containment failure (ie: a catastrophic explosion that turns your engine into a grenade) and the difficulties involved in obtaining reliable detonation of readily available fuels make both dangerous and likely to be quite disappointing.
The sad truth is that you're unlikely to be able to coerce a mixture of gasoline and air or propane and air into true detonation using something you've built in your garage -- and if you do, the paramedics will likely have to take you away in a plastic garbage bag (that's if they can find all the pieces ;-).