Pulse detonation engine is a new technique of supersonic wave propagation and stands for high impulsive thrust. The objective of the present investigation is to analyze the detonation wave characteristic… Click to show full abstract
Pulse detonation engine is a new technique of supersonic wave propagation and stands for high impulsive thrust. The objective of the present investigation is to analyze the detonation wave characteristic of a hydrogen–air mixture in the pulse detonation engine (PDE) having obstacles of blockage ratio 0.5. The three-dimensional reactive Navier–Stokes equations with realizable k − ɛ turbulence model are used to simulate the propagation of combustion flame. The reaction rate of excess hydrogen and excess air is modeled by reduced single-step chemical reaction model and simulated using ANSYS software FLUENT 14.0 code. The simulation results of the shock wave overpressure, deflagration-to-detonation transition run-up distance of different flames and flame velocities are reported at initial boundary condition of 0.1 MPa pressure and 293 K temperature. It has been observed that the obstacles create turbulence in the propagating flame and form strong Mach stems of high temperature, resulting in reduction in accelerated flame run-up length. However, the normalized detonation flame run-up distance increases as the mass of fuel increases in the mixture. Thus, the performance of PDE combustor was observed 4.46% at high overpressure generated by excess fuel (ϕ = 1.3).
               
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