Heat Transfer Analysis Of A Pulse Detonation Engine

Abstract

A thermal analysis of the effect of sensible heat release on the walls of the detonation chamber for stoichiometric mixtures of hydrogen/air, octane/air and octane/oxygen was presented. The detonation tube was assumed to operate at 20 Hz and cooled by a water jacket to dissipate the heat from the walls which ensures the effective operation for a longer period. Wall material was assumed to be made of copper because of its high thermal conductivity.The study showed a slow temperature rise along the walls of the combustion chamber for multiple pulses. It can be concluded that due to the space-time averaging procedure thoughtout the length of the tube, the temperature rise along the inner and outer walls are small. Even after 3000 pulses, the temperatures along the surfaces were almost steady.