Internal flow dynamics and performance of pulse detonation engine with alternative fuels

In this study, analytical and computational analysis is performed to determine the effect of thermody-namic detonation parameters on the performance of the pulse detonation engine. For analytical study along with pure fuels blend of hydrogen (50 %) + kerosene (50 %), hydrogen (50 %) + methane (50 %) and methane (50 %) + kerosene (50 %) are considered. The ANSYS FLUENT program is utilized two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation using a stoichiometric mixture of three pure fuels: hydrogen-air, methane-air, and kerosene-air. Time-dependent numerical simulations are used to explore the flow condition inside the detonation tube. Excellent performance is observed for hydrogen-air fuel. Hydrogen shows the highest velocity of 2524.36 m/s and a specific impulse of 6842.16 s. The lowest velocity and specific impulse are produced by kerosene of 1520 m/s and 1473.6 s, respectively. It is shown that measured parameters could vary significantly depending on the choice of fuels used. The results infer that hydrogen blends of methane and kerosene fuels are also suitable for pulse detonation engine (PDE) application. Finally, these analytical and simulated results are validated with the previously published literature and NASA CEA (national aeronautics and space administration-chemical equilibrium with applications). (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.