Project Pulse-Jet Group 4

Jeffrey Dennen Justin Marriott Brian Melo Matthew Skillin

What is Project PulseJet?

Project Pulse Jet
is an analytical study of how a pulse-jet engine works.

Our Goals
To design, build and test a pulse-jet engine.

Plan of Action
Research and design a prototype of a pulse-jet engine. Build the prototype based on our design. Test the prototype against the theoretical analysis.

History of the pulsejet

The pulsejet engine was first invented in the early 1900 by a Swedish inventor Martin Wiberg Paul Schmidt, who engineered the first production pulsejet during the Second World War with his flying bomb, the Argus V1.
Nicknamed the buzz bomb because of the low hum it admitted during flight. Used by the Germans to bomb London from 1944-1945 Over 9,000 V-1 were fired on England during WW2

The pulsejet took a backseat in the engineering world when the turbofan jet engine was invented
Has returned to the engineering scene as of late because of the interest in Pulse Detonation Engines (PDE).

How does it work?

A pulsejet engine is a very simple jet engine consisting of very little to no moving parts. The combustion cycle comprises five or six phases: Induction, Compression, (in some engines) Fuel Injection, Ignition, Combustion, and Exhaust.

The rapidly expanding gasses exit out of the engine and as this happens a vacuum is created in the combustion chamber which pulls in a fresh new air charge fro m the atmosphere, and then the whole cycle repeats itself.

Combustion Cycle

Types of Pulse Jets

There are two basic types of pulsejets. valve or traditional pulsejet valve-less pulsejet. The Argus V1 Schmidt was a valve pulsejet Most of the development work for the valve-less engines are done by two American engineers Lockwood and Hiller. Types of Valves Petal High Efficiency Petal Valve Grid

Design Research
The Lenoir cycle is an idealized thermodynamic cycle often used to model a pulse-jet engine. Comprises of 3 cycles: Heat added at constant volume. Adiabatic Expansion. Exhaust of the hot gasses at a constant pressure. Thrust can be directly calibrated on the basis that the cycle is completed over two working strokes.

Design Research
C.E. Tharratt
Discovered a surprising result that the ratio of duct volume to effective length had a linear relationship to the maximum static thrust or:
V/L = 0.00316F

This relationship has been compared to all known pulse-jets from the large V-1 flying bomb of over 500 lb. thrust to the miniature Dyna-jets of 4-5 lbs. thrust.
Thrust = 2.2 x Cross-Sectional area or F = 2.2A

Sample Calculations
. . . . .

Pulse-Jet Body Design

Pulse-Jet Body Exploded

Taper Combustion Chamber

Exhaust Pipe

Valveless

Petal Valve

Valve Grid

Design Matrix for valves

Ranked on a 1 to 10 scale (1 being the worst and 10 being the best) MACHINABILITY FUNCTIONALITY WEIGHT AESTETICS TOTALS COST EFFICIENCY

Valve-less

10

10

10

10

39

Petal Valve

5
5

6
8

8
6

6
8

6
6

9
9

40
42

High Efficiency Petal Valve

Valve grid

10

31

Valve Design
Sample Calculation.
Valve area = (0.23 x mean cross-sectional area) / 0.6 assuming the valves are going to be 60% efficient. Valve Area = (0.23 x 7.72)/0.6 = 2.96 in

Valve Design

Valve Component Explode

Valve Body

Diffuser

Reed Valve

Final Design

Final Design Exploded

Valve Assembly

Body Assembly

Building and Testing

Materials
Pulse-Jets Main body.
Rolled and seem welded using 0.063 Stainless Steel Sheet Metal.

Valve Body

Stainless Selected because of its higher resistance to heat then mild steel.

CNC machined (Mill and Lathe) from 6061 Aluminum.

0.006 Spring Steel.

Reed Valve

Aluminum used for its light weight and its machinability. low alloy, medium carbon steel or high carbon steel with a very high yield strength. This allows objects made of spring steel to return to their original shape despite significant bending or twisting.

Combustion Chamber Drawing

Benchman Verification

Fuel and Fuel Delivery

Fuel
Propane
Easily obtained. Boiling Point below room temperature. Being a gas allows for easier starting.

Fuel Delivery System

Propane Tank Propane lines Gas Fitting Nozzle Needle Valve

Testing
Prototype will be tested to verify thrust output.

Test Stand will be constructed to secure PulseJet safely. Digital scale will be attached to frame to calculate thrust

Budget
Stainless steel sheet metal, with labor: $150 Valve Body: $0 on hand Reed Valves with machining labor: $25 Propane Tank: $0, on hand Fuel Delivery System: $0 on hand Instrumentation: $0 on hand Test stand material: $0 on hand Fuel: $50 Total: $175

Projects Future
Continue testing on prototype to gain further knowledge of its operating cycle. Construct larger Jet using the knowledge gained from this smaller prototype. Use larger engine to power to propel a manned vehicle.

Thank You
Group 4 would like to thank
Professor Roberts Professor Rourke Mechanology Inc. (Attleboro, MA) Waynes Sheet Metal Pauls Custom Exhaust Projects Lab Staff Machine Shop Staff

Bibliography
Simpson Bruce The Enthusiasts' Guide to Pulsejet Engines http://www.aardvark.co.nz/pjet/ http://www.zachmiers.com/pulsejetbo ok/ http://www.pulse-jets.com/ Roy, Gabriel Combustion processes in propulsion control, noise, and pulse detonation

Questions?