Karthick Raja.R Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Applications www.ijera.

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ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 4, Issue 11(Version - 5), November 2014, pp.56-59

RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS

Design and Optimization of Valveless Pulsejet Engine

Karthick Raja.R*, Rio Melvin Aro.T**, Shyam Shankar.M.B***, Vinoth.M****
*,**,***,**** (Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Anna University, Chennai.)

ABSTRACT
Simple design and efficiency make pulsejet engines attractive for aeronautical short-term operation applications.
An active control system extends the operating range and reduces the fuel consumption considerably so that this
old technology might gain a new interest. During the operations of these pulsejet engines the surfaces of engine
will get more heated. In order to cool the engine surface and to get more thrust we have attached an additional
component called secondary inlet in that valve less pulsejet engine. The pulsejet is the only jet engine combustor
that shows a net pressure gain between the intake and the exhaust. The pulsejet is the only jet engine combustor
that shows a net pressure gain between the intake and the exhaust. We choose the LOCKWOOD’s design of
pulsejet engine. By using the CFD analysis we have analysed the modified design of valveless pulsejet engine.
This project provides an overview of this unique process and the results of these design modifications are
reported.
Keywords - pulse jet engine, cool-down system, lockwood design, valveless type

I. INTRODUCTION  A valve less pulsejet can operate for its entire

Modern jet engines, like the ones found on large useful life with practically zero maintenance.
passenger aircraft or military fighters are incredibly
complex and expensive to make. Built from thousands THE ADVANTAGES OF VALVELESS
of individual parts, many of which are made from PULSEJET:
exotic alloys like titanium and Inconel, these engines • Theoretically the pulse jet engine has higher fuel
are a masterpiece of modern engineering. But there is efficiency than a normal jet engine that keeps
one type of jet engine that has been around for almost constant pressure.
100 years, can be built$ out of plain old steel using • Intermittent rather than constant fuel combustion
simple tools, and in some cases has no moving parts at is another key factor in making the pulse-jet
all. Well it’s true and of course it is the pulsejet. engine more fuel efficient, than ordinary.
• Engines can be produced in many sizes with
II. VALVELESS PULSEJET many different thrust outputs ranging from a few
pounds to thousands of pounds.
WHY VALVELESS: • They have a very high thrust-to-weight ratio,
 The ordinary pulsejet is already a very simple which means a lighter engine producing more
engine. pounds of thrust than its weight.
 It is just a piece of tube cut to the required • They are mechanically very simple and have very
dimensions, with a few small flaps and a fuel jet little moving parts.
at one end. • Self-compressing.
 So, one might ask, why go that one small step • The pressure inside the combustor raises steeply,
further and eliminate the valves? The prime which increases combustion efficiency.
reason is that the use of flap valves limits the • The pulsejet is the only jet engine combustor that
reliability and longevity of the engine. shows a net pressure gain between the intake and
 A Valveless pulse jet is one of the simplest jet the exhaust.
propulsion devices ever designed, and is the • Pressure gain across the combustor, rather than
simplest form of jet engine that does not require loss.
forward motion to run continuously. • a 5-percent gain in combustion pressure achieved
 Valveless pulsejets are low in cost, light weight, by this method gives about the same improvement
powerful and easy to operate. in overall efficiency as the 85-percent gain
 They have all the advantages (and most of the produced by a compressor, all other things being
disadvantages) of conventional valved pulse jets, equal.
but without the troublesome reed valves that need
frequent replacement.

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Karthick Raja.R Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Applications www.ijera.com
ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 4, Issue 11(Version - 5), November 2014, pp.56-59

THE DISADVANTAGES OF There are also European and US patents. In

VALVELESS PULSEJET: simple terms, the momentum of the exhaust gas
• A big problem is that the gain in efficiency leaving the cylinder of an internal combustion engine
offered by pulsating combustion is not at all easy creates a pressure-drop in the cylinder which assists
to utilize for propulsion. the flow of a fresh charge of air, or fuel-air mixture,
• Unsteadiness generates loss. into the cylinder. The effect can be maximized by
• Pulsations are dangerous for the brittle axial careful design of the inlet and exhaust passages.
turbine blades.
• For the same engine bulk, you get less thrust than V. WORKING
with the competing jet engines. When the fuel-air mixture combusts in the
• The pulsations produce horrible noise and mad chamber, the process generates a great amount of hot
vibration. gas very quickly. This happens so fast that it
resembles an explosion. The immediate, explosive
rise in internal pressure first compresses the gas
III. CONSTRUCTION
inside and then pushes it forcefully out of the
 The picture below shows one of the many
chamber.
possible layouts of a valve less pulsejet engine.
Two powerful spurts of hot expanding gas are
 It has a chamber with two tubular ports of created – a big one that blows through the tailpipe and
unequal length and diameter. a smaller one blowing through the intake. Leaving
 The port on the right, curved backwards, is the the engine, the two jets exert a pulse of thrust – they
intake pipe. The bigger, flared one on the left is push the engine in the opposite direction.
the exhaust, or tailpipe. As the gas expands and the combustion
 In some other engines, it is the exhaust pipe that chamber empties, the pressure inside the engine
is bent into the U-shape, but the important thing drops. Due to inertia of the moving gas, this drop
is that the ends of both ports point in the same continues for some time even after the pressure falls
direction. back to atmospheric. The expansion stops only when
the momentum of the gas pulse is completely spent.
At that point, there is a partial vacuum inside the
engine.
The process now reverses itself. The outside
(atmospheric) pressure is now higher than the
pressure inside the engine and fresh air starts rushing
into the ends of the two ports. At the intake side, it
quickly passes through the short tube, enters the
chamber and mixes with fuel. The tailpipe, however,
is rather longer, so that the incoming air does not
even get as far as the chamber before the engine is
Fig1: Construction of a pulsejet engine refilled and the pressure peaks.
One of the prime reasons for the extra length of
IV. OPERATION the tailpipe is to retain enough of the hot exhaust gas
The Kadenacy effect: within the engine at the moment the suction starts.
The Kadenacy effect is an effect of pressure- This gas is greatly rarified by the expansion, but the
waves in gases. It is named after Michel Kadenacy outside pressure will push it back and increase its
who obtained a French patent for an engine utilizing density again. Back in the chamber, this remnant of
the effect in 1933. previous combustion mixes vigorously with the fresh
fuel/air mixture that enters from the other side. The
heat of the chamber and the free radicals in the
retained gas will cause ignition and the process will
repeat itself. The spark plug shown on the picture is
needed only at start-up. Once the engine fires, the
retained hot gas provides self-ignition and the spark
plug becomes unnecessary. Indeed, if spark ignition
is left on, it can interfere with the normal functioning
of the engine.
You may wonder about the sharp transition
from the intake tract into the chamber. It is necessary
to generate strong turbulence in the incoming air, so
that it mixes with injected fuel properly. A gentler,
Fig 2: Operation of a pulsejet engine.
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 Karthick Raja.R Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Applications www.ijera.com
ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 4, Issue 11(Version - 5), November 2014, pp.56-59

more gradual entry would not generate the necessary design gives more thrust and the efficiency
swirling of gases. In addition, turbulence increases also increases.
the intensity of combustion and the rate of the heat  Here the exhaust temperature will decrease.
release. So, the engine surface will not get more
heated. And the expected results are came out.
VI. COMPARISON OF VALVELESS When testing the pulsejet for optimal thrust,
PULSEJET ENGINE WITH RAMJET the jet would need to be tested in several
ENGINE different modes and geometries.
Table 1: Comparison of Existing and Modified  Changing the overall length of the jet, exit
diameter, and exit geometry would be
Design
interesting topics to investigate.

FACTOR EXISTING MODIFIED REFERENCE

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ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 4, Issue 11(Version - 5), November 2014, pp.56-59

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