Integrated Pulse Detonation Propulsion and Magnetohydrodynamic Power

The prospects for realizing an integrated pulse detonation propulsion and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) power system are examined. First, energy requirements for direct detonation initiation of various fuel-oxygen and fuel-air mixtures are deduced from available experimental data and theoretical models. Second, the pumping power requirements for effective chamber scavenging are examined through the introduction of a scavenging ratio parameter and a scavenging efficiency parameter. A series of laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate the basic engineering performance characteristics of a pulse detonation-driven MHD electric power generator. In these experiments, stoichiometric oxy-acetylene mixtures seeded with a cesium hydroxide/methanol spray were detonated at atmospheric pressure in a 1-m-long tube having an i.d. of 2.54 cm. Experiments with a plasma diagnostic channel attached to the end of the tube confirmed the attainment of detonation conditions (p2/p1 approximately 34 and D approximately 2,400 m/sec) and enabled the direct measurement of current density and electrical conductivity (=6 S/m) behind the detonation wave front. In a second set of experiments, a 30-cm-long continuous electrode Faraday channel, having a height of 2.54 cm and a width of 2 cm, was attached to the end of the tube using an area transition duct. The Faraday channel was inserted in applied magnetic fields of 0.6 and 0.95 T, and the electrodes were connected to an active loading circuit to characterize power extraction dependence on load impedance while also simulating higher effective magnetic induction. The experiments indicated peak power extraction at a load impedance between 5 and 10 Omega. The measured power density was in reasonable agreement with a simple electrodynamic model incorporating a correction for near-electrode potential losses. The time-resolved thrust characteristics of the system were also measured, and it was found that the MHD interaction exerted a negligible influence on system thrust and that the measured I(sub sp) of the system (200 sec) exceeded that computed for an equivalent nozzleless rocket (120 sec)