Pulse Detonation Engines: The Future of Aviation

noah_fense writes "Popular Science is running an interesting article about the race to replace the jet turbine with a more efficient source of Mach-breaking airpower: the pulse-detonation engine. It works by detonating (instead of slow burning) fuel hundreds to thousands of times a second. PDE technology is poised to make supersonic passenger flights and space travel affordable. 'Pulse detonation is a hot topic in combustion research,' says Gabriel Roy of the Office of Naval Research. 'Compared with gas turbines, the PDE has a much simpler configuration. It has the capability of going from subsonic to supersonic using less fuel, and it's thermodynamically more efficient. But there are big engineering issues--thermal fatigue, noise. It's very challenging research.'"

Comments

anti-matter...

[DannyiMac]

Still no anti-matter engine...

but until then this seems promising...

Cannonball?

[Lord_Dweomer]

If I'm not mistaken, there was a mutant in the marvel universe named Cannonball who flew by continuosly causing his lower half to explode, thus forming a continual form of propulsion. Cool stuff.

Re:Manned V1

[17028]

Hehe, awesome sig.