Pulsed Detonation Engines (PDEs) are a type of propulsion system that relies on detonations of fuel and oxidizer mixtures to generate thrust. In a PDE, combustion occurs through detonations, where the combustion process is supersonic. PDEs are known for potentially achieving high thermodynamic efficiency due to the nature of the detonation process.
The propulsive efficiency is a crucial parameter in evaluating the performance of a rocket engine, indicating how well it converts propellant energy into useful thrust. Practical rocket engines often have propulsive efficiencies less than 100% due to factors like incomplete combustion, heat losses, and other inefficiencies in the propulsion system.
The propulsive efficiency () is defined by the following formula:
where,
- is the propulsive efficiency,
- is the thrust produced by the rocket engine,
- is the effective exhaust velocity of the rocket,
- ṁ is the mass flow rate of the propellants,
- is the specific impulse of the rocket engine,
- g0 is the acceleration due to gravity (approximately 9.81 m/s²).