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News: India-based defence start-up D-Propulse successfully demonstrated a Rotating Detonation Engine (RDE) at a Defence Research & Development Organisation facility in Hyderabad.
About Rotating Detonation Engines (DREs)
- Detonation is a combustion process in which the flame travels through the fuel mixture faster than the speed of sound, unlike conventional combustion where the flame travels slower than the speed of sound.
- Type of Detonation: Detonation engines can be Pulsed Detonation Engines (PDEs) or Rotating Detonation Engines (RDEs).
- Pulsed Detonation Engine (PDE): The detonation travels through a long tube and works in repeated cycles.
- The tube is purged before the next cycle.
- Rotating Detonation Engine (RDE): The detonation wave moves continuously in a circular path inside an annular chamber, so combustion can continue as long as fuel is supplied.
- Working Mechanism of RDE:
- Fuel and oxidizer are continuously injected into the narrow, ring-shaped chamber called ‘annulus’.
- The detonation wave moves around the annulus at very high speed and rapidly compresses and burns the fresh fuel-air mixture.
- The wave consumes the mixture and produces high-pressure, high-temperature gases.
- Continuous fuel injection keeps the detonation going.
- The combustion products are expelled through the nozzle, generating continuous thrust or mechanical energy.
- Key Features of RDE:
- Higher Efficiency: RDEs can provide around 10%–25% higher thermodynamic efficiency than conventional combustors, depending on design and conditions.
- Fuel Saving: A 20% increase in thermodynamic efficiency could theoretically reduce fuel requirement by about 17% for the same output.
- Compact Design: RDE combustors can be at least 40% shorter than standard rocket engines.
- Propellant Flexibility: RDEs have been demonstrated with hypergolic and cryogenic propellants.
- Wide Applications: RDEs can be used for chemical propulsion, including rocket launches, in-space propulsion, and missions involving spacecraft such as upper stages, landers and Mars Ascent Vehicles.
- Current Status: RDEs remain in the research and development stage, with no known models ready for commercial or military use.
- India’s Progress: India-based defence start-up D-Propulse has successfully demonstrated an RDE at a DRDO facility in Hyderabad.
