Wave rotor detonation engine

A wave rotor detonation engine comprising:

• a housing including a first wall having at least one inlet port and a second wall having at least one exhaust port;
• a rotor rotatably mounted within the housing, the rotor comprising a plurality of combustion chambers, the chambers each having an inlet end for gaseous communication with the at least one inlet port and an exhaust end for gaseous communication with the at least one exhaust port;
• at least one inlet zone partition disposed at the inlet port for partitioning the inlet port into a plurality of inlet zones, wherein the inlet zones include a first inlet zone being solely an air input without a fuel injector;
• and
• at least one igniter disposed within the housing for igniting a combustible material within the combustion chambers.

A method for creating detonative combustion in a wave rotor detonation engine comprising:

• a) rotating a rotor comprising a plurality of circumferentially spaced combustion chambers so that an inlet of a preselected combustion chamber is in gaseous communication with a first inlet zone of an inlet port;
• b) drawing air into the inlet from the first inlet zone, the air forming a buffer layer to inhibit combustion by any existing hot gases within the preselected combustion chamber;
• c) rotating the rotor so that the inlet is in gaseous communication with a second inlet zone of the inlet port, the second zone having a fuel injector;
• d) injecting fuel into the second inlet zone with the fuel injector, and drawing a first combustible mixture of air and fuel into the inlet from the second inlet zone;
• e) rotating the rotor so that the inlet is substantially gaseously sealed against a first wall of a rotor housing whereby the inlet is in communication with an igniter mounted at the first wall;
• f) igniting the combustible mixture within the preselected combustion chamber to cause detonative combustion whereby a shock wave is generated traveling from the inlet towards an outlet of the combustion chamber;
• and
• g) rotating the rotor so that the outlet is in gaseous communication with an exhaust port just as the shock wave reaches the outlet.

A wave rotor detonation engine comprising:

• a rotor mounted within a housing having a first wall and a second wall, the rotor comprising a plurality of combustion chambers, the chambers each having an inlet end proximate the first wall and an exhaust end proximate the second wall;
• a plurality of inlets disposed adjacent one another and in communication with the inlet ends of the combustion chambers, the inlets adapted to charge the combustion chambers with two or more combustible materials of differing composition prior to combustion;
• and
• at least one igniter disposed within the housing for igniting the combustible materials within the combustion chambers.