Ramjets & Pulse Jets

BASIC GAS TURBINE
Ramjets/Pulse jets
M.Omar Yazdani PIA Training Centre July 2009 1

BASIC GAS TURBINE
A ramjet, sometimes referred to as a stovepipe jet, or an athodyd, is a

form of jet engine using the engine's forward motion to compress
incoming air, without a rotary compressor. Ramjets therefore require
forward motion through the air to produce thrust.
Ramjets require considerable forward speed to operate well, and as a

class work most efficiently at speeds around Mach 3, and this type of jet
can operate up to speeds of at least Mach 5.
Ramjets can be particularly useful in applications requiring a small and
simple engine for high speed use; such as missiles. They have also
been used successfully, though not efficiently, as tip jets on helicopter
rotors.
Ramjets are frequently confused with pulsejets, which use an
intermittent combustion, but ramjets employ a continuous combustion
process, and are a quite distinct type of jet engine.

BASIC GAS TURBINE
Fig. Simple ramjet operation, with Mach numbers of flow shown

BASIC GAS TURBINE
"To move a hypersonic cruising aircraft through the air, we have to

use some kind of propulsion system to generate thrust. Because
of the heat generated at stagnation points in a hypersonic flow, the
gas turbine engine is not suited for this regime. A better choice for
an air-breathing propulsion system would be a ramjet for Mach
numbers less than 6, and a scramjet for Mach numbers greater
than 6."
Ramjets and scramjets rely on the forward speed of the vehicle to

compress the air in the inlet instead of using the mechanical
compressor of a gas turbine. The combustion section of a ramjet is
similar to the gas turbine, but the ramjet needs no power turbine since
there is no compressor. The thermodynamics of a ramjet/scramjet and a
turbine engine are quite similar"

BASIC GAS TURBINE
Both ramjets and scramjets share a common characteristic. The technology

is based upon use of the airstream at high speeds to create air compression
(high pressure regime) and therefore heat for combustion. Similar to jet
engine which uses mechanical means to achieve compression through a
front and rear rotating turbine, the ramjet and scramjet differ in that there few
moving parts (a pretty static "supersonic cone" in a ramjet) and no moving
parts in a scramjet.
Ramjets use the so called supersonic cone or "spike" in the air inlet to fine-
tune the air moving into the engine in order to keep the pressure in the
combustion chamber within a specific (ideal) range of pressures. Ramjets
are susceptible to pressure shock waves in the inlet which reduce the
effectiveness of the airflow and hence disturb the combustion area, while
scramjets tend to be a "can't get enough" model for combustion.
The ramjet is limited to subsonic flow pressures inside the engine, while
scramjets need to have hypersonic flow in order to achieve combustion.

BASIC GAS TURBINE
Scramjet essentially stands for Supersonic Combustion ramjet and require a

second means of propulsion to move them fast enough to achieve airflow in
the high supersonic (high Mach 3 or Mach 4 appears to be the lower limit)
regimes.
It is mechanically simple, but vastly more complex aerodynamically than a
jet engine. In a scramjet powered aircraft, there must be tight integration
between the airframe and the engine.
Scramjet technology is challenging because only limited testing can be

performed in ground facilities.
Long duration, full-scale testing requires flight test speeds above Mach 8.
X-43 Hyper-X, NASA's testbed for the scramjet, serves this purpose. To
get the engine to that speed, some other power has to be used.
In the NASA Hyper-X, this will be provided by OSC's pegasus booster. It
must be noted here that scramjets are good only for sustaining hypersonic
speeds, not for achieving them from zero

BASIC GAS TURBINE

BASIC GAS TURBINE
A pulse jet engine (or pulsejet) is a

very simple form of internal combustion
engine based jet engine where
combustion occurs in pulses.
There are two main types of pulse-jet

engine, working on exactly the same
principle: one uses valves to accomplish
via mechanical means what the other
variant accomplishes via resonance
(differences in air pressure).
Valve.
The valved pulse-jet comprises an intake with a one-way valve
arrangement. The valves prevent the explosive gas of the ignited fuel
mixture in the combustion chamber from exiting and disrupting the intake
air-flow. The super-heated exhaust gases exit via an acoustically
resonant exhaust pipe. The valve arrangement is commonly a "daisy
valve" also known as a reed
BASIC GAS TURBINE
The German V-1 was 8 meters long with

a range of 240 km. It was powered by a
pulse-jet engine, the source of its
distinctive buzzing sound, hence the
nickname "buzz bomb". It flew at an
altitude of about 900 meters and the first
of over 8500 was launched against
England on June 13, 1944, a week after
D-Day.
An American copy of the V-1, called the JB-2 or Loon, actually went into
production during World War II, intended for use against Japan. About
300 were built. The principal effect was to give American manufacturers
their first experience in missile production.

BASIC GAS TURBINE
The valveless pulse jet engine operates on the same principle, but the 'valve'
is commonly a u-shaped tube. This tube via pressure differences and
resonance forces exhaust gas to exit the resonance tuned exhaust pipe.
Fuel as a gas or liquid vapor is either mixed with the air in the intake or
directly injected into the combustion chamber. Starting the engine usually
requires forced air and an ignition method such as a spark plug for the fuel-
air mix. Once running, the engine only requires input of fuel to maintain a
self-sustaining combustion cycle.
Pulsejet engines are characterized by extreme simplicity, low cost of
construction, poor fuel economy and very high noise levels. The high noise
levels make them impractical for other than military and other similarly
restricted applications. [6]
Pulsejets have been used to power experimental helicopters, the engines
being attached to the extreme ends of the rotor blades. As an aircraft
propulsion system, pulse-jets have the distinct advantage over conventional
turbine engines by not producing the usual reaction torque upon the
fuselage.

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BASIC GAS TURBINE

M.Omar Yazdani PIA Training Centre July 2009 1

A ramjet, sometimes referred to as a stovepipe jet, or an athodyd, is a

Ramjets require considerable forward speed to operate well, and as a

M.Omar Yazdani PIA Training Centre July 2009 2

Fig. Simple ramjet operation, with Mach numbers of flow shown

M.Omar Yazdani PIA Training Centre July 2009 3

"To move a hypersonic cruising aircraft through the air, we have to

Ramjets and scramjets rely on the forward speed of the vehicle to

M.Omar Yazdani PIA Training Centre July 2009 4

Both ramjets and scramjets share a common characteristic. The technology

M.Omar Yazdani PIA Training Centre July 2009 5

Scramjet essentially stands for Supersonic Combustion ramjet and require a

Scramjet technology is challenging because only limited testing can be

M.Omar Yazdani PIA Training Centre July 2009 6

M.Omar Yazdani PIA Training Centre July 2009 7

A pulse jet engine (or pulsejet) is a

There are two main types of pulse-jet

The German V-1 was 8 meters long with

M.Omar Yazdani PIA Training Centre July 2009 9

M.Omar Yazdani PIA Training Centre July 2009 10

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