Energy & Fuels 2008, 22, 915–924 915

Pulse Combustion Characteristics of Various Gaseous Fuels

Wu Zhonghua* and Arun S. Mujumdar
Engineering Science Program and Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mineral, Metal and Materials
Technology Centre, National UniVersity of Singapore, 9 Engineering DriVe 1, 119260 Singapore

ReceiVed July 19, 2007. ReVised Manuscript ReceiVed December 2, 2007

The combustion of a gas-fired pulse combustor was simulated using a computation fluid dynamic model to
understand the flame structure, gas flow, and combustion characteristics in the burner and the resulting pulsation
phenomenon. The specific impulse and thrust output to power input are computed and compared. Some typical
gaseous fuels such as low molecular weight hydrocarbons, high molecular weight hydrocarbons, biofuels, and mixed
fuels are tested via simulation of the pulse combustor, and their operation characteristics are summarized. It was
found that the combustor can adjust itself automatically over a certain range of parameters and make it suitable for
different gaseous fuels. Pulse combustion performance of fuels with low and high heating values is also compared.

1. Introduction
Pulse combustion is recognized for its energy efficiency and
reduced emission. It has several advantages such as ease of
manufacture, high combustion intensity, lower NOx and CO
pollutant emissions, improved heat and mass transfer, higher
thermal efficiency, and its self-aspiration properties over steady
combustion encountered in conventional burners.1–3 Because of
these merits, pulse combustion has wide applications ranging
from powering propulsion devices to incineration to drying. In
pulse combustion drying, short drying time, high energy
efficiency, improved product quality, and environmentally
friendly operation are noted as the key advantages, and pulse
combustion drying is regarded as the drying technology of the
future.4–7 However, because of a lack of understanding of the
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the simulated pulse combustor.
pulse combustion mechanisms and the fact that pulse combustor
design relies on empirical knowledge, industrial application of
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Telephone: (65)-6515-
7882. Fax: (65)-6779-1459. E-mail: mpewz@nus.edu.sg. pulse combustion in drying is still low.
(1) Zinn, B. T. Mech. Eng. (Am. Soc. Mech. Eng.) 1985, 107, 36–41. Much research has been carried out to investigate pulse
(2) Putnam, A. A.; Belles, E.; Kentfield, J. A. C. Prog. Energy Combust. combustion mechanisms.8–16 Among them, numerical methods
Sci. 1986, 12, 43–79.
(3) Richards, G. A.; Morrs, G. J.; Shaw, D. W.; Keeler, S. A.; Welter, play an important role. For example, Neumeier et al. analyzed
M. J. Combust. Sci. Technol. 1993, 94, 57–85. a Helmholtz type combustor in the frequency domain creating
(4) Zinn, B. T. Pulse Combustion: Recent Applications and Research the pulse combustor as a feedback system.12 Keller et al.
Issues. Proceedings of the 24th International Symposium on Combustion; investigated the pulse combustion numerically using the method
The Combustion Institute: Pittsburgh, PA, 1992; pp 1297–1305.
(5) Kudra, T.; Mujumdar, A. S. Handbook of Industrial Drying; Marcel of characteristic.13 In the above two methods, the combustion
Dekker: New York, 1995. chamber was regarded as a well-stirred reactor with homoge-
(6) Kudra, T.; Mujumdar, A. S. AdVanced drying technologies; Marcel neous thermal properties. Hence, these early mathematical
Dekker Inc.: New York, 2002.
(7) Wu, Z. H. Mathematical Modeling of Pulse Combustion and its models were simple and were used to analyze the general
Applications to Innovative Thermal Drying Techniques. Ph.D. Thesis, operational properties of pulse combustors. More advanced and
National University of Singapore, Singapore, 2007. comprehensive models were developed in recent years using
(8) Keller, J. O.; Hongo, I. Combust. Flame 1990, 80, 219–237.
(9) Kentfield, J. A. C.; O’Blenes, M. J. J. Propul. Power 1990, 6, 214–
the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) technique which has
220. many applications in simulating the combustion process includ-
(10) Dec, J. E.; Keller, J. O.; Arpaci, V. S. Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer ing pulse combustion.14,17,18 Benelli et al. used commercial CFD
1992, 35, 2311–2325. software to model the Helmholtz type pulse combustor with
(11) Eibeck, P. A.; Keller, J. O.; Bramlette, T. T.; Sailor, D. J. Combust.
Sci. Technol. 1993, 94, 147–165. self-sustained acoustic oscillations.14 The inlet valves, when
(12) Neumeier, Y.; Zinn, B. T.; Jagoda, J. I. Combust. Sci. Technol.
1993, 94, 295–316. (16) Tarjiri, K.; Menon, S. LES of Combustion Dynamics in a Pulse
(13) Keller, J. O.; Bramlette, T. T.; Dec, J. E.; Westbrook, C. K. Combustor. Presented at the 39th Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit,
Combust. Flame 1989, 75, 33–44. Reno, NV, Jan 8–13, 2001.
(14) Benelli, G.; Michele de, G.; Cossalter, V.; Lio da, M.; Rossi, G. (17) Galletti, C.; Parente, A.; Tognotti, L. Combust. Flame 2007, 151,
Proc. Combust. Inst. 1992, 24, 1307–1313. 649–664.
(15) Möller, S. I.; Lindholm, A. Combust. Sci. Technol. 1999, 149, 389– (18) Norton, D. G.; Vlachos, D. G. Combust. Flame 2004, 138, 97–
406. 107.

10.1021/ef7004207 CCC: $40.75  2008 American Chemical Society

Published on Web 02/06/2008
916 Energy & Fuels, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2008 Zhonghua and Mujumdar

Figure 2. Computation mesh for the pulse combustor.

Table 1. Homogeneous Reaction and the Kinetic Equations used in pulse combustors is worth exploring. Biofuels are
fuel chemical reaction equation [kg mol/(m3 s)] derived from biomass and renewable energy sources. As the
methane CH4 + 2O2 f CO2 + 2H2O R1 ) k1[CCH4]0.2[CO2]1.3 demand of fossil fuels has increased worldwide, the development
propane C3H8 + 5O2 f 3CO2 + 4H2O R2 ) k2[CC3H8]0.1[CO2]1.65 of renewable energy sources has become an attractive research
butane C4H10 + 6.5O2 f 4CO2 + 5H2O R3 ) k3[CC4H10]0.15[CO2]1.6 area.19–23 For example, Lebedevas and Vaicekauskas used waste
methanol CH3OH + 1.5O2 f CO2 + 2H2O R4 ) k4[CCH3OH]0.25[CO2]1.5 fats of animal and vegetable origin to produce biodiesel fuel
ethanol C2H5OH + 3O2 f2CO2 + 3H2O R5 ) k5[CC2H5OH]0.15[CO2]1.6
fuel oil C19H30 + 26.5O2 f 19CO2 + R6 ) k6[CC19H30]0.25[CO2]1.6 and determine their motor characteristics and emissions of
15H2O harmful components.19 Biofuels are important means of reducing
greenhouse gas emissions and increasing energy security for
Table 2. Arrhenius Coefficients and Combustion Heat Related nations by providing a viable alternative to increasingly
to R1-R6 expensive fossil fuels. Biofuels are also considered as potential
reaction equation low heating value fuels for pulse combustors and hence are examined in this work.
R1 k3 ) 2.119 × 1011 exp[2.027 × 108/T] 50.001 MJ/kg Among biofuels, biogas is an important potential one
R2 k1 ) 4.836 × 109 exp[1.256 × 108/T] 46.362 MJ/kg produced by the anaerobic digestion or fermentation of organic
R3 k3 ) 4.161 × 109 exp[1.256 × 108/T] 45.594 MJ/kg matter such as municipal solid waste, biodegradable wastes from
R4 k4 ) 1.799 × 1010 exp[1.256 × 108/T] 21.102 MJ/kg
R5 k5 ) 8.439 × 109 exp[1.256 × 108/T] 28.079 MJ/kg various industries, and so forth. Biogas is a clean gaseous fuel
R6 k6 ) 2.587 × 109 exp[1.256 × 108/T] 40.531 MJ/kg and does not cause air pollution as it does not contain sulfur.20
Another biofuel, ethanol, is a clean-burning, flammable, color-
less, slightly toxic, high-octane fuel that can be produced from
opened, were considered as orifices of a given cross section,
renewable sources. At its most basic level, ethanol is a grain
and a characteristic pressure drop curve was used to define the
alcohol, produced from crops such as corn. The largest single
relationship between the velocity and the pressure changes
use of ethanol is as a motor fuel and fuel additive.21,22 Similar
across the valves. Möller and Lindholm examined the effects
of inlet geometry change using a large eddy simulation (LES) to ethanol, methanol is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable,
in a commercial CFD code, 15 and a similar model was applied poisonous fuel with a distinctive odor. Methanol is often called
by Tarjiri and Menon to investigate the combustion dynamics wood alcohol because it was once produced chiefly as a
of a pulse combustor.16 The CFD models can provide detailed
information inside the combustor including flame structure, gas (19) Lebedevas, S.; Vaicekauskas, A. Energy Fuels 2006, 20, 2274–
2280.
dynamics, and so forth, which contribute to improving our (20) Fan, Z. L.; Zhang, J.; Sheng, C. D.; Lin, X. F.; Xu, Y. Q. Energy
understanding of pulse combustion. Fuels 2006, 20, 579–582.
However, there are still many unknowns about the mecha- (21) Abu-Zaid, M.; Badran, O.; Yamin, J. Energy Fuels 2004, 18, 312–
nisms of pulse combustion. For example, most combustors use 315.
(22) Hou, Y. C.; Lu, X. C.; Zu, L. L.; Ji, L. B.; Huang, Z. Energy Fuels
methane, propane, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) 2006, 20, 1425–1433.
as fuels. Whether other gaseous fuels such as biofuels can be (23) Grammelis, P.; Kakaras, E. Energy Fuels 2005, 19, 292–297.
Pulse Combustion Characteristics of Gaseous Fuels
Figure 3. Time sequence of gas temperature (K) contours.
byproduct of the destructive distillation of wood. Here, these
biofuels are considered for use in pulse combustors.
Fuel oil consists of crude oil fractions that boil in the
340–420 °C range. Six grades of fuel oil have been
established covering the requirements of atomization and heat
release of various burner fuels. For example, fuel oils no. 1
and no. 2 are light and medium domestic fuel oils, respec-
Energy & Fuels, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2008 917
tively, while fuel oil no. 6 is a heavy residual oil that requires
preheating to burn properly. Heavy fuel oils and diesel fuels
are similar and consist of hydrocarbons with more than 16
carbon atoms per molecule.24 It is also interesting to test some
fuels with a high carbon number in a pulse combustor and
examine how their combustion characteristics differ from
fuels with a low carbon number.
The aim of this paper is to predict via simulation the
combustion characteristics of different gaseous fuels in pulse
combustors. First, a CFD model was developed, and a baseline
case was carried out to simulate the pulse combustion process
of methane in a gas-fired combustor. The simulation results are
compared with experimental data to validate the model. Flame
structure and gas dynamics in the combustor are described on
the basis of the numerical results. Parametric studies were carried
out for different gaseous fuels, and their combustion charac-
teristics are compared. The prime motivation for this study was
the potential of utilization of pulse combustion using biofuels
for the development of novel drying techniques for liquids,
particles, and continuous sheets such as papers. Prior work in
this area has been limited to experimental studies at laboratory
and pilot scales for spray drying of suspensions of heat sensitive
materials by injecting them into the exhaust of a pulse combustor
tailpipe.25,26
2. Mathematical Model
2.1. Combustor Geometry. Figure 1 presents a schematic
view of the combustor system simulated in this study. The
combustor geometry is nearly identical to the one used in earlier
experiments and simulations by Möller and Lindholm.15 This
pulse combustor is a Helmholtz type device fitted with a flapper
valve. Fuel and air are premixed before they enter the combus-
tion chamber. A spark plug positioned at the combustion
chamber sidewall is used to initiate the combustion process.
Hot product gases exit the combustor through the tailpipe. The
chamber has a 45.2 mm radius and is 150 mm long. It is
connected to a tailpipe with an inner radius of 18 mm that is
1430 mm long. A flame holder (12.5 mm radius) is mounted
onto a 2.5 mm radius rod and is placed on the symmetric axis
of the combustor. The inner radius of the inlet tube to the
combustion chamber is 10.25 mm.
The computation domain is limited to the pulse combustor
including the combustion chamber and tailpipe. Because of its
axisymmetric geometry and operating conditions, the computa-
tion domain is a two-dimensional (2D)-axisymmetric one.
Because the pulsation is primarily driven by the longitudinal
acoustic mode in the tailpipe, the axisymmetric formulation is
sufficient to capture the expected dynamics in the pulse
combustor. Figure 2 shows a typical mesh design for the pulse
combustor. In the combustion chamber zone, the gas temperature
varies markedly as a result of the release of the heat of
combustion. Thus, a fine mesh is applied in this zone, especially
near the inlet part where the flapper valve opens and closes
alternately. A relatively coarse mesh is used in the tailpipe
region. The grid independence of the solution was tested by
the doubling of the axial and radial nodes.
2.2. Governing Equations. The unsteady state continuity,
momentum, energy, and species concentrations equations
used to describe the pulse combustion process are written as
follows.
(24) Keating, E. L. Applied Combustion; Marcel Dekker: New York,
1993.
(25) Wu, Z. H.; Liu, X. D. Drying Technol. 2002, 20, 1097–1117.
(26) Wu, Z. H.; Liu, X. D. Drying Technol. 2006, 24, 751–761.
918 Energy & Fuels, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2008 Zhonghua and Mujumdar

∂
(FY ) + ∇·(Fυ
∂t i [(
bYi) ) ∇· FDi,m +
µt
Sct
∇Yi + Ri ) ] (2)

where Ri represents the species change due to the combustion

reaction. Sct is the turbulent Schmidt number Sct ) µt/(FDt) ,
where µt is the turbulent viscosity and Dt is the turbulent
diffusivity. Here, Sct ) 0.7.
For 2D axial-symmetric geometries, the axial and radial
momentum conservation equations are given by
Axial and radial momentum equations

∂ 1 ∂ 1 ∂ ∂p
(Fυ ) + (rFυxυx) + (rFυrυx) ) - +
∂t x r ∂x r ∂r ∂x

1 ∂
[(
r ∂x
rµ 2
∂υx 2
- (∇·υ
∂x 3
b) + )]
1 ∂
r ∂r
rµ 2
∂r[(
∂υx ∂υr
+
∂x )] + Fgx (3)

and

∂ 1 ∂ 1 ∂ ∂p
(Fυ ) + (rFυxυr) + (rFυrυr) ) - +
∂t r r ∂x r ∂r ∂r

1 ∂
r ∂x[(
rµ
∂υx ∂υr
∂r
+
∂x )] +
1 ∂
r ∂r [(
rµ 2
∂υx 2
∂r
- (∇·υ
3
b) - )]
υr 2 µ
2µ 2 + b) + Fgr (4)
(∇·υ
r 3r
where

∂Vx ∂Vr Vr
∇·υ
b) + + (5)
∂x ∂r r

Turbulence predictions of the gas flow are obtained from the

standard k-ε turbulence model expressed by equations 6
and 7.

∂
∂t
(Fk) +
∂
r∂x
(rFkVx) +
∂
r∂r
(rFkVr) )
∂
r∂x [( ) ]
r µ+
µt ∂k
σk ∂x
+

∂
r∂r [( ) ]
r µ+
µt ∂k
σk ∂r
+ Gk - Fε (6)

and

∂
∂t
(Fε) +
∂
r∂x
(rFεVx) +
∂
r∂r
(rFεVr) )
∂
r∂x
r µ+ [( ) ]
µt ∂ε
σk ∂x
+

Figure 4. Time sequence of the reaction rate (kmol/(m3 s)) contours.

∂
r∂r [( ) ]
r µ+
µt ∂ε
σk ∂r
ε ε2
+ C1ε Gk - C2εF (7)
k k
Energy equation

Continuity equation ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂T
∂F
∂t
(Fh) +
r∂x
(rFhυx) +
r∂r
(rFhυr) ) rk
r ∂ x ∂x
+( )
+ ∇·(Fυ
b) ) 0 (1)

( ) ( )
∂t ∂hiYi ∂hiYi
∂ ∂T ∂ ∂
Species equation ( )
rk
r ∂ r ∂r
+
r∂x
rFDi
∂x
+
r∂r
rFDi
∂r
+ Sh (8)
Pulse Combustion Characteristics of Gaseous Fuels Energy & Fuels, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2008 919

Figure 5. Time trace of the oscillating pressure, temperature, and mass fraction of methane in the combustion chamber (ξ ) 25, methane-air
mixture).

Figure 6. Peak-to-peak amplitude of gas pressure and velocity along combustor (chamber length, 0.15 m; tailpipe length, 1.43 m; ξ ) 25).

where Sh describes the heat release of gas fuel species’ time and memory. Because of the limitations of the computa-
combustion tional resources, only one-step combustion chemistry was

( )
considered in this study.
h0i
∑ ∫
T
Sh ) - + c dT Ri (9) CH4 + 2O2 f CO2 + 2H2O
Mi Tref,i p,i
i Consequently, five species, namely, CH4, O2, N2, CO2, and H2O,
In this work, as a first attempt, one-step propane combustion were modeled with corresponding conservation equations. The
chemistry is assumed to model combustion. Multistep combus- reaction rate was computed considering both the Arrhenius law
tion chemistry will yield more detailed information about the and the Magnussen-Hjertager model taking account of the
combustion process, but that needs a much longer computation slower kinetics of this model. This approach was adopted
920 Energy & Fuels, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2008 Zhonghua and Mujumdar

Figure 7. Predicted methane inlet flow rate and instantaneous flue velocity and thrust generated by the combustor during a pulse cycle.

Table 3. Selected Thrust and Specific Impulse of Modern 2.3. Boundary Conditions. The symmetry boundary condi-
Engines tion is applied along the centerline of the combustor. At the
aircraft engine thrust (kN) specific impulse (N · s/kg) exit of the tailpipe, the pressure is atmospheric and the remaining
Concorde Olympus 593 4 × 170 29700 variables are calculated assuming far-field conditions, that is,
F15 F-100-PW 2 × 64 52000 zero diffusive flux of species or energy normal to the exit.
Sukhoi 27 Saturn/Lyulka 2 × 122.6 14000 Nonslip conditions are prescribed on the walls. For the thermal
wall condition, the heat loss through wall is calculated by
because it was felt that there might be regions within the flow considering the convective heat transfer between the ambient
field where the chemical kinetics are slower than the turbulent air and the hot wall, qwi ) h(Twi - Ta), where qwi is the heat
reaction rate. The form for the Arrhenius law used is the one flux from the ith wall cell of the grid, h is the whole convective
proposed by Westbrook and Dryer,28 heat-transfer coefficient, Twi is the temperature at the wall surface
of the cell, and Ta is the ambient temperature, which is assumed
R1 ) 2.119 × 1011 × to be 300 K. Here, we set h ) 120 W/(m2 K) 30.

[ ]
2.3.1. Inlet Boundary Condition. The flapper valves open and
2.027 × 108 J/(kg mol) close alternatively during the pulse combustion process depend-
exp - [CCH4]0.2[CO2]1.3 (10)
RT ing on the pressure difference across the flapper. The valve
The concentrations of reactants are in units of kg mol/(m3 s). closes when the pressure at the head end of the combustor, Pc,
In this work, several gaseous fuels were tested, and Tables 1 is greater than the pressure upstream of the valves (Pin), taken
and 2 list their Arrhenius kinetic chemical reaction equations in this study to be 1 atm. In this condition, no fuel/air mixture
and the combustion heat released. enters the combustion chamber.
The form of the turbulent reaction rate is u ) 0 when ∆P ) Pin - Pc e 0 (12)

Ri ) AFm/ ( kε ) where m/ ) min

{( ) mi
ViMi reactants
, When the pressure at the head end drops below the pressure
upstream of the valve, the flapper valve opens and fresh fuel/

( )}
mk air mixture is drawn into the combustion chamber. Here, a
B ∑ VkMk
(11) simple relationship between the inlet velocity and the pressure
products difference across the valve of the following form is used:
where Vi and Mi are the stoichiometric coefficients and the
molecular weights of species i. The terms k and ε are the kinetic
energy of turbulence and the dissipation rate, respectively. The
1
∆P ) ξFu2
2
⇒ u)
 2∆P
Fξ
(13)

coefficient A is a constant with a value of 4.0, and the coefficient
B takes the value of 0.5.29
(27) Nijaguna, B. T. Biogas Technology; New Age International (P)
Limited: New Delhi, 2002.
(28) Westbrook, C. K.; Dryer, F. L. Combust. Sci. Technol. 1979, 20,
125–140.
(29) Magnussen, B. F.; Hjertager, B. H. Proc. Combust. Inst. 1976, 16,
719–729.
This expression has been used previously in pulse combustor
studies by Tarjiri and Menon.16 Expressing the boundary
condition in the form of eq 13 introduces another parameter
into the system, namely, ξ, which physically represents the
“willingness” of the valves to admit mass into the system. For
(30) Liu, X. D.; Cao, C. W.; Lang, Z. H. Drying Technol. 2001, 19,
1939–1948.
Pulse Combustion Characteristics of Gaseous Fuels
Table 4. Frequency and Power Input Obtained in Möller’s Experiment and This Simulation Case
experiment15
frequency (Hz) 103
power input (kW) 11
methane flow rate (kg/s) 0.22 × 10-3
mixture flow rate (kg/s) 5.05 × 10-3
example, a larger value of ξ (relative to some reference ξ)
translates into a lower inlet velocity, hence less mass injected
into the combustor for a given pressure difference, whereas a
smaller value of ξ allows for larger inflow velocities. The
implications of this behavior will be discussed later in Section
3.1.3. The advantage of this method is that the mass flow is not
set a priori and can now adjust itself accordingly depending on
the operating conditions. The mass flow rate of the fuel/air
mixture is calculated as
ṁ ) FmixAinletu (14)
where Fmix is the density of mixture and Ainlet is the inlet port
area of the flapper valve. The mixture had an initial temperature
of 300 K and an excess air ratio of 1.22.
2.4. Solution Procedure. The conservation equations were
solved implicitly with a 2D unsteady-state segregated solver
using an under-relaxation method. The pressure-velocity
coupling is discretized using the “SIMPLE” method. The
momentum, species, and energy equations are discretized using
a second-order upwind approximation. When discretizing the
momentum equation, the pressure field and face mass fluxes
are not known a priori, and the “standard” pressure interpolation
scheme31 was used here to compute the face values of the
pressure from the cell values. In this work, the time-step size
of 1 × 10-6 s was selected for this simulation. To achieve
convergence as well as to test the grid independence of the
results, a volume-averaged pressure in the combustion chamber
is defined and traced during the computation process. Figure 5
shows the convergence history of the chamber volume-averaged
pressure. The pressure initially fluctuated significantly and then
achieved a “cyclical steady” amplitude oscillation shown in
Figure 5. The criterion to judge when the computation can be
stopped is when the pressure amplitudes in the following cycles
are the same (cyclical steady state).The calculation time for each
case varied between one day and several days, depending on
the complexity of the problem and the initial guess.
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Baseline Case. A baseline run was first carried out for
methane fuel, subject to the following boundary conditions: an
inlet methane/air mixture gage pressure of 0 Pa (relative to
ambient pressure) and an excess air ratio of 1.22. In addition,
account is taken of the heat loss.
3.1.1. Self-Breathing Combustion Process. Figures 3 and 4
show the reaction rate contours and the corresponding gas
temperature contours in the combustion chamber, respectively,
using the color maps to depict the contour values. The reaction
rate contours show that the flame (a body of burning gas) is a
narrow band surrounding the reactant mixture. During the inflow
(Figure 3a-e), the hot remnant gases from the previous cycle
ignited the fresh fuel-air mixture as it entered the combustors,
and the mixture gas deflected to the side wall. It is seen that
the flame was anchored at two locations: the stagnation plate
and the side wall near the inlet port. When the inlet port closes
(Figure 3f-i), combustion continued but the flame structure
(31) Rhie, C. M.; Chow, W. L. AIAA J. 1983, 21, 1525–1532.
Energy & Fuels, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2008 921
case ξ ) 25 case ξ ) 50 case ξ ) 75
106 97 79
8.72 7.771 6.686
0.1744 × 10-3 0.1554 × 10-3 0.1337 × 10-3
4.217 × 10-3 3.758 × 10-3 3.233 × 10-3
collapsed slowly to a region near the inlet. Most of the gaseous
fuel was completed before the inlet port reopened. There was
still some unburnt mixture near the inlet that maintains the flame
until the next cycle begins anew.
Figure 5 shows the time evolution of the volume-averaged
gas pressure, temperature, and mass fraction of methane in the
combustion chamber. The computed gage pressure varies from
-6400 to 8800 Pa (relative to atmospheric pressure) with a
peak-to-peak value of 15.2 kPa, and its oscillation mode shape
is nearly a cosine wave. In Figure 5, similar oscillation modes
are found for the gas temperature and the fuel concentration.
The pressure oscillation mode is consistent with those measured
in practical pulse combustors,1,2 indicating that the predicted
combustion process is a really periodic one (pulse combustion).
Figure 5 also shows the phase relations between the instanta-
neous pressure, temperature, and mass fraction of fuel in the
combustion chamber. The temperature oscillation is ahead of
the pressure oscillation by 30° and is out of phase with the
instantaneous mass fraction of propane. That is, the gas
temperature reaches a peak when the mass fraction of methane
reaches its minimum, indicating a phase delay between the heat
release and the pressure wave. The predicted phase delay is
consistent with the phase relation described by the Rayleigh
criterion for combustion-driven instability.32 From Figure 5, the
pulse frequency is calculated to be about 106 Hz.
3.1.2. Gas Characteristics in the Pulse Combustor. Figure
6 shows the distribution of the peak-to-peak amplitude for the
gas pressure and the velocity along the axial distance from the
inlet. The pressure amplitude decreases from 15.4 kPa initially
to 0 kPa at the exit of the tailpipe while the velocity amplitude
increases from 2 to 84 m/s. In the combustion chamber (axial
distance < 0.15 m), both pressure and velocity amplitudes keep
almost constant at different axial distances, indicating that the
chamber can be regarded as a well-stirred reactor and its thermal
properties are homogeneous. At the inlet of tailpipe, the velocity
amplitude reaches its minimum while the pressure amplitude
reaches the maximum. Opposite phenomena happen at the outlet.
The pressure mode shown in Figure 6 has a quarter-wave shape,
which corresponds to the fundamental acoustic mode of a
closed-open duct.2 The above phenomena have also been
observed in many actual pulse combustors.1–3
The mass flow rate of methane during a pulse cycle is plotted
in Figure 7. It can be seen that the fuel is drawn into the chamber
in only half of the pulse cycle. By integrating the area under
the fuel influx curve shown in Figure 7, the average inflow rate
of methane is calculated to be 0.1744 g/s. Taking the low heating
value of methane as 50.01 MJ/kg, the power input of the pulse
combustor is calculated to be 8.72 kW. Figure 7 also shows
that during a pulse cycle, the exhaust gas velocity varies from
-27 to 54 m/s with a mean velocity of 16.81 m/s. The
phenomenon that a negative flue velocity exists during a pulse
cycle was verified by pulse combustion impingement heating
experiments where the instantaneous flue velocity was mea-
(32) Rayleigh, J. W. S. Theory of Sound; Dover Publications: New York,
1945.
922 Energy & Fuels, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2008 Zhonghua and Mujumdar

Figure 8. Gas pressure oscillations in the combustion chamber for different fuel species (propane, butane, methanol, ethanol, and fuel oil).

Table 5. Operational Characteristics of the Pulse Combustor Using Different Fuels

items propane butane methanol ethanol fuel oil
frequencies (Hz) 116 113.8 114.1 120 112
peak-to-peak pressure amplitude (Pa) -5082 to 6035 -5676 to 6998 -5195 to 6176 -6351 to 6800 -5283 to 6404
average temperature in chamber (K) 2094 2090 2075 2106 2070
average flue velocity (m/s) 16.55 17.15 21.30 15.69 17.67
fuel flow rate (g/s) 0.1929 0.1983 0.4789 0.3077 0.2162
combustion heat (MJ/kg) 46.361 45.752 21.102 28.079 40.531
power input (kW) 8.95 9.07 10.11 8.64 8.76
average thrust (N) 0.4244 0.4453 0.5754 0.4018 0.4595
specific impulse (N · s/kg) 2200 2250 1200 1310 2130
thrust output /power input (N/kW) 4.74 × 10-2 4.91 × 10-2 5.69 × 10-2 4.65 × 10-2 5.24 × 10-2

Table 6. Composition of Biogas27
components % combustion process, the inlet valves open and close alternately
methane, CH4 55–75
carbon dioxide, CO2 25–45
nitrogen, N2 0–0.3
hydrogen, H2 1–5
hydrogen sulfide, H2S 0–3
oxygen, O2 0.1–0.5
sured.10,11,33 In these experiments, the negative part of the flue
velocity was reported to decrease the thermal efficiency.
The instantaneous thrust generated by this combustor is also
plotted in Figure 7. Here, the instantaneous thrust is defined as
Tthrust ) ∫Aexit FVx2 dA where Aexit is the cross-area of the
tailpipe exit plane. In Figure 7, the instantaneous thrust oscillates
from -0.38 to 2.55 N with a cycle-averaged thrust of 0.5496
N. Thus, the thrust output-to-power input is calculated to be
6.30 × 10-2 N/kW. Another parameter is defined to evaluate
how much thrust can be generated by unit fuel, that is, the
specific impulse. In this case, the specific impulse is calculated
to be 3150 N · s/kg. Compared with the modern aircraft engines
listed in Table 3, the specific impulse of the simulated pulse
combustor is rather low.
(33) Liewkongsataporn, W.; Patterson, T.; Ahrens, F.; Loughran, J.
Impingment Drying Enhance Using a Pulsating Jet. Presented at 15th
International Drying Symposium (IDS 2006), Budapest, Hungary, August
20–23, 2006.
3.1.3. Comparison with Experiments. During the pulse
depending on the pressure difference across the valves. Simula-
tion of the behavior of inlet valves and the resulting mass flow
rate of fuel is a major challenge for mathematical models of
pulse combustion. As discussed in Section 2.3.1, in this case,
we use a parameter ξ to physically represent the “willingness”
of the valves to admit mass into the system. The advantage of
this method is that the mass flow rate of fuel is not set a priori
and can adjust itself depending on the operating conditions; the
disadvantage is that we need to find the proper ξ value by trial
and error. On the basis of the combustor configuration described
earlier,15 we tested a series of ξ values. Table 4 shows the
comparison of experimental and simulation results. From Table
4, it can be seen that the case of ξ ) 25 is closest to the
experimental data. The predicted pulse frequency (106 Hz)
matches well with the experimental one (103 Hz). The difference
of the power input between simulation and experiment is about
21%, which is the lowest one among the selected cases. Also,
from Sections 3.1.1 and 3.1.2, the key physics of pulse
combustion is captured for ξ ) 25. Thus, ξ ) 25 was used in
this simulation work.
3.2. Pulse Combustion Using Various Gaseous Fuels.
Parametric studies were carried out to determine how various
gaseous fuels perform in pulse combustors. The gaseous fuels
selected were propane, butane, methanol, ethanol, and fuel oil.
Methane, propane, and butane represent low molecular weight
Pulse Combustion Characteristics of Gaseous Fuels Energy & Fuels, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2008 923

Figure 9. Gas pressure oscillations in the combustion chamber for biogas with different methane/carbon oxide ratios (100:0, 70:30, 60:40, 40:60).

Table 7. Operational Characteristics of the Pulse Combustor Using the Biogas

methane/CO2 ratio
100:0 70:30 60:40 40:60
frequencies (Hz) 106 102 102 95
peak-to-peak pressure amplitude (Pa) -6425 to 8865 -6959 to 8975 -7133 to 9111 -9236 to 12091
average temperature in chamber (K) 2001 1915 1879.4 1738
average flue velocity (m/s) 16.81 18.21 19.83 22.77
methane flow rate (g/s) 0.1744 0.1775 0.1806 0.2081
biogas flow rate (g/s) 0.1744 0.3867 0.5117 1.0665
power input (kW) 8.722 8.777 9.039 10.415
average thrust (N) 0.5496 0.5929 0.6593 0.8863
thrust/methane influx (N · s/kg) 3151 3341 3650 4259
specific impulse (N · s/kg) 3151 1533 1289 831
thrust output/power input (N/kW) 6.30 × 10-2 6.76 × 10-2 7.29 × 10-2 8.51 × 10-2

hydrocarbon while fuel oil represents the high molecular weight
one. Methanol and ethanol typically represent biofuels which
are increasing in importance. Figure 8 shows the predicted gas
pressure oscillation in the combustion chamber for these fuels.
From Figure 8, it can be seen that the gas pressures vary
periodically in the range of -6 to 7 kPa and that their oscillation
mode shapes follow a cosine wave, indicating that these
combustion processes are periodic ones. Thus, all these fuels
can be used to drive a pulse combustor.
Table 5 summarizes the predicted operational characteristics
of the pulse combustor using different fuels. No major differ-
ences can be seen in most of the operational parameters: pulse
frequency, peak-to-peak gas pressure amplitude, average gas
temperature in the chamber, average flue gas velocity, and power
input and thrust output to power input, indicating that these fuels
achieve almost the same pulse combustion performance. The
only major differences are in the specific impulse and fuel flow
rate between fuels with low heating values (methanol, ethanol)
and the ones with high heating values (propane, butane, fuel
oil). Because of their low heating values, low specific impulse
values are expected for methanol and ethanol. From Table 5, it
seems that in this case of fuels with low heating values, pulse
combustors will draw in more fuel mass to sustain their
performance. For example, the mass flow rate into the combustor
using methanol is 0.4789 g/s, about 2.5 times the propane flow
rate. From this point of view, as a result of its self-breathing
function, pulse combustors can adjust fuel intake automatically
at least over a certain range, which makes them suitable for
different gaseous fuels. Thus, a given pulse combustor can
switch fuel as needed with minor change in its performance.
3.3. Pulse Combustion Using the Mixed Fuels (Biogas).
In view of the increasing interest in renewable fuels, it is
interesting to investigate pulse combustion performance of
mixed fuels. Here, we take biogas as an example. Table 6 lists
the composition of the biogas tested, which is mainly composed
of 55-75% methane and 25-45% carbon oxide.15 To simplify
the simulation, the biogas was assumed to comprise only
methane and carbon oxide. Three methane/carbon oxide ratios
(70:30, 60:40, 40:60) were selected to study the combustion
performance of biogas and to compare it with the one of pure
methane. Note that here we have a mixture of a combustible
and an inert gas.
Figure 9 shows the predicted gas pressure oscillation in the
combustion chamber for biogas at different methane/carbon
924 Energy & Fuels, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2008
oxide ratios. Similarly, these periodic pressure waves indicate
that pulse combustion is achieved for these fuels. When the
methane/carbon oxide ratio decreases from 100:0 to 40:60, the
peak-to-peak pressure amplitude increases from 15 to 20 kPa,
indicating that the pulse combustion process is indeed intensified
at the lower ratio. Table 7 summarizes the predicted operational
characteristics of the pulse combustor using biogas. From Table
7, it can be seen that, with a decrease of the methane/carbon
oxide ratio, the heating value of the biogas decreases resulting
in more fuel being drawn into the combustion chamber. For
example, the biogas flow rate is 1.0665 g/s in the case of a
40:60 methane/carbon oxide mixture, about 10 times the flow
rate if pure methane is used as the fuel. Thus, large quantities
of the fuel/air mixture were drawn into the chamber causing a
significant increase of the flue gas velocity, and hence the pulse
combustor had enhanced thrust as shown in Table 7. This is an
interesting observation of special interest in industrial drying.
From Tables 5 and 7, we can conclude that when pulse
combustors operate on fuels of low heating value, the following
phenomena take place: (1) The combustor draws more fuel mass
in to sustain combustion and even intensify its performance in
terms of the thrust generated, for example, the increased peak-
to-peak pressure amplitude in the case of biogas with a 40:60
Zhonghua and Mujumdar
methane/carbon oxide mixture. (2) The combustor has a lower
specific impulse. (3) The burner has a higher thrust output-to-
power inlet. In the case of fuels of low heating value, the gas
temperature in the combustion chamber is lower (see Table 7).
In this condition, a major fraction of the combustion heat
released from the fuel combustion is converted into kinetic
energy of the flue gas rather than into increased flue gas
temperature.
4. Conclusions
The combustion process of a gas-fired pulse combustor was
simulated using a CFD model to understand the flame structure,
the gas characteristics in the burner, and the resulting pulsations.
The numerical results satisfactorily compare with the available
experimental data. Selected gaseous fuels such as low molecular
weight hydrocarbons, high molecular weight hydrocarbons,
biofuels, and mixed fuels are tested for pulse combustion, and
their operational properties are presented and compared. It is
observed that the combustor can self-adjust automatically at least
over a certain range of parameters which makes it suitable for
different gaseous fuels.
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