Patent ID: 7614211

Claim:
A detonation combustion device, comprising: a detonation chamber having an upstream end for receiving a flow and a downstream end for discharging the flow; and a swirler in fluid communication with the upstream end of the detonation chamber and having a cross-sectional area substantially the same as the cross-sectional area of the upstream end of the detonation chamber, the swirler being divided into at least a first region having a plurality of vanes angled in a first direction with respect to an axis of the swirler and a second region having a plurality of vanes angled in a second direction with respect to the axis of the swirler such that the flow that passes through the first region of the swirler is directed in a first rotational direction and the flow that passes through the second region of the swirler is directed in a second rotational direction, wherein the first rotational direction and the second rotational direction are different directions of rotation with respect to the axis of the swirler, and wherein the plurality of vanes of the first and second regions are angled such that adjacent vanes nearly overlap each other in a circumferential direction, thereby increasing an optical blockage of the flow passing through the first and second regions of the swirler.