Patent ID: 8438833

Claim:
An engine, comprising: at least one pulse detonation combustor having a combustion chamber and a converging-diverging exit nozzle coupled to and downstream of said combustion chamber, wherein during an operation of said at least one pulse detonation combustor a detonation occurs within said combustion chamber and at least one of a fuel fill fraction and purge fraction of said at least one pulse detonation combustor are utilized to offset a temperature peak of said detonation from a pressure peak of said detonation, wherein said fuel fill fraction is defined as 1−purge fraction, and wherein purge fraction is the ratio of the purge time of said at least one pulse detonation combustor to a sum of said purge time of said at least one pulse detonation combustor and a fuel fill time of said at least one pulse detonation combustor, and wherein an offset of time between said temperature peak and said pressure peak is in the range of 1 to 30 ms.