Determining the Pressure Gain of Pressure Gain Combustion

Abstract

Over the past few decades, there has been significant research into propulsion concepts attempting to employ pressure gain combustion. Pressure gain combustion concepts to date have resulted in dynamic, non-uniform gas flows which are difficult to characterize and compare with more conventional forms of propulsion. This paper proposes a technique to derive for the pressure gain combustion device an equivalent, steady, uniform gas pressure that is available to do work or provide thrust, thereby providing a direct comparison with conventional propulsive devices.