Feasibility Studies on the power plant - MAV

An experimental investigation on the developmental studies of the pulsejet was undertaken at NAL as a possible power plant for the MAV. Both valveless and valved pulsejets were investigated. The working of these pulsejets was demonstrated at higher scales and the valveless pulsejets at the scaled down versions. Various geometries of valveless pulsejets were fabricated and the operations of the same were demonstrated for fuels like hydrogen and LPG. A valved pulsejet in the thrust class of 1 – 2 kgf was fabricated and successfully operated using liquid fuels like petrol, methanol and methanol with 16% nitro methane mixture. A thrust stand for measuring the thrust was fabricated and used for the experiments. Detailed measurements involving the unsteady pressure, temperatures and thrust were made on these pulsejets to get an insight into its operation. Attempts were made to understand the design philosophy of the pulsejets. Subsequently, a flight test was conducted by mounting the Dynajet engine over the Long EZ aircraft, which fared sucessfully. The project culminated with the successful flight test with the developed Valved pulsejet engine on a LONG-EZ configured flight model.Thereby, making Pulsejet engine a potential contender for the MAV propulsion unit