US Patent 9140456 Variable initiation location system for pulse detonation combustor

A pulse detonation combustor (PDC) includes a combustion tube, an inlet located on an upstream end of the combustion tube which receives a flow of a fuel/air mixture, an enhanced DDT region located within the tube downstream of the inlet, a nozzle disposed on a downstream end of the tube and a fortified region disposed downstream of the enhanced DDT region and upstream of the nozzle. A combustion initiation system that provides multiple initiation locations at different axial stations along the length of the tube are positioned downstream of the inlet and upstream of the fortified region. The initiator system is operable to initiate combustion of a fuel-air mixture within the tube at a selected one of the initiation locations.