Wave Engine Corporation is marketing a fully functional, state-of-the-art pulse jet engine intended for propulsion of drones.
Here is the J-1, a reactor without parts. MovingMovingwith low production costs and the ability to swallow any type of fuel. It is more precisely a pulse jet engine developed by the company Wave Engine CompanyThe company, from the University of Maryland, conducted a test flight with its Scitor-D drone equipped with this engine. In the video you can seePlanesPlanes Take off with a strong stance, powered by these reactor spit balls. firefireThe aircraft also performs rapid movements before landing with the engine off. During this flight, the drone was able to reach SpeedSpeed 322 km/h. The engine is now fully operational and was officially completed in March.
So the company is no longer in the development phase, having just announced that it has delivered its first engines to a “mysterious” US government customer. The pulse jet engine, or pulsejet, is far from an innovation. It has been around since the early 20th century.H Last century, it was he who operated the famous Nazi V1 flying bombs. If the engine makes a distinctive reverberating sound, it is precisely because of its special operation.
Flight demonstration of the Scitor-D UAV equipped with the J-1 engine. © Wave Engine Company
New with old technology
Instead of a reactor with rotating components, a pulse jet has no moving parts. Propulsion relies solely on waves. pressurepressure resulting from combustioncombustionThey allow expulsion. GasGas Hot and creating thrust. If the engine is misfiring, it is also because combustion is being intermittent. When'airair The fuel ignites in the chamber, and the temperature and pressure force the hot gases outward, creating a vacuum. This vacuum allows air to be sucked back in to reproduce the combustion and propulsion cycle.
The Wave J-1 reactor resembles a curved paperclip-shaped exhaust with two outlets that together perform the propulsion and suction stages. It has been updated with electronic control to improve efficiency and increase reliability. Thus, the machine can be stopped and then restarted in mid-flight. In terms of its characteristics, the J-1 is designed to provide a fast drone with MassMass From 90 kg. The engine weighs 8.2 kg and measures 14 x 32 x 163 cm. It produces up to 245 N of thrust. After the J-1, Wave plans to design the K-1 aircraft that can power 454 kg aircraft.
