RDE Combustor with Tesla Valve Injectors for Suppression of Back Pressure Oscillations

This study presents a computational investigation of a Rotating Detonation Engine (RDE) integrated with Tesla valve-based injectors to mitigate backpressure-induced by the detonation wave. The RDE configuration includes an inlet, a plenum, and a deflagration-to-detonation combustion chamber, with and without Tesla valves to compare the regulation of the inlet flow. The base RDE suffers from reverse flow of high-temperature gases, posing flashback risks and unstable operation. A two-dimensional unwrapped RDE model is simulated using the transient Navier–Stokes equations coupled with energy and species transport equations, a detailed chemical kinetics model, and the ideal gas equation of state. Results reveal that the inclusion of Tesla valves effectively suppresses reverse flow, stabilizes inlet conditions, and maintains robust detonation wave propagation. Compared to the base case, the Tesla valve-enhanced RDE exhibits reduced pressure fluctuations, narrowed from 2.8–6.4 atm to 3.2–5.5 atm. These findings highlight the potential of Tesla valve configurations for improving operational stability in RDEs. Future work will focus on geometric optimization and experimental validation.