Pulsejet

A pulsejet engine (or pulse jet) is a type of jet engine in which combustion occurs in pulses. A pulsejet engine can be made with few or no moving parts, and is capable of running statically (that is, it does not need to have air forced into its inlet, typically by forward motion). The best known example is the Argus As 109-014 used to propel Nazi Germany's V-1 flying bomb.

Pulsejet engines are a lightweight form of jet propulsion, but usually have a poor compression ratio, and hence give a low specific impulse.

The two main types of pulsejet engines use resonant combustion and harness the combustion products to form a pulsating exhaust jet that intermittently produces thrust.

The traditional valved pulsejet has one-way valves through which incoming air passes. When the fuel mix is ignited, the valves close, which means that the heated gases can only leave through the engine's tailpipe, thus creating forward thrust.

The second type is the valveless pulsejet. The technical terms for this engine are acoustic-type pulsejet, or aerodynamically valved pulsejet.

One notable line of research includes the pulse detonation engine, which involves repeated detonations in the engine, and which can potentially give high compression and reasonably good efficiency.

Russian inventor and retired artillery officer Nikolaj Afanasievich Teleshov patented a steam pulsejet engine in 1867 while Swedish inventor Martin Wiberg also has a claim to having invented the first pulsejet, in Sweden, but details are unclear.

The first working pulsejet was patented in 1906 by Russian engineer V. V. Karavodin, who completed a working model in 1907.