Pulse Combustion Project by a Tesla Turbine Enthusiast!

August 27, 2001

This month we are taking a look at pulse combustion as a means of powering the hot rotor.

The following project was submitted by Luis Mendonca with permission to publish his work for the benefit of all turbine builders. We have included Luis' comments, photos and drawings; for more information contact him through his email.

Thu Jun 21 18:57:55 2001

Tesla Project

For several years I have been developing rocket and gas turbine engines. At one time I had the idea of building a pulse combustion turbine, so I developed several pulse combustion chambers working with conventional reaction turbines. Then I heard about a simple and reliable turbine, the Tesla turbine, and I built several models. The one in the pictures was projected to work on hot pulse combustion gases with a heat transfer to produce steam, to be injected also in the turbine. 

The disks are 400 mm in diameter and 26 in total. I have achieved 5400 rpm and 150 c temperature at the exhaust port (it's not shown in the picture because the engine was opened for the photo). I couldn't measure the Hp because I have no measurement equipment. 

Now I'm working on a new type of turbine design by me; it has only one disk and a pulse combustion boiler, works on steam and hot combustion gases all mixed at conventional time. I have already worked with 20000 rpm , no or few vibrations. The disk or turbine has no blades and works on a similar theory that Teslas do. I use propane or natural gas as fuel; at the exhaust I have condensated water an almost 0 pollution gases

regards

Luis Mendonça
lmgm@netc.pt 

Mon Jul 2 17:10:28 2001 First Combustion Chambers Hi, these drawings were my first experiences with pulse combustion chambers. I have made them all. (I will try to scan the real pictures.) These experiences gave me the idea of a simple pulse combustion chamber, similar to a pulse jet engine. The differences about normal pulse jet is that the valve is much more reliable, and has a servo or an electronic fuel injector. For the moment I am developing my new turbine with the pulse combustion boiler. When I finish it, I'll send some pictures on the test stand. Hope that you understand the drawings, Regards Luis Mendonça lmgm@netc.pt