This project marks the first fully undergraduate-led initiative to design, manufacture, and hot-fire a Rotating Detonation Engine (RDE) combustor. The RDE is designed for integration with a turbine, aiming to harness this novel technology for clean energy generation. Under the mentorship of Dr. Guillermo Paniagua of Zucrow Labs and his graduate research team, we have made significant progress in the engine's design since January 2025.

Rotating Detonation Engines (RDEs) represent a cutting-edge propulsion technology being explored to enhance engine efficiency in aerospace and other applications. Unlike conventional chemical propulsion, which relies on deflagration—a subsonic combustion process—RDEs utilize detonation, where combustion occurs at supersonic speeds (greater than Mach 1), significantly improving thermodynamic efficiency.

In an RDE, propellants detonate within a constant-volume combustor, generating a rotating detonation wave that propagates around the chamber. This project specifically employs an H₂-air combustion reaction to maintain both simplicity and environmental cleanliness. The primary objective of our testing is to achieve a short-duration hotfire, with exhaust flow directed through a turbine that is also being designed by our team.

My work has primarily focused on the sizing and design of the RDE injector. After conducting an extensive literature review on injector theory, I developed rigorous MATLAB scripts to streamline the calculation of key parameters, including injection and manifold pressures, chamber pressure, orifice areas for both air and hydrogen fuel, and pressure drop. Throughout this process, I have meticulously documented these calculation methods and continuously validate them with the graduate researchers working under Dr. Paniagua.