In recent research, 1,2 liquid fuel droplets were found to hinder the detonation process in a pulse detonation engine (PDE). In the current work, multi-phase effects are eliminated with a flash vaporization system that vaporizes the liquid fuels prior to mixing with air. Hydrocarbon and air mixtures have been transitioned from deflagration to detonations previously, 1 but exhibited long ignition and deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) times. Here, two liquid hydrocarbon fuels, with different octane numbers (ON), are detonated with air in a PDE to determine the effect of octane number on the ignition time and the DDT time. The premixed, combustible mixture fills the PDE tubes via an automotive valve and cam system described in detail elsewhere.3 N-heptane (ON-0) and isooctane (ON-100) are evaluated individually to determine the effects of automotive octane number on pulse detonation engine combustion performance. The ON has been considered previously 4 as an acceptable criterion in determining the detonability for PDEs, and it is derived based on the tendency to "knock" or detonate relative to isooctane in an automotive engine application. _____________________________ * Correspondence can be addressed to: kelly.tucker@wpafb.af.mil. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, the Department of Defense or the US Government. †This paper is declared a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States.The goal of this research is to show that a flash vaporized liquid hydrocarbon fuel system can provide the fuel and air homogeneity required to achieve detonations. The octane number is studied to determine its influence on the ignition and DDT time for hydrocarbon fuels.The flash vaporization system provided an outstanding method for achieving the desired mixing and vaporization, and the systems operating points matched well with the liquid vapor equilibrium model results. The ignition times showed little dependence on fuel injection temperatures or octane number and no droplet effects were noted. The DDT trends were octane number dependent and the isooctane was difficult to detonate with wave speeds below the stable Chapman-Jouget (CJ) wave speeds. The heptane readily detonated and produced wave speeds at or above CJ.