A squad of Chinese scientists and engineers from the Beijing Institute of Energy Machines (chin. 北京动力机械研究所) constructed an engine that will enable passenger and military aircraft to travel at speeds of up to 16 Mach (almost 20,000 km/h). With this kind of drive, aircraft could have crossed the distance between Beijing and Washington in just 2 hours.
An engine prototype test conducted in a hypersonic aerodynamic tunnel in Beijing suggests unprecedented structural performance in terms of thrust, fuel efficiency and operational stability.
According to Chinese scientists, this engine could besides service "transatmospheric reusable aeroplanes taking off horizontally from the runway of the airport, reaching the velocity to enter orbit around the Earth and then reentering the atmosphere and yet landing at the destination airport".
The engine diagram was described in item in a reviewed article published in the Chinese diary of Propulsion Technology by a squad led by Zhang Yining.
According to the document, the engine operates in 2 different modes:
- Below the Mach 7 velocity acts as a continuous rotary detonation engine. The outside air is mixed with the fuel and ignited, forming a shock wave that spreads in the ringing chamber. The impact wave ignites more fuel during rotation, providing a powerful and continuous airliner thrust.
- Above 7 Macha impact wave stops spinning and focuses on the circular platform at the rear of the engine, keeping the string through an almost straight-line oblique detonation format.
The detonation of combustible gases can transform almost 80 percent of chemical energy into kinetic energy. Conventional turbofan engines, which are based on slow and mild combustion, accomplish efficiency of 20-30 percent.
Zhang's squad claims that the proposed solution, integrating rotational and upright detonation, is the first of its kind in the world. It is besides a testament to Chinese ingenuity, innovation.
"This solution has apparent advantages and it is expected that it will improve the optimal efficiency of the thermodynamic cycle in almost all velocity ranges, bringing a revolutionary change in aircraft propulsion," said scientists.
The world's first unchangeable detonation engine was developed by russian scientists during the Cold War, but its application did not go beyond the prototype phase due to the challenges of controlling the shock wave.
In fresh years China and the United States have engaged in fierce competition in this area. NASA and companies like GE have conducted independent ground tests of prototype engines. In the meantime, China made last year the world's first drone flight powered by a fresh kind of detonation engine.
But the road to real usage of fresh engines, especially this technology, is inactive long.
Mach, Ma, M, is simply a velocity unit equal to the velocity of sound distribution in the air; in the standard atmosphere at sea level (temperature 15°C, force 1013, 25 hPa) is: 1 Ma = 340 m/s = 1224 km/h; utilized primarily in aviation to express aircraft's flight speed; its name is derived from the name of Ernst Mach.
Based on:
- sohu.com;
- ximalaya.com;
- byiahao.baidu.com;
Author: 梁安基 Andrzej Z. Liang, 上海 Shanghai, 中国 China
Email: [email protected]
Editorial: Leszek B.
Email: [email protected]
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