Space exploration is inadvertently associated with spacecraft. The heart of any launch vehicle is its engine. He must develop the first cosmic speed - about 7.9 km / s, to deliver the astronauts into orbit, and the second cosmic to overcome the planet’s gravitational field.
This is not easy to achieve, but scientists are constantly looking for new ways to solve this problem. Designers from Russia took a step further and were able to develop a detonation rocket engine, the tests of which were successful. This achievement can be called a real breakthrough in the field of space engineering.
New opportunities
Why do detonation engines have high hopes? According to scientists, their power will be 10 thousand times greater than the power of existing rocket engines. At the same time, they will consume much less fuel, and their production will be distinguished by low cost and profitability. What is the reason for this?
It's all about the fuel oxidation reaction. If modern missiles use the deflagration process - slow (subsonic) combustion of fuel at constant pressure, then the detonation rocket engine functions due to the explosion, detonation of the combustible mixture. It burns at a supersonic speed with the release of a huge amount of thermal energy simultaneously with the propagation of a shock wave.
The development and testing of the Russian version of the detonation engine was carried out by the specialized laboratory Detonation LRE within the Energomash production complex.
The excellence of new engines
The study and development of detonation engines engaged in leading world scientists for 70 years. The main reason preventing the creation of this type of engine is the uncontrolled spontaneous combustion of fuel. In addition, the agenda was the task of efficiently mixing fuel and oxidizer, as well as integrating the nozzle and air intake.
Having solved these problems, it will be possible to create a detonation rocket engine, which in its technical characteristics will overtake time. At the same time, scientists call such its advantages:
- Ability to develop speeds in the subsonic and hypersonic ranges.
- An exception to the design of many moving parts.
- Lower weight and cost of the power plant.
- High thermodynamic efficiency.
Serially, this type of engine was not produced. It was first tested on low-flying aircraft in 2008. The detonation engine for launch vehicles was first tested by Russian scientists. That is why this event is so important.
Principle of operation: pulsed and continuous
Currently, scientists are developing plants with a pulsed and continuous workflow. The principle of operation of a detonation rocket engine with a pulsed circuit is based on the cyclical filling of the combustion chamber with a combustible mixture, its sequential ignition and emission of combustion products into the environment.
Accordingly, during a continuous working process, fuel is supplied to the combustion chamber continuously, fuel burns in one or more detonation waves, which continuously circulate across the stream. The advantages of such engines are:
- Single ignition of fuel.
- Relatively simple design.
- Small dimensions and mass of installations.
- More efficient use of a combustible mixture.
- Low noise, vibration and emissions.
In the future, using these advantages, a detonation liquid rocket engine with a continuous operation scheme will supersede all existing installations due to its mass-dimensional and cost characteristics.
Detonation Engine Tests
The first tests of the domestic detonation installation were held as part of a project established by the Ministry of Education and Science. A small engine with a combustion chamber with a diameter of 100 mm and an annular channel width of 5 mm was introduced as a prototype. The tests were carried out on a special bench, indicators were recorded when working on various types of combustible mixtures - hydrogen-oxygen, natural gas-oxygen, propane-butane-oxygen.
Tests of a detonation rocket engine using oxygen-hydrogen fuel have proved that the thermodynamic cycle of these units is 7% more efficient than with other units. In addition, it was experimentally confirmed that with an increase in the amount of fuel supplied, thrust, as well as the number of detonation waves and speed, increase.
Analogs in other countries
The development of detonation engines involved scientists from leading countries of the world. The greatest success in this direction was achieved by designers from the USA. In their models, they implemented a continuous way of working, or rotational. The US military plans to use these installations to equip surface ships. Due to their lower weight and small size with high power output, they will help increase the efficiency of combat boats.
A stoichiometric mixture of hydrogen and oxygen is used for its work by an American detonation rocket engine. The advantages of such an energy source are primarily economic - oxygen burns exactly as much as is required for the oxidation of hydrogen. Now the US government spends several billion dollars to provide warships with carbon fuel. Stoichiometric fuel will reduce costs by several times.
Further directions of development and prospects
New data obtained as a result of tests of detonation engines have determined the use of fundamentally new methods for constructing a scheme for working on liquid fuel. But for operation, such engines must have high heat resistance due to the large amount of thermal energy released. Currently, a special coating is being developed that will ensure the operability of the combustion chamber under high temperature exposure.
A special place in further research is occupied by the creation of mixing heads, with the help of which it will be possible to obtain droplets of combustible material of a given size, concentration and composition. To address these issues, a new detonation liquid rocket engine will be created, which will become the basis of a new class of launch vehicles.