英国空天飞行器新概念引擎取得突破进展

来源:百度文库 编辑:超级军网 时间:2024/03/29 07:17:49




http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20510112

这玩意从招商引资到现在已经折腾有一阵子了。

普通涡喷在高速下由于迎面气流被进气口减速后温度过高而导致工作效率下降。

这个新东西用液氢燃料来冷却吸入的空气,并将其送到涡喷引擎入口,从而大大提高涡喷动力的使用速度范围,达到M5.5。离开大气以后再使用普通的液体氢氧火箭,这样起飞阶段使用大气中的氧,降低了液氧的携带量要求,实现直接入轨。不过涡喷后面接上个火箭喷口有点奇怪,这能搞成混合动力的吗?



Reaction Engines Ltd (REL) of Culham, Oxfordshire, ran a series of tests on key elements of its Sabre propulsion system under the independent eye of the European Space Agency (Esa).

Esa's experts have confirmed that all the demonstration objectives were met.

REL claims the major technical obstacle to its ideas has now been removed.

"This is a big moment; it really is quite a big step forward in propulsion," said Alan Bond, the driving force behind the Sabre engine concept.

The company must now raise the £250m needed to complete the next phase of development.


This would essentially take the project to the final designs that could be handed to a manufacturer.

Although the British government has put significant sums into REL's technology in the past, the company's preference is to pursue city finance.

"The project to date has been more than 90% privately funded, and we intend to continue with that type of structure," explained Tim Hayter, the CEO of Reaction Engines Ltd.

"Yes, we would encourage government money but we're not reliant on it and we're certainly not depending on it.

"What is more important to us is government endorsement. That gives everyone the confidence that the UK is behind this project."


The pre-cooler demonstration was a critical step in proving the Skylon concept
REL's idea is for an 84m-long vehicle called Skylon that would do the job of a big rocket but operate like an airliner, taking off and landing at a conventional runway.

The vehicle would burn a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen but in the low atmosphere the oxygen would be taken from the air, in the same way that a jet engine breathes air.

Only once it had achieved very high speeds would Skylon switch to full rocket mode, burning onboard fuel supplies.

Taking its oxygen from the air in the initial flight phase would mean Skylon could fly lighter from the outset with a higher thrust-to-weight ratio, enabling it to make a single leap to orbit, rather than using and dumping propellant stages on the ascent - as is the case with current expendable rockets.

If such a vehicle could be made to work, its reusability should transform the costs of accessing space.

But its success depends on the Sabre engine's ability to manage the very hot air entering its intakes at high speed.

These gases have to be cooled prior to being compressed and burnt with the onboard hydrogen.


Skylon would do the job of a big rocket but operate like an airliner from a conventional runway
REL's solution is a module containing arrays of extremely fine piping that can extract the heat and plunge the inrushing air to about -140C in just 1/100th of a second.

Ordinarily, the moisture in the air would be expected to freeze out rapidly, covering the piping in a blanket of frost and dislocating their operation.

But the company's engineers have also devised a means to control the frosting, permitting the Sabre engine to run in jet mode for as long as is needed before making the transition to full rocket mode to take the Skylon spaceplane into orbit.

It is the innovative helium cooling loop with its pre-cooler heat-exchanger that REL has been validating on an experimental rig.

"We completed the programme by getting down to -150C, running for 10 minutes," said Mr Bond. "We've demonstrated that the pre-cooler is behaving absolutely as predicted."

The UK Space Agency asked Esa's propulsion division to audit the tests, and the Paris-based organisation has declared its satisfaction with the outcome of the experimental programme.

"One of the major obstacles to developing air-breathing engines for launch vehicles is the development of the lightweight high-performance heat exchangers," it said in a statement.

"With this now successfully demonstrated by REL, there are currently no technical reasons why the Sabre engine programme cannot move forward into the next stage of development."


Stable conditions: A view of the chilled air after it has crossed the pre-cooler
Dr Mark Ford, who heads the propulsion engineering group at the agency, added: "The gateway is now open to move beyond the jet age."

The next phase is a three-and-a-half-year project. It would see a smaller version of Sabre being built on a test rig. The demonstrator would not have the exact same configuration as the eventual engine but it would allow REL to prove Sabre's performance across its air-breathing and rocket modes.

"Its parts will be spread out slightly; there's no need for us to package it as we would a real engine," said Mr Bond.

"Also, we will want the ease of access to exchange parts, so it will look a little bit like an anatomy exhibition."

The UK government is currently assessing what its involvement should be in the next phase of Skylon/Sabre, but David Willetts, the science minister, was keen on Wednesday to add his personal support to the project: "The engine being developed by Reaction Engines is a potential game-changer in terms of space technology," he said.

"This successful testing validates the assessment made of the engine concept by the UK Space Agency back in 2010 and is yet another example of the UK's world class space industry. It would be a fantastic achievement if we could one day use this home-grown technology for our own commercial space launches."

Esa is certain to do more study work with REL. Although it is currently working on new versions of its Ariane rocket - a classic expendable vehicle - the agency also wants to keep an eye on future launcher technologies.

REL itself is considering other applications for its technology. These could include incorporating Sabre-like heat-exchangers into existing gas turbine jet engines to improve their fuel-burn efficiency; and also into desalination plants.





http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20510112

这玩意从招商引资到现在已经折腾有一阵子了。

普通涡喷在高速下由于迎面气流被进气口减速后温度过高而导致工作效率下降。

这个新东西用液氢燃料来冷却吸入的空气,并将其送到涡喷引擎入口,从而大大提高涡喷动力的使用速度范围,达到M5.5。离开大气以后再使用普通的液体氢氧火箭,这样起飞阶段使用大气中的氧,降低了液氧的携带量要求,实现直接入轨。不过涡喷后面接上个火箭喷口有点奇怪,这能搞成混合动力的吗?



Reaction Engines Ltd (REL) of Culham, Oxfordshire, ran a series of tests on key elements of its Sabre propulsion system under the independent eye of the European Space Agency (Esa).

Esa's experts have confirmed that all the demonstration objectives were met.

REL claims the major technical obstacle to its ideas has now been removed.

"This is a big moment; it really is quite a big step forward in propulsion," said Alan Bond, the driving force behind the Sabre engine concept.

The company must now raise the £250m needed to complete the next phase of development.


This would essentially take the project to the final designs that could be handed to a manufacturer.

Although the British government has put significant sums into REL's technology in the past, the company's preference is to pursue city finance.

"The project to date has been more than 90% privately funded, and we intend to continue with that type of structure," explained Tim Hayter, the CEO of Reaction Engines Ltd.

"Yes, we would encourage government money but we're not reliant on it and we're certainly not depending on it.

"What is more important to us is government endorsement. That gives everyone the confidence that the UK is behind this project."


The pre-cooler demonstration was a critical step in proving the Skylon concept
REL's idea is for an 84m-long vehicle called Skylon that would do the job of a big rocket but operate like an airliner, taking off and landing at a conventional runway.

The vehicle would burn a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen but in the low atmosphere the oxygen would be taken from the air, in the same way that a jet engine breathes air.

Only once it had achieved very high speeds would Skylon switch to full rocket mode, burning onboard fuel supplies.

Taking its oxygen from the air in the initial flight phase would mean Skylon could fly lighter from the outset with a higher thrust-to-weight ratio, enabling it to make a single leap to orbit, rather than using and dumping propellant stages on the ascent - as is the case with current expendable rockets.

If such a vehicle could be made to work, its reusability should transform the costs of accessing space.

But its success depends on the Sabre engine's ability to manage the very hot air entering its intakes at high speed.

These gases have to be cooled prior to being compressed and burnt with the onboard hydrogen.


Skylon would do the job of a big rocket but operate like an airliner from a conventional runway
REL's solution is a module containing arrays of extremely fine piping that can extract the heat and plunge the inrushing air to about -140C in just 1/100th of a second.

Ordinarily, the moisture in the air would be expected to freeze out rapidly, covering the piping in a blanket of frost and dislocating their operation.

But the company's engineers have also devised a means to control the frosting, permitting the Sabre engine to run in jet mode for as long as is needed before making the transition to full rocket mode to take the Skylon spaceplane into orbit.

It is the innovative helium cooling loop with its pre-cooler heat-exchanger that REL has been validating on an experimental rig.

"We completed the programme by getting down to -150C, running for 10 minutes," said Mr Bond. "We've demonstrated that the pre-cooler is behaving absolutely as predicted."

The UK Space Agency asked Esa's propulsion division to audit the tests, and the Paris-based organisation has declared its satisfaction with the outcome of the experimental programme.

"One of the major obstacles to developing air-breathing engines for launch vehicles is the development of the lightweight high-performance heat exchangers," it said in a statement.

"With this now successfully demonstrated by REL, there are currently no technical reasons why the Sabre engine programme cannot move forward into the next stage of development."


Stable conditions: A view of the chilled air after it has crossed the pre-cooler
Dr Mark Ford, who heads the propulsion engineering group at the agency, added: "The gateway is now open to move beyond the jet age."

The next phase is a three-and-a-half-year project. It would see a smaller version of Sabre being built on a test rig. The demonstrator would not have the exact same configuration as the eventual engine but it would allow REL to prove Sabre's performance across its air-breathing and rocket modes.

"Its parts will be spread out slightly; there's no need for us to package it as we would a real engine," said Mr Bond.

"Also, we will want the ease of access to exchange parts, so it will look a little bit like an anatomy exhibition."

The UK government is currently assessing what its involvement should be in the next phase of Skylon/Sabre, but David Willetts, the science minister, was keen on Wednesday to add his personal support to the project: "The engine being developed by Reaction Engines is a potential game-changer in terms of space technology," he said.

"This successful testing validates the assessment made of the engine concept by the UK Space Agency back in 2010 and is yet another example of the UK's world class space industry. It would be a fantastic achievement if we could one day use this home-grown technology for our own commercial space launches."

Esa is certain to do more study work with REL. Although it is currently working on new versions of its Ariane rocket - a classic expendable vehicle - the agency also wants to keep an eye on future launcher technologies.

REL itself is considering other applications for its technology. These could include incorporating Sabre-like heat-exchangers into existing gas turbine jet engines to improve their fuel-burn efficiency; and also into desalination plants.

看到预冷还以为眼花了
进气道位置的温度估计要上百 然后冷却到-140.。。。。材料逆天
应该不是印度提出的那个将大气中的氧液化,然后提供给液体火箭使用的那种神奇方案。这里只是适当降温,还是气态。
空气中的CO2和H2O不会冻结么?
有些理想化,可能要面对很多工程难题
an 84m-long vehicle called Skylon

xtal 发表于 2012-11-29 10:03
空气中的CO2和H2O不会冻结么?

在大气层内

这物用液态氦进行冷却,试验好像取得了一些进展。。。


这物能飞起来么?如果是滑跑起飞,机场跑道需要多长???

翻译之!
英国航空工业实力,除了老美,估计把毛子比下去了,不说门类的齐全,那受限财政预算和国家整体实力,单单军民用发动机领域,牛牛坐第二把交椅是不争事实。罗罗的东西不是盖的,百年底蕴积累深厚呀
英国航空工业实力,除了老美,估计把毛子比下去了,不说门类的齐全,那受限财政预算和国家整体实力,单单军民用发动机领域,牛牛坐第二把交椅是不争事实。罗罗的东西不是盖的,百年底蕴积累深厚呀
哦哦 又在为咱们做可行性研究了
不建通天塔 发表于 2012-11-29 13:17
哦哦 又在为咱们做可行性研究了
说的也是。咱们进行实践。
这得多大冷却片才行啊?这么大冷却片体积占比,空气阻力估计大到你想哭吧


......
液体冷却器-_-

......
液体冷却器-_-
终于把这种原理机搞出来了,VF-1有希望了。