Chinese team nearly doubles boron engine efficiency in boon for military and civilian hypersonic flights: paper
- Military researchers say their innovation could boost the operational range for hypersonic weapons
- Prototype engine achieved 79 per cent fuel efficiency by switching to subsonic-combustion mode during ground test that simulated flight
When a missile or aircraft is cruising at hypersonic speeds, the technology slows incoming fresh air to below the speed of sound before it enters the engine’s combustion chamber.
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The slower the air moves through the engine, the more thoroughly the fuel burns.
A prototype engine achieved a fuel efficiency of 79 per cent by switching to this subsonic-combustion mode during a ground test that simulated a flight at an altitude of 25km (15.5 miles) at Mach 6, according to a Chinese-language paper published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Solid Rocket Technology on January 18.
Such efficiency was considered “remarkable” – nearly doubling that of a traditional scramjet engine working in similar conditions – said the team led by Ma Likun, an associate professor at the National University of Defence Technology in Changsha, Hunan province.
Hypersonic weapons can travel at five times the speed of sound or faster in the atmosphere.
