Detonation rocket engine: tests, operating principle, advantages

The conquest of outer space is involuntarily associated with spacecraft. The heart of any carrier rocket is its engine. He must develop the first space velocity - about 7.9 km / s, to deliver astronauts into orbit, and the second space to overcome the gravitational field of the planet. Achieving this is not easy, but scientists are constantly looking for new ways to solve this problem. Designers from Russia stepped even further and managed 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 the detonation engines have high hopes? According to scientists, their capacity will be 10 thousand times more than the capacity 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 oxidation reaction of the fuel. If in modern rockets the process of deflagration is used - slow (subsonic) burning of fuel at constant pressure, then the detonation rocket engine functions due to the explosion, detonation of the combustible mixture. It burns with a supersonic speed with the release of a huge amount of thermal energy at the same time as the spread of the shock wave. Development and testing of the Russian variant of the detonation engine was carried out by the specialized laboratory "Detonation liquid rocket engines" as part of the Energomash production complex.

The Excellence of New Engines

The study and development of detonation engines are being carried out by leading world scientists for 70 years. The main reason that prevents the creation of this type of engine is the uncontrolled spontaneous combustion of fuel. In addition, the agenda included the tasks of efficient mixing of fuel and oxidizer, as well as the integration of the nozzle and air intake. Having solved these problems, it will be possible to create a detonation rocket engine, which by its technical characteristics will overtake time. At the same time, scientists call such advantages:

1. The ability to develop speeds in the subsonic and hypersonic ranges.
2. The exclusion from the design of many moving parts.
3. Lower mass and cost of the power plant.
4. High thermodynamic efficiency.

Serially this type of engine was not produced. For the first time it was tested on low-flying aircraft in 2008. The detonation engine for carrier rockets was first tested by Russian scientists. That is why this event is given so much importance.

Principle of operation: pulsed and continuous

At present, scientists are developing devices with a pulsed and continuous working process. The principle of the detonation rocket engine with a pulse scheme of operation is based on the cyclic filling of the combustion chamber with a combustible mixture, its consequent ignition and the release of combustion products into the environment. Accordingly, in a continuous process, the fuel is fed continuously to the combustion chamber, the fuel burns in one or more detonation waves that continuously circulate across the flow. The advantages of such engines are:

1. One-time ignition of fuel.
2. Relatively simple construction.
3. Small size and weight of installations.
4. More effective use of the combustible mixture.
5. Low level of produced noise, vibration and harmful emissions.

In perspective, using these advantages, the detonation liquid rocket engine of the continuous scheme of operation will replace all existing installations due to its mass-size and cost characteristics.

Tests of the detonation engine

The first tests of the domestic detonation plant were carried out within the framework of a project established by the Ministry of Education and Science. As a prototype, a small engine with a combustion chamber 100 mm in diameter and an annular channel width of 5 mm was presented. The tests were carried out on a special test bench, the indicators were recorded when working on various types of a combustible mixture - hydrogen-oxygen, natural gas-oxygen, propane-butane-oxygen.

Tests of the detonation rocket engine on oxygen-hydrogen fuel have proved that the thermodynamic cycle of these units is 7% more efficient than when operating other units. In addition, it was experimentally confirmed that as the amount of fuel fed increases, the thrust as well as the number of detonation waves and the rotational speed increase.

Analogs in other countries

Scientists from leading countries are engaged in the development of detonation engines. The greatest successes in this direction were achieved by designers from the USA. In their models they realized an uninterrupted way of working, or rotational. The US military plans to use these installations to equip surface ships. Due to their smaller mass and smaller dimensions, with high output power, they will help increase the effectiveness of combat boats.

The stoichiometric mixture of hydrogen and oxygen uses for its work the American detonation rocket engine. The advantages of such an energy source are primarily economic - oxygen burns just as much as is required for the oxidation of hydrogen. Now the US government spends several billion dollars to provide military ships with carbon fuel. Stoichiometric fuel will reduce costs by several times.

Further directions of development and prospects

New data obtained as a result of detonation engine tests determined the use of fundamentally new methods for constructing a scheme for working with liquid fuels. But for the functioning of such engines must have high heat resistance in view of the large amount of released thermal energy. At the moment, a special coating is being developed, which will ensure the performance of the combustion chamber under high-temperature impact. A special place in further research is 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. By solving these issues, a new detonation liquid rocket engine will be created, which will form the basis of a new class of carrier rockets.