By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News
Decades ago, the US researched the possibility of using conventional jet fuel for hypersonic engines. But NASA ran into difficulties and dropped the project in the 70s.
Now, China claims it’s made a breakthrough using a similar technology.
According to China’s Journal of Aerospace Power, scientists from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology and Northwestern Polytechnical University used an aviation kerosene similar to the US military’s JP-8 to simulate a flight at Mach 8 – more than 6,100 miles per hour – at an altitude of almost 100,000 feet.
The test lasted 2.2 seconds and used a system based on an oblique detonation engine (ODE).
ODE is a type of ram propulsion system that uses oblique detonation waves to achieve the combustion in supersonic flow. The advantage is that it generates more thrust than traditional combustion ramjets, which need large combustion chambers and run the risk of flameout at high Mach numbers.
The Chinese research said that the ODE’s combustion rate is a thousand times faster than traditional ramjets and can operate at speeds up to Mach 16 – more than 12000 miles per hour.
The website China-Arms notes, “If applied to military use, the oblique detonation engine could lead to a new generation of hypersonic missiles, drones, and even bombers, which would have ultra-long ranges and low operational costs, giving the People’s Liberation Army a significant advantage in future warfare.”
For decades, hypersonic engines have been fueled by hydrogen or ethylene – which ignite quickly but have impractical storage requirements. Aviation kerosene has been seen as ideal – but it has a lengthy ignition delay time. The Chinese test indicates that problem could be avoided with the ODE.
Still, while the Chinese test may be seen as a breakthrough, the researchers indicate there are a number of issues to be resolved, including how to improve the engine’s actual flight efficiency.
It’s widely acknowledged that the US trails China when it comes to hypersonic technology. But in May, the Pentagon said the US had successfully conducted flight tests of a reusable rocket-powered aircraft. It was a joint project involving two startups – Stratolaunch, which built the test aircraft, and Ursa Major, which builds liquid rocket engines.
It was the first time the US military had flown a reusable hypersonic aircraft since 1968, when it shut down the fabled X-15 program.
A former Pentagon official who now runs the Purdue Applied Research Institute, Mark Lewis, told the Wall Street Journal that the US has shut down a number of successful hypersonic programs, “usually because of money.”
Lewis said that China conducts hypersonic test at about ten times the rate of the US.
