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Plasma Jet Engines

posted by Fnord666 on Sunday May 21 2017, @11:19PM   Printer-friendly
from the jetsons dept.

takyon writes:

A team of engineers has created plasma engines that work at ground level, with the hope of eventually enabling plasma propulsion for airplanes:

Plasma engines have been stuck in the lab for the past decade or so. And research on them has largely been limited to the idea of propelling satellites once in space.

[...] Plasma jet engines tend to be designed to work in a vacuum or the low pressures found high in the atmosphere, where they would need to carry a gas supply. But now Göksel's team has tested one that can operate on air at a pressure of one atmosphere (Journal of Physics Conference Series, doi.org/b66g). "We are the first to produce fast and powerful plasma jets at ground level," says Göksel. "These jets of plasma can reach speeds of up to 20 kilometres a second."

[...] But there are several hurdles to overcome before the technology can propel an actual plane. For a start, the team tested mini thrusters 80 millimetres long, and a commercial airliner would need some 10,000 of them to fly, which makes the current design too complex for aircraft of that size. Göksel's team plans to target smaller planes and airships for now. Between 100 and 1000 thrusters would be enough for a small plane, which the team thinks is feasible.

[...] Göksel is hoping for a breakthrough in compact fusion reactors to power his system. Other possible options could be solar panels or beaming power wirelessly to the engines, he says.

Similar concepts: VASIMR and SABRE.

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  • (Score: 2) by Arik on Monday May 22 2017, @01:25AM (5 children)

    by Arik (4543) on Monday May 22 2017, @01:25AM (#513244) Journal
    Sounds like a pretty poor propulsion system, if it's reliant on carrying around large amounts of energy that means you have to carry a lot of weight in powerplant, fuel, batteries or whatever. But think of the possibilities as a weapon! 20km/second is about 65k fps. The tiniest amount of mass moving at that speed can do a lot of damage. And it's incendiary to boot!

    I imagine the main limitation would be range - the plasma is going to tend to cool and disperse quite rapidly, but if it's doing 65k feet per second it should go a pretty good distance before that happens.
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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday May 22 2017, @01:43AM (4 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday May 22 2017, @01:43AM (#513251) Journal

    that means you have to carry a lot of weight in powerplant, fuel, batteries or whatever

    And something to absorb the NOx. If VW boosting compression ratio landed them in hot waters because of emissions, imagine how it will be when one uses plasma. Context (TFA):

    Berkant Göksel at the Technical University of Berlin and his team now want to fit plasma engines to planes. “We want to develop a system that can operate above an altitude of 30 kilometres where standard jet engines cannot go,” he says. These could even take passengers to the edge of the atmosphere and beyond.

    The challenge was to develop an air-breathing plasma propulsion engine that could be used for take-off as well as high-altitude flying.

    ---

    I imagine the main limitation would be range - the plasma is going to tend to cool and disperse quite rapidly

    Once it leaves the "acceleration zone" of the engine, the plasma can do whatever it wants, the impulse have been already transferred.
    It's not like the nuclear pulse propulsion [wikipedia.org]

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    • (Score: 2) by Arik on Monday May 22 2017, @02:41AM (3 children)

      by Arik (4543) on Monday May 22 2017, @02:41AM (#513282) Journal
      "Once it leaves the "acceleration zone" of the engine,"

      I was saying the main limitation would be range *if used as a weapon.*
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      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday May 22 2017, @04:54AM (2 children)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday May 22 2017, @04:54AM (#513318) Journal

        Ah, Ok.
        (well, not even, if you use the engine as a kinetic weapon)

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        • (Score: 2) by Arik on Monday May 22 2017, @05:11AM (1 child)

          by Arik (4543) on Monday May 22 2017, @05:11AM (#513322) Journal
          Nah, I'm thinking some kind of plasma cannon. Suitable for fixed emplacements where power is easier to supply.
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          • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday May 22 2017, @06:33AM

            by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday May 22 2017, @06:33AM (#513359) Journal

            Better try ball lightning [wikipedia.org] then. Jets doesn't play nice with the "cannon" idea.

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