4 ms·
This is speculation on my part, but it seems like this might be difficult to sustain as the external air pressure changes as a rocket climbs. While the gas sup
by rapjr9 6y ago
This is speculation on my part, but it seems like this might be difficult to sustain as the external air pressure changes as a rocket climbs. While the gas supply pressure can be controlled, changes in external pressure seem likely to affect operation, e.g., as air density gets lower it exhibits less resistance to the exhaust, changing the backpressure. Maybe that can be sensed and compensated for? That may add additional complexity and reduce reliability, especially if achieving stability requires very fine tuning. On land or in space there may be no such issues, but air pressure and temperature changing as a rocket climbs may cause issues. I'd want to see it fly before I'd believe it could be used in rockets.
- jacobush 6y agoStill, it never occurred to me that it can have other applications: " In 2012, the Naval Research Laboratory estimated that rotating detonation engines could save the Navy 15-20 percent off a ~US$2-billion annual fuel bill if they were retrofitted in place of the gas turbine engines that run over 100 of its large ships. "
- cryptonector 6y agoWell, only if they make it work with natural gas. Right now they're using hydrogen.
- jacobush 6y agoI don’t see any reason hydrogen is special
- cryptonector 6y agoIt's so lightweight that it seems into materials and makes them brittle. Also, it's so light that you need bigger tanks, which adds weight. Of course, with a big enough rocket the effect of this is minimal.
- jacobush 6y agoI mean, I don't see any reason why explosion turbines can't work with other gases than hydrogen.
- sergeykish 6y agoThat's why it > is being evaluated ... for the upper stages ... rockets Rocket enough for me