The private aerospace company Space Transportation, or Lingkong Tianxing Technology, tested a rotating detonation engine. Having risen to an altitude of 20,000 meters, the aircraft with the experimental engine JinDou400 developed a speed of 5000 km/h. If such an engine were to be installed on a passenger airliner, it would fly from Beijing to New York in a little over an hour.
Unlike traditional rocket or jet engines, the rotating detonation engine (RDE) burns fuel faster. The combustion front spreads faster than the speed of sound, and a shock wave spreads through the working substance, causing a chemical reaction with a very large release of heat. The annular combustion chamber ensures the continuity of detonation. As a result, fuel economy and high speed are achieved.
At the end of October, Space Transportation conducted a test flight of a prototype powered aircraft at 5,000 km/h, or Mach 4. The next one, as planned, took place in November. According to SCMP, the compact modular engine JinDou400, named after a character in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, again reached the same speed at an altitude of 20,000 m.
“This engine has significant commercial potential in the field of high-speed flight in the upper atmosphere,” the Beijing-based company said in a statement.
Space Transportation is developing a passenger vertical takeoff spaceplane, which it plans to equip with two JinDou400 VDDs. The planned range of the device is 3,000 km. According to the company’s manager Fan Deng, the first prototype will be able to accommodate two passengers, and there will be no need for a pilot at all. According to the plan, it will appear in 2027. In 2031, a larger aircraft should be ready, 30 meters long and weighing 70 tons, designed for 50 passengers. Its maximum speed will increase to Mach 5.
Chinese engineers combined a screw compressor of a ramjet engine with a rotating detonation engine. This approach, according to them, provides increased nominal thrust, requires a lower speed at start-up and provides an increase in productivity.
Comments are closed.