Radical new engine precooler technology passes critical test

8th November 2019

By: Rebecca Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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UK advanced aerospace propulsion technology development company Reaction Engines has successfully tested its revolutionary engine precooler at airflow temperatures representative of Mach 5 – that is, five times the speed of sound. Mach 5 marks the start of the hypersonic speed regime. The precooler is an essential component of Reaction Engines’ Sabre engine (Sabre being an acronym for Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine). The tests were conducted at the Colorado Air and Space Port, in the US, using a specially built facility.

“This is a major moment in the development of a breakthrough aerospace technology, which has seen Reaction Engines’ precooler tested at Mach 5 airflow temperature conditions, smashing through previous achievements at Mach 3.3 temperatures and paving the way for hypersonic flight,” enthused company CE Mark Thomas. “In addition to its use in our Sabre class of air-breathing rocket engines, there are numerous exciting commercial applications for our precooler technology, which delivers world-leading heat-transfer capabilities at low weight and compact size, and we are seeing significant interest from a range of potential customers and technology partners.”

Apart from the Sabre engine itself, the precooler technology has many potential applications requiring thermal management. It could significantly improve existing jet engine performance, as well as be employed in other aerospace applications and in automotive, energy and industrial processes.

The Sabre engine is intended to combine the fuel efficiency of a jet engine with the very high speed capabilities of rocket motors. It would reach speeds of Mach 5.4 in jet engine mode and then switch to rocket mode, thereafter being able to reach Mach 25 and enter orbit. The Sabre has three core elements – the precooler, the engine core and the thrust chamber. Each of these core elements can be, and is being, developed and validated in ground-based test facilities, thereby greatly reducing costs, compared with test flight programmes.

During the tests, the precooler ‘quenched’ airflow temperatures greater than 1 000 ºC in under one-twentieth of a second. During the previous test campaign, in April, the precooler had successfully functioned at a temperature of 420 ºC, which reproduced the thermal conditions of flight at Mach 3.3.

“This is a momentous landmark for Reaction Engines in the development of its Sabre engine, which has the potential to revolutionise both access to space and high-speed flight by powering aircraft to five times the speed of sound,” highlighted company cofounder and chief technology officer Richard Varvill. “The performance of our proprietary precooler technology was validated at hypersonic flight conditions and takes us closer to realising our objective of developing the first air-breathing engine capable of accelerating from zero to Mach 5.”

The company will continue to develop the Sabre project. But it will also seek shorter-term opportunities created by developing other applications for its precooler technology.

A dedicated facility, designated TF1, that will test the Sabre engine core, is being built at Westcott, in Buckinghamshire, in the UK. ‘TF1’ stands for Test Facility 1 and construction started in May 2017. The Colorado site, at which the precooler tests have been run, is actually designated Test Facility 2.

Among the shareholders in Reaction Engines are BAE Systems, Boeing subsidiary HorizonX, and Rolls-Royce (the company was founded 30 years ago by ex-Rolls-Royce propulsion engineers). It has received support from the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency (which is not an organ of the European Union). It has also received funding from the UK government and has won research and development contracts from the UK Ministry of Defence and the US Department of Defence.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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