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Reaction Engines Reveals Secret Of Sabre Frost Control Technology
http://aviationweek.com/space/reaction-engines-reveals-secret-sabre-frost-control-technology
Reaction Engines Reveals Secret Of Sabre Frost Control Technology
Jul 8, 2015 Guy Norris | Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
GLASGOW, Scotland – Details of the critical technology at the core of an innovative hybrid hypersonic propulsion system for air and space systems have been unveiled for the first time by its British-based developer, Reaction Engines.
<snip>
The system chills incoming air from more than 1,000C to minus 150C in less than 1/100th of a second before passing the pre-cooled air through a turbo-compressor and into the rocket combustion chamber, where it is burned with sub-cooled liquid hydrogen. But until now the means by which the system does this without clogging up the pre-cooler with ice has remained a closely guarded company secret.
<snip>
To do this, Reaction Engines has “borrowed a trick from the chemical process industry,” Varvill says. “We inject the methanol at one of the coldest points and we effectively get the mix of water and methanol to flow forward in the matrix – against the direction of the airflow.” While conceding this could seem counterintuitive, Varvill says the system achieves this by catching the water-methane mix and re-injecting it farther upstream. “We have multiple injection and extraction points in the matrix, but the overall effect is the mix of methanol and water is actually flowing forward in the matrix against the airflow direction.”
<snip>
Reaction Engines decided to go public with the frost control technology because of pending patent applications. “The trigger for patenting was the awareness that to execute this program we are going to have to involve other companies,” says Mark Thomas, former chief engineer for technology and future programs at Rolls-Royce, who recently took the reins as managing director of Reaction Engines. “You can’t keep trade secrets very long in that situation, so it is better to be protected formally and legally on the clever stuff.” Thomas adds that Reaction is close to “having those approved.”
The company is developing the Sabre engine principally for the Skylon single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane. But the propulsion system and its pre-cooler technology are attracting wider interest for potential aircraft and two-stage launch vehicle applications.
Reaction Engines Reveals Secret Of Sabre Frost Control Technology
Jul 8, 2015 Guy Norris | Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
GLASGOW, Scotland – Details of the critical technology at the core of an innovative hybrid hypersonic propulsion system for air and space systems have been unveiled for the first time by its British-based developer, Reaction Engines.
<snip>
The system chills incoming air from more than 1,000C to minus 150C in less than 1/100th of a second before passing the pre-cooled air through a turbo-compressor and into the rocket combustion chamber, where it is burned with sub-cooled liquid hydrogen. But until now the means by which the system does this without clogging up the pre-cooler with ice has remained a closely guarded company secret.
<snip>
To do this, Reaction Engines has “borrowed a trick from the chemical process industry,” Varvill says. “We inject the methanol at one of the coldest points and we effectively get the mix of water and methanol to flow forward in the matrix – against the direction of the airflow.” While conceding this could seem counterintuitive, Varvill says the system achieves this by catching the water-methane mix and re-injecting it farther upstream. “We have multiple injection and extraction points in the matrix, but the overall effect is the mix of methanol and water is actually flowing forward in the matrix against the airflow direction.”
<snip>
Reaction Engines decided to go public with the frost control technology because of pending patent applications. “The trigger for patenting was the awareness that to execute this program we are going to have to involve other companies,” says Mark Thomas, former chief engineer for technology and future programs at Rolls-Royce, who recently took the reins as managing director of Reaction Engines. “You can’t keep trade secrets very long in that situation, so it is better to be protected formally and legally on the clever stuff.” Thomas adds that Reaction is close to “having those approved.”
The company is developing the Sabre engine principally for the Skylon single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane. But the propulsion system and its pre-cooler technology are attracting wider interest for potential aircraft and two-stage launch vehicle applications.
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