alexgardnerpassionproject-blog

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Filed the provisional Patent application for the TRS and new design start

Over the last few weeks, I finished all the diagrams and made a 41 page document which describes and illustrates all of the aspects fo my ground to hypersonic engine. I filed the application and now have a provisional patent for it, fo which I can extend in the future if I want. I am now working on a car engine (to my suprise) and how a variable length piston system could improve performance. My idea has to do with altering the piston rod length and connection point to the crankshaft to allow for an engine to get maximum amounts fo torque in low RPM operation, but transform into a low torque, high RPM F1 like piston. This would allow for an engine to produce optimal amounts of torque, while also producing maximum RPM efficiency within the same engine compared to normal engines which have one or the other. 

Top Angled view of the engine design 

Cutaway view of a section that also shows the internal structure within one oc the counterweights. 

I have a lot of work to do on this engine and will be for the next few weeks (or shorter if I have enough time to model what I need to finish) 

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Progress on the TRS Engine

Over the past few weeks, I have been able to make multiply modifications that include a hydraulic lifting system, more mechanically efficient top nozzle design,  support system and structure. The pictures below show the different engine modes and their modifications. 

Diagram of the Turbine Casing: 

Engine diagrams with new turbine support structure: 

I have also been able to contact a few engineers and researchers that I met at Lockheed Martin while I worked there to get their feedback on the concept/design. One of the researchers (will not put a name here) gave good feedback and mentioned that the materials required for the flexible nozzle would be a challenge as the temperature range would be from 300c all the way up to 2-3000c. My solution has to do with a carbon based mesh that is then layered with high temperature flexible metal sheets, allowing for a high temperature structure than can still be flexible enough (with thermal expansion) to be adjusted to its optimal nozzle geometry. 

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Introduction to my TRS Ground to Hypersonic Engine Design

The problem I am attempting to solve is that of reusable ground to hypersonic propulaion for future aircraft. Currently, nearly all known hypersonic vehicles are primarily rocket boosted glide vehicles which are used as weapons. These systems are non-reusable. My engine design, named the TRS Engine, uses 3 types of engines that are unified into one system to provide a reusable hypersonic vehicle. The three engines are a turbine, ramjet, and scramjet. These three engines have been researched and used. Turbines are used in nearly all commercial aircraft, and a majority of military aircraft. Ramjets have only been used on a few aircraft, such as the SR-71 Blackbird, due to their required speed of operation. Scramjets are currently still being developed, and have been used on experimental aircraft and weapons such as the X-43 and X-51. Turbines are used from mach 0-2.5, Ramjets are used frm 2.5-5, and Scramjets are used from mach 5-10. Below shows a diagram along with brief explinations as to how these three engine systems operate. 

In a turbine engine, air is drawn into the inlet, and compressed by a series of rotating blades. The rotation of these blades, along with other parts, compress air which is then led into the combustion chamber. Air is mixd with fuel and combusted. This high temprature gas is then forced out of the cumbustion chamber past a series of blades, which rotate to drive toe front blades. The exaust gases then flow through the nozzle and out of the engine. 

Ramjets work very differently. THey only use one moving piece, and rely on the forward motion of the aircraft to compress air. As a ramjet is supplied with air past mach 1, it is automatically compressed on the inlet spike. Fuel is then added to the now compressed air, which is then combusted. The air moving inside of the ramjet is slowed to subsonic speeds, just like the turbine, and then ignited to generate supersonic exhaust. These gase are then forced out of a nozzle to produce thrust. 

Scramjets are in my opinion the coolest of them all. A scramjet, which operates frm mach 5 to around mach 10+, has no moving parts. A scramjet relies on the same physics that a ramjet does, byt does not need a compression spike due to the greater speed. Air is automatically compressed by the geometry of the inlet, without any spik einvolved. the air is slowed down, but remain supersonic. This supersonic comrpessed air is then mixed with fuel, and then ignited. Aftter ignition, the exhaust gases are passed through a nozzle to generate thrust. THe key differences between a Scramjet and a Ramjet is the speed regimes, and how the air is comrpessed. 

The challenge with goign frm ground ot hypersonic speeds while being reliable and reusable is how to incorporate all thre engine systems together. Previous design use these engines, but in different locations causing less room for fuel and payload. I am solving this problem by. making use of variable voluem combustion chambers, and movable turbine and ramjet parts. DIagrams of my engine are below. 

As shown in my diagrams above, my design allows for the transition between turbine, ramjet, and scramjet modes, while all being in the same unified system. In the turbine mode, the engine uses air slowed by the ramjet spike, similar to the J-58 system on the SR-71. The variable volume fuel tank above the engine is full and is fueling the turbine. Air moves through the scramjet inlet, past the ramjet spike, and through the adapter. The adapter is designed in a way to allow for all air to move from the rectangular inlet to the circular turbine inlet. Exhaust gases then move out of the nozzle. The turbine is used until ramjet speeds are reached, which then moves into the now empty space above due to using the compartments extra stored fuel. 

In the ramjet mode, the variable volume fuel tank has used all of the diverted fuel from the main tanks and has shrunk, allowing for the turbine to move away from the oncoming air into storage. The bottom of the turbine has a thin wall that prevents both heat and ram/scramjet exhaust from entering the above chamber. The turbine is moved up with the use of 4 protected motorized shafts that are attached directly to the turbine’s base. As the turbine moves up, a gas generator causes Ram/Scramjet nozzle hydraulics to move up, forcing a nozzle made of a sealed high-temperature mesh to create the nozzle geometry. The mesh would be made of high temperature reinforced material that can be flexible, but still prevent gas flow through it. The fuel for the ramjet passes through the 2 hydraulic ramjet lifting systems, passing inside of the spike to cool it, then moving out of the outlets towards the combustion region. 

During the conversion to the scramjet, the ramjet spike moves into the above storage area just like the turbine, and the hydraulics create the scramjet ramp due to increased pressure from hydrogen production. The ramjet fuel lines are flexible, and the hydraulics move into the ramjet spike. During this time, a small hypergolic ignition system is used to start the main scramjet ignition. Fuel is pumped into a cooling system that is inside of the top inlet ramp. The fuel is then forced out of the fuel injectors, which are situated at the front of the inlet, allowing for the fuel to cool the external inlet surface as it moves towards the combustion region, while also mixing with the compressing air. Fuel is then combusted on the variable geometry nozzle, and the hydrogen gas flows out of the nozzle geometry pads, through the mesh allowing for more powerful combustion. The nozzle pads are designed in such a way that the nozzle expands due to the force fo the gas, causing optimal geometry at all altitudes. 

These are not the most recent design pictures. I have redesigned the hydraulign lifting system entirely, added in another hydraulic nozzle system to the rear, inproved the inlet geometry, and have also added a turbine backflow arrestor. My next post will be of the more recent verison, but I still have to finish the lifting hydraulics. The picture below is an example of the current version, excluding the lifting hyrdaulics. I am still currently working on this. 

I plan to file another patent application for this design, as I believe it has characteristics that can aid the future methods of unified hypersonic propulsion systems using the three main methods of propulsion. 

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Blog Description

This Blog will show my progress of filing a provisional patent of my Turbine-Ramjet-Scramjet Hypersonic Propulsion System design, also known as TRS, which would provide a vehicle ground to hypersonic capabilities. The engine makes use of a turbine, a ramjet, and a scramjet in a single engine system, which reduces the need for a hypersonic vehicle to have multiple engine housing spaces.