Air-Breathing Rocket Engine With Stationary Combustion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current rocket engines require carrying both fuel and oxygen to space, increasing weight and cost, while jet engines use ambient oxygen, and both types rely on moving parts that increase manufacturing and maintenance costs and pose performance risks.
Innovation Solution
A rocket engine design with no moving parts that uses ambient fluid as reaction mass and oxidizer for combustion, featuring a shell with a funnel-shaped intake, toroidal combustion chamber, and secondary combustion chamber to create a pressure differential for thrust generation, allowing for reduced oxidizer carry-on and simplified maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If rocket engines carry both fuel and oxygen, then combustion can occur in space, but weight and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the oxygen supply function from the onboard oxidizer system and replaces it with an air intake system that draws oxygen from the ambient atmosphere. This is achieved through a compressor that intakes and compresses atmospheric air, separating oxygen from nitrogen, and delivering it to the combustion chamber. This eliminates the need to carry heavy oxidizer tanks while maintaining combustion capability in space.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the engine universally adaptable to different environments by enabling it to function both in atmospheric conditions (using ambient air) and in space (using onboard oxygen when needed). The dual-mode operation allows the engine to switch between air-breathing and rocket modes, providing versatility across different flight phases and environments.
2Weight of moving object
If jet engines use ambient oxygen, then oxidizer carry-on is reduced, but moving parts increase manufacturing and maintenance costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the complex mechanical moving parts of traditional jet engines (compressors, turbines, blades) with a stationary combustion chamber design. Atmospheric air is drawn in and compressed through stationary compression mechanisms, then mixed with fuel and ignited in a fixed combustion chamber. This eliminates moving parts while maintaining the air-breathing function, significantly reducing manufacturing and maintenance costs.
3Power
If moving parts are used in engines, then thrust generation is effective, but performance risk and maintenance requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes all moving parts from the engine system, extracting the thrust generation function from mechanical motion and replacing it with a stationary combustion-based propulsion system. The engine uses stationary compression and injection mechanisms to deliver fuel and oxidizer to a fixed combustion chamber, eliminating performance risks associated with moving parts while maintaining effective thrust generation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The engine achieves efficient thrust generation with reduced oxidizer requirements and eliminates the need for moving parts, lowering manufacturing and maintenance costs while ensuring reliable operation.
Implementation Method 1
ejection of mass from the primary combustion chamber into the secondary combustion chamber causes a pressure differential that causes ambient fluid to be drawn into the secondary combustion chamber via the intake
Implementation Method 2
both types of engines produce thrust through an internal pressure difference, and both eject exhaust gases in a direction that is opposite to that of the path of travel of the engine
Implementation Method 3
a rocket engine with no moving parts that intakes ambient fluid for use as free reaction mass and is capable of using oxidizer contained within the fluid for the combustion cycle
Data Source
AI summary
An air-breathing rocket engine in certain embodiments comprises an hourglass-shaped outer shell and an interior portion situated entirely within the front end of the outer shell. The interior portion includes a funnel-shaped intake that terminates in a floor and an inner front wall that forms a first circumferential gap between the inner front wall and the outer surface of the funnel-shaped intake. The intake has a central aperture that is in fluid communication with the throat and exhaust areas within the outer shell. A second circumferential gap is formed between the outer surface of the front inner wall and the inner surface of the front end of the outer shell and is in fluid communication with the throat and exhaust areas within the outer shell. One or more injector polis and one or more ignition ports are situated at the front end of the second circumferential gap.