Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ABSTRACT:
An aircraft with Scramjet flies at speed greater than Mach 5. Turbojet.s efficiency is less at higher
Mach speed. We propose the use of Turbojet with Scramjet to start the plane from rest and to
fly it at a speed greater than Mach 5. Due to less density of air at higher altitudes, efficiency of
scramjet reduces. For increasing its efficiency, we propose the use of Plasma and Double delta
wings. Plasma reduces friction by deviating streamlines of air in scramjet and double delta wings
give good lift. By this innovation, the plane can fly at Mach 15 to Mach 20.
INTRODUCTION:
-NASA
The question arises, why should one fly that fast? Four reasons can be enumerated.
2.13
4. The last, but probably the most important is the human being.s desire to constantly push
the limits.
Mach is the unit to express the speed. A regular passenger plane flies at the speed of 0.8 Mach.
The military plane flies at Mach 2, Concord flies at Mach 2.02 and the fastest jet . SR-17 Black
bird flies at Mach 3.2. Speeds greater than Mach 5 are called HYPERSONIC SPEED. Hypersonic
speed is defined as that which exceeds Mach 5 which is equivalent to about 3600 miles per hour.
Hyper- X program of NASA opens up frontier for air breathing aircraft with speed measured in
hypersonic zone. The fastest rocket plane X-15 flied once at Mach 6.6 way back in 1960. Flying at
Conventional turbojet engines, which are now a days used in most commercial aircrafts and
military jets, cannot be used at flying speeds above Mach 3.This is where the RAMJET engines
come in. These can be used far in to the hypersonic area, i.e. at speeds of Mach 5 and over. They
combine a greater range with largest possible weight and more compact construction than
systems currently in use. They utilize atmosphere.s available oxygen to burn fuel. Its fuel
consumption decreases with flight speed and approaches reasonable values between the speed
2.14
The Ramjet engines could easily operate in the Mach 7 -9 regions. Above this speed the engines
known as SCRAMJETS come in picture. The engines with subsonic combustion are called
Ramjet; those with supersonic combustion are Scramjets (Supersonic Combustion Ramjets).
TURBOJET:
A gas turbine engine or a turbojet consists of five major sections: an inlet duct, a compressor, a
combustion chamber, a turbine wheel, and an exhaust duct. In addition to the five major sections,
each gas turbine is equipped with an accessory section, a fuel system, a lubrication system, and
an ignition system. Some engines might also incorporate a water injecting system, an afterburner
free-power turbine, a propeller-reduction gearbox, and other additional systems and components
2.15
The front, or inlet, duct is almost entirely open to permit outside air to enter the front of the engine.
The compressor works on the incoming air and delivers it to the combustion section. The
compressor is basically a cone-shaped cylinder with small fan blades attached in rows. As the air
is forced through the compression stage its pressure rises significantly. In some engines, the
pressure of the air can rise by a factor of 30. This high-pressure air then enters the combustion
area, where a ring of fuel injectors injects a steady stream of fuel. The fuel is generally kerosene,
jet fuel, propane or natural gas. The air entering in the combustion area is highly pressurized and
moving at hundreds of miles per hour. A flame has to be kept burning continuously in that
environment. The piece that solves this problem is called a "flame holder," or sometimes a "can."
(Fig.1). The can is a hollow, perforated piece of heavy metal. Half of the can in cross-section is
shown below:
2.16
Fig. 1
The injectors are shown with red pipes. Compressed air enters through the perforations. The air
fuel mixture is then ignited by devices similar to spark plugs. When the mixture is lighted, the
igniters can be turned off, as the burning process will continue without further assistance as long
as the engine is supplied with proper fuel/air ratio. The fuel air mixture burns at relatively constant
pressure with only 25 percent of the air taking part in the actual combustion process. The balance
of the air is mixed with the products of combustion for cooling before the gases enter the turbine
wheel. The turbine extracts a major portion of energy in the gas stream and uses this energy to
turn the compressor and accessories. The turbines, the shaft and the compressor all turn as a
2.17
Fig. 2 Turbines, Shaft and Compressor of Turbojet
After leaving the turbine, there is still enough pressure remaining to force the hot gases through
the exhaust duct and jet nozzle at the rear of the engine at very high speeds. The engines thrust
comes from taking a large mass of air in at the front end and expelling it from the tailpipe at a
much higher speed than it had when it entered the compressor. Thrust, then, is equal to mass
Limitations of Turbojet:
In conventional jet engines thrust is created in three stages: Intake (through flight build up) and
compressor provide a building up of pressure, in the combustion chamber air is enriched with
2.18
energy as fuel is burnt. In the turbine and the nozzle the air expands, while the inner energy of the
As flight speeds increase, the quality of the engine process deteriorates. This can be
demonstrated with the help of fuel specific impulses. This thermodynamic quantity describes the
created pressure per fuel mass. This value decreases with increasing speed.
In other words: At higher Mach numbers the fuel consumption increases much more than thrust
can be generated. Above Mach 3 the fuel specific impulse of a scramjet engine is better than that
of a turbojet engine. The compressor is the main reason for this. This turbojet component, which
has several stages, rotors and stators, causes losses. Furthermore turning parts wheels do not
contribute to engine processes at high Mach speeds. With the flight speed the pressure, created
in the air intake through flight build up rises considerably. The share the compressor contributes
to the entire compression sinks accordingly: At Mach 1 the value is about 50 percent, at Mach 2
just 15 percent and at Mach 3 less than four percent. From about three times the speed of sound
the compression created by the speed is enough to keep the engine process going. The
compressor is really not needed at higher speeds. Additionally the rise in temperature caused by
the build up is considerable. The build up temperature at Mach 8 - depending on the altitude - is
between 3,000 and 4,000 degrees Kelvin (between 2,727 and 3,727 C), at Mach 12 about 8,000
2.19
degrees Kelvin. Conventional compressors cannot be used at such high temperatures, because
the compressor blades cannot be cooled and materials, which are able to withstand these
SCRAMJET ENGINE:
A scramjet engine is an air breathing engine system which does not have any moving parts. At
high flying speeds air in the intake is compressed so much just by the forward movement that a
compressor, which is needed in turbojet engines, is not necessary. This is the main difference
between Scramjets and conventional turbojet engines, which are basically made up of five
components: intake, compressor, combustion chamber, turbine and nozzle If in the logical
sequence compressor is omitted, turbine becomes superfluous, the sole purpose of which is to
drive compressor. This is how the scramjet engine is far simpler in construction, consisting only of
Scramjets (supersonic-combustion ramjets) are those in which the airflow through the whole
engine remains supersonic. It is mechanically simple, but vastly more complex aerodynamically
than a jet engine. The engine consists of a supersonic diffuser, a subsonic diffuser section, a
air into a pressure rise. The scramjet engine operates as follows. Air from the atmosphere enters
the engine, and, after its velocity has been reduced and its static pressure increased by
supersonic diffuser, the air enters the subsonic diffuser wherein it is compressed further. The air
then flows into the combustion chamber, wherein the fuel burners are located, and here it is
heated to a high temperature (1500C to 2000C) by the continuous combustion of fuel. The
highly heated products of combustion are then allowed to expand with a speed exceeding that of
the entering air. Because of the rate of increase in the momentum of the working fluid through the
With the scramjet the mixing of air and fuel is considerably bad because of high speeds at the
entrance to the combustion chamber between Mach 2 and Mach 3, at the exist between Mach 1.2
and Mach 1.6. This makes combustion not very effective. For this reason the combustion
2.21
there must be tight integration between the airframe and the engine. Scramjet technology is
challenging because only limited testing can be performed in ground facilities. Long duration, full-
scale testing requires flight test speeds above Mach 8. X-43 Hyper-X, NASA's tested for the
scramjet, serves this purpose. To get the engine to that speed, some other power has to be used.
In the Hyper-X, this will be provided by OSC's Pegasus booster. It must be noted here that
scramjets are good only for sustaining hypersonic speeds, not for achieving them from
zero.
Limitations of scramjet:
Aircrafts flying at speeds greater than Mach 3 have to fly at a great height. This is done because
i. At higher altitude density of air is less so the resistance of air experienced by aircraft is
less.
An aircraft with scramjet will have less efficiency at greater heights. This is because the scramjet
is an air breathing engine. As the density of air is less, less compression is created at the intake
2.22
as compared to that at lower altitude. And as less compression is created, efficiency directly
reduces.
Apart from this there is one more difficulty in the operation of Scramjet and that is, neither ramjet
nor scramjet can operate at speeds below Mach 2 or 3. If the vehicle is to start of its own a
combination of the scramjet engine with other engine systems becomes necessary. Since the
compressor is lacking in a scramjet engine there is pressure built-up and airflow in the engine
when the vehicle is not moving. This means: There is no air breathing engine that can cover the
full operational range from take-off to hypersonic speeds. But, a hypersonic aircraft cannot just
take off at Mach 3. It has to take off and cover the whole speed range. This makes it necessary to
accelerate the vehicle by other means until the ramjet/scramjet engine can kick in at around Mach
3. This can be done with the help of a booster rocket or by mounting this plane blow other plane.
When this plane reaches speed of Mach 2 or 3, scramjets ignite and the plane with scramjet is
released which is free to fly at speeds between Mach 15 -20. But this complete process is very
1. At higher altitudes, the density of air is less so mass of air entering the scramjet would be
2.23
2. Scramjets cannot start when the plane is at rest i.e. at speed 0 Mach.
INNOVATION:
1st challenge:
As we know by now that Scramjet has the capacity to fly at the speed of Mach 15 to Mach 20. But
the efficiency of Scramjet greatly depends on the amount of air intake .moreover at higher
altitudes density of air is less .So the total mass of air entering the scramjet would also be less
and hence less compression is created which reduces its efficiency but still it is more than turbojet
engine.
So to enhance the capability of Scramjet engine, it is desirable to increase air intake at higher
-Plasma
Use of plasma
To increase the working or efficiency of a scramjet, the fourth state of matter plasma can be used.
Plasma being an ionised state of matter, can be radiated and possess the properties of friction or
resistance to air.
2.24
Plasma consists of a collection of free-moving electrons and ions - atoms that have lost electrons.
Energy is needed to strip electrons from atoms to make plasma. The energy can be of various
origins: thermal, electrical, or light (ultraviolet light or intense visible light from a laser). With
Plasma can be accelerated and steered by electric and magnetic fields which allows it to be
controlled and applied. Plasma research is yielding a greater understanding of the universe.
Plasma temperatures and densities range from relatively cool and tenuous to very hot and dense.
(Fig.4) Ordinary solids, liquids, and gases are both electrically neutral and too cool or dense to be
2.25
Fig.4. Graph of Temperature vs. Density for Plasma
Due to these properties of plasma, it can be utilized to increase the working efficiency of scramjet.
An aircraft which does not use plasma radiation creates more friction at its nose thereby
increasing drag to a great extent. (Fig. 6) Consider that at the nose of the plane on which scramjet
is placed; we place a device which generates and radiates plasma in the direction of motion of
plane. This radiation should take place up to certain specified distance. Now at the tip of the
plasma radiation, the friction takes place and the air is cut by this plasma tip. As air is being cut
2.26
by plasma tip and not by the nose of the plane the resistance of air or drag reduces to a great
extent. Moreover this plasma can regulate the stream lines of air is such a way that the body of
plane has minimum friction. But along with this, plasma regulates the streamlines in such a way
that maximum amount of air gets compressed and enters the scramjet at relatively high velocity.
Thus this phenomenon can help the working of scramjet as well as reduce the friction.
Delta or double delta wings are used in aircrafts flying at speeds more than Mach 2. Here we use
double delta wings which give lift to the plane as well as it is used to guide the streamlines of air.
2.27
The scramjets are placed at the junction of the two deltas. The first delta is used to divert the
In following steps it can be seen that how plasma and double delta wings increase the amount of
air entering the scramjet. There are mainly three streamlines of air which are shown by red, green
and purple lines in the diagram (Fig.7). Moreover it can be clearly seen that how do they deviate
1. When the plasma is radiated it cuts through the air and causes disturbance in form of
shock waves. These waves in turn cause change in path of the nearby streamlines and
thus the streamlines of air deviate from straight path. These deviated streamlines are
2. We use a double delta wing in this plane. This is a very important part because of the
following reasons:
When the air reaches the first delta, it deviates and its motion is parallel to the sides of
Now the scramjets are located at the point where the first delta and the second delta
meet.
2.28
This is done because the stream lines which are deviated by the first delta which are
3. Moreover certain streamlines are not deviated from the path because they are far away
from the point of impact of plasma with air (These are shown by .green arrows..)
4. Now scramjets are located at such a place below the wing that these two types of
Due to this maximum amount of air will be entering in the scramjet with large amount of
pressure.
Thus the scramjet can attain greater speed and can ignite at lesser speed.
Due to radiation of plasma, the streamlines are deviated as discussed earlier and so they become
parallel to the surface of the body of the plane. ( Fig.7). As their motion becomes parallel to the
fuselage of the plane, very less amount of resistance or force of friction due to air is experienced.
Hence the plane can move smoothly without much resistance of air.
2.29
Fig 7 Aircraft with Plasma and Double Delta Wings
2nd challenge:
The basic limitation of scramjet engine is that it cannot start from rest. Moreover the engine will
stop when the plane comes below the speed of Mach 2. So there is a need of gas turbine engine
to be used in the range of Mach 0 to Mach 2 or 3. The gas turbine engine should be located in
such a place that it does not hinder the function of Scramjet. So the most suitable place for it is in
the fuselage.
2.30
i. There is one gas turbine engine in the fuselage behind the cockpit. (Fig8.)
ii. There are three ports below the cockpit for inlet of air to the gas turbine engine. The air is
iii. When the scramjet starts, the flap on the ports close so that no air enters gas turbine
Sequence of operations :
i. The gas turbine engine starts the plane from rest and takes the plane up to Mach 2.
ii. Now at Mach 2, the scramjet ignites and covers the range of speed up to Mach 15-20.
iii. Simultaneously plasma is radiated and efficiency of scramjet is increased so that speed
iv. Similarly while landing when the plane reaches Mach 3 or Mach 2, gas turbine engine is
ignited and plane lands on its support. At this time the scramjets are not working.
2.31
Fig 8.Aircraft with Scramjet and Turbojet.
CONCLUSION:
Reviewing the functioning of turbojet engine, and scramjet engine, the combination of both is very
useful in flying the plane at hypersonic speed from rest. With the use of plasma and double delta
wings, scramjet.s efficiency can be highly enhanced. Thus the challenge of flying at hypersonic
REFERENCE:
1. Trinklein, F.E. and Huffer, C.M., Modern Space Science, New York. Holt, Rinehart and
4. Khajuria, P.R. and Dubey, P.R., Gas turbines and propulsive system, Dhanpat Rai
5. Yahya, S.M, Turbines, compressors and fans, New Delhi, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing
2.32
6. Miles, E.R.C., Supersonic Aerodynamics (A theoretical introduction), New York, Dover
WEBSITES:
www.nasa.org ,
www.jetpropulsion.com ,
www.plasma.com
www.aviationhistory.com/engines/ramjet.htm,
www.space.com/missionlaunches/hyshot_020816.html,
www.physics.uq.edu.au/lp/lasdiag/scram.html,
oea.larc.nasa.gov/PAIS/Hyper-X.html,
www.mech.uq.edu.au/hyper/hyshot,
www.time.com/time/2002/inventions/tra_scramjet.html,
news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1629000/1629739.stm.
2.33
2.34