New engine to make rockets fuel-efficient, lightweight

NEW YORK: A new type of engine — called a rotating detonation engine — promises to make rockets not only more fuel-efficient but also more lightweight and less complicated to construct, say researchers.

For the findings, published in the journal Physical Review E, researchers at the University of Washington have developed a mathematical model that describes how these engines work. With this information, engineers can, for the first time, develop tests to improve these engines and make them more stable, they said. “The rotating detonation engine field is still in its infancy. We have tons of data about these engines, but we don’t understand what is going on, I tried to recast our results by looking at pattern formations instead of asking an engineering question — such as how to get the highest performing engine — and then boom, it turned out that it works,” said study lead author James Koch from University of Washington in the US. “This combustion process is literally a detonation — an explosion — but behind this initial start-up phase, we see a number of stable combustion pulses form that continues to consume available propellant,” Koch added. (IANS)

Also Read: Rockets hit Iraqi base hosting United States troops

Also Watch: Biofloc fish farming introduced in Bongaigaon’s Bijni, Watch here