MTECH: Press Releases

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3D"MTECH:
Press Releases

FOR=20 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 27, = 2006

Contact: Eric Schurr,
(301) = 405-3889,
schurr@umd.edu

Astrox Corporation, University of = Maryland=20 Demonstrate Supersonic Combustion for a = Hypersonic Space=20 Plane
Discovery Could = Enable=20 Two-Hour Flights from D.C. to = Australia

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Here=92s the = promise:=20 two-hour flights from anywhere to the other side = of the=20 world, replete with 30 minutes of Space = Shuttle-like=20 views while in orbit.

The problem: how to mix fuel in the = engine of an=20 efficient, hypersonic space plane invented by Astrox = Corporation=20 that travels as fast as Mach 25, or 17,500=20 miles-per-hour, above the Earth=92s = atmosphere.

The answer: Through two Maryland = Industrial=20 Partnerships Program projects, A. James Clark = School of=20 Engineering faculty members Ashwani Gupta = and=20 Kenneth Yu, along with graduate student Ram = Balar, have=20 successfully designed and tested a combustor for = the=20 Astrox space plane, which uses something called = an=20 inward-turning scramjet engine.

=93Hypersonic space planes could = revolutionize the=20 transportation industry, much like jet planes = did for=20 subsonic commercial aviation 50 years ago,=94 = said Astrox=20 President Ajay Kothari. =93Seemingly remote = parts of the=20 world would be nearly as accessible as a = two-hour=20 drive.=94

Mechanical engines don=92t work at = hypersonic=20 speeds. Moving parts simply cannot work at = 3,500-7,500=20 miles-per-hour, or 5-10 times faster than the = speed of=20 sound, according to Kothari.

Instead, hypersonic jet engines = typically employ=20 rectangular, duct-like engines with no moving = parts,=20 also called scramjets. Air enters the engine = inlet at=20 hypersonic speeds and is compressed to = supersonic=20 speeds, after which it is mixed with fuel and = ignited.=20 The air leaves the engine traveling faster and = at a=20 higher pressure than when it came in=97creating=20 thrust.

But the large surface areas created by = rectangular designs generate tremendous heat = transfer=20 into a vehicle, requiring extra fuel loads just = to cool=20 areas around the engine chamber. =93Not only are = the large=20 surface areas inefficient, but the extra fuel = also adds=20 significant volume and weight to the = aircraft,=94 said=20 Kothari, who holds a patent on an inward-turning = vehicle=20 design. =93Single-stage-to-orbit travel = utilizing a=20 rectangular-shaped engine design would be=20 difficult.=94

Kothari=92s engine is shaped like a = funnel, where=20 air comes in through a circular opening, = increases in=20 pressure as it passes through, then leaves with = more=20 thrust and less heating than through a = rectangular=20 design. The challenge is injecting fuel into the = fast-moving air efficiently as it travels = through the=20 engine.

=93Roughly speaking, you=92re looking = at the air=20 flow traveling 1,000 meters-per-second inside = the=20 combustor,=94 said Yu. =93The combustor is a = meter long, so=20 you have one millisecond for everything to = happen=97not=20 just the fuel and air mixing=97but the burning = as=20 well.

=93The combustion is fast, so that=92s = not the=20 problem,=94 explained Yu, =93but before = combustion can=20 occur, you have to mix your fuel with the air = quickly.=20 This is more difficult when the air=92s = traveling at such=20 high speeds.=94

Kothari, Gupta, Yu and Balar designed = an=20 injector resembling a small, aerodynamic wing, = which=20 enters the engine at an angle in the same = direction the=20 air is flowing. Fuel is injected just at the = wake where=20 the air crosses the wing-shaped = injector.

=93You have to inject the fuel in the = same=20 direction as the air is traveling,=94 said = Gupta. =93That=92s=20 where the novelty comes in, as it gives you both = high=20 thrust and good mixing.=94

The research team has tested the = combustor at=20 Mach 2, twice the speed of sound, in the = university=92s=20 supersonic wind tunnel.

Kothari plans to test both his design = and the=20 combustor in a small, model space = plane.

Astrox will market its vehicle design = initially=20 for military use, both as a stand-alone plane = and as a=20 weapons delivery system.

Eventually, Kothari envisions consumer = planes=20 taking off horizontally from large airports and = reducing=20 20-hour flights to as little as 1.5 = hours.

Kothari and the MIPS team have = published three=20 academic papers on their combustor design, while = Astrox=20 has published 25 papers on hypersonic=20 vehicles.

Founded in 1988, the company has won = $5 million=20 in contracts from the U.S. Air Force, Army, = Navy, and=20 National Aeronautics and Space = Administration=97including=20 three Small Business Innovation Research grants = to=20 design hypersonic airplanes and = rockets.

References =

Adam=20 F. Dissel, Ajay P. Kothari and Mark J. Lewis,=20 =93Investigation of Two-Stage-to-Orbit = Airbreathing=20 Launch-Vehicle Configurations,=94 Journal of = Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 43, No. 3, = May-June=20 2006.

Adam=20 F. Dissel, Ajay P. Kothari and Mark J. Lewis,=20 =93Comparison of Horizontally and Vertically = Launched=20 Airbreathing and Rocket Vehicles,=94 Journal = of=20 Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 43, No. 1,=20 January-February 2006.

About MIPS (http://www.mips.umd.edu/)
The Maryland Industrial = Partnerships (MIPS)=20 program accelerates the commercialization of = technology=20 in Maryland by jointly funding collaborative = R&D=20 projects between companies and University System = of=20 Maryland faculty.

About Astrox (http://www.astrox.com/)
A= strox=20 Corporation is a small, minority-owned business=20 specializing in innovative aerospace and=20 computer-related research and = development.

###

Inward-turning hypersonic space plane = ready for=20 take-off from a runway. (cli= ck=20 for larger image)

Vertical takeoff version of the same = hypersonic=20 space plane. (click=20 for larger image)

Astrox President Ajay Kothari. (click=20 for larger image) =

Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (MTECH)
A. James Clark School of=20 Engineering
Glenn L. Martin Institute of Technology
University of Maryland, College = Park, MD=20 20742
301.405.3906
Copyright =A9 2002 University of = Maryland
E-mail web=20 developer