Re: Alternative jet fuel?


Christopher wrote:
> Could a jet engine run on hydrogen, even a military jet engine, i.e.
> like a...F 16 engine, so instead of the F 16 having it's fuel in
> rubberised bladder fuel tanks you have a single tank [to save weight
> made of composite wound fibers] with liquid hydrogen?
>
>
> --
>
> Christopher


Most of the problems of storing, refueling LH (Liquid Hydrogen) safely
on aircraft and cars have already been solved.

Hydrogen is an excellent fuel for jet engines: its rapid mixing and
stable flame actually significantly reduce combustion chamber length.
The worlds first jet engine, von Ohain's HeS 1 ran of hydrogen.

You do need 4 times the volume to store LH but it is 1/3rd the weight
and overall there are energy savings (depending on aircraft mission
range)

Here are some links of experimental LH aircraft:

http://www.haw-hamburg.de/pers/Scholz/dglr/hh/text_2001_12_06_Cryoplane.pdf

http://www.flug-revue.rotor.com/FRheft/FRH9809/FR9809k.htm

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4404/ch8-12.htm

(This is the same people that developed SR-71)
"The Suntan team, particularly Seaberg, was not convinced that
Johnson's pessimism over range was justified. Contracts for additional
design studies were let not only with Lockheed but also with North
American Aviation, Boeing, and ConvairFort Worth. The additional study
at Lockheed did nothing to change Johnson's view. In all, 14 designs
were considered, ranging from bombers to Mach 4 reconnaissance aircraft
with comparisons between using petroleum fuels and liquid hydrogen.

For the same range, Lockheed found that aircraft using liquid hydrogen
were larger but weighed less at takeoff than those using petroleum
fuels. At a given speed, hydrogenfueled aircraft exceeded the altitude
limits of petroleum-fueled aircraft by 3000 to 6000 meters.45 By March
1958, a Boeing design appeared to be the most promising of the new
studies. Powered by four engines, it would fly at Mach 2.5, 30 500
meters altitude, [165] and have a radius of 4100 kilometers-almost
twice that of the CL-400. The Boeing airplane was also considerably
larger than the CL-400, with a length of 61 meters, a delta wing span
of 61 meters, and a takeoff weight of 75 750 kilograms.46"

.

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