Dead simple on paper but very tricky to build, the hypersonic scramjet engine gets a boost from a new jet-fuel-based design. Mach 8 here we come?

The inflow end of the wind tunnel is connected to a bank of truck-size steel cylinders that hold a total of 20 tons of air at 2,400 pounds per square inch. The exhaust end is connected to a spherical 48-foot-wide steel vacuum tank behind the building. First, the air is pumped out of the sphere, simulating the near vacuum above 80,000 feet. Then, compressed air from the tank farm flows through a hydrogen- and oxygen-fueled heater that raises the temperature to more than 4,000

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1 Comment

Why don't you use an electrically heated smoldering hot metal rod or a chemical laser or so to ignite the fuel mixture as it rushes true the combustion chamber!
This may offer great results for a continua s ignition of a continua s flow of fuel!

You could use a pulsating torch that rotates really fast to spread the flame and that's continua sly lit with a highly flammable fuel mixture and that's shielded from the incoming airflow, while some air is diverted true it!
Note: The pulsating effect of the ignition source should be synchronized with the pulsating effect of the fuel injection system.

ARUBA (Dutch Caribbean)



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