Chapter 450: Space Engine! (Subscribe for Monthly Tickets)

For electromagnetic propulsion, there are many key factors that restrict its thrust improvement.

However, the most important ones are two.

One is a high-power and high-density power supply, and the other is a strong magnetic acceleration field.

As the name suggests, electromagnetic propulsion, no matter which one, cannot be separated from the supply of power.

Even if the solar panels do not consider the power attenuation caused by being far away from the sun, the size of the International Space Station can only provide about 120kw of power supply.

And 120Kw of power, for the current electric propulsion system, can only provide a thrust of about 5N.

The greater the thrust, the higher the demand for power, which is an exponential relationship destined for the electromagnetic propulsion system.

The strong magnetic acceleration field determines the speed of the ionized ions. The faster the ions are ejected, the greater the thrust that can be formed.

As for the working fluid, it is not a technical problem, it is just a consideration of whether it is worth it.

After all, no matter how expensive xenon is, the current industry has a way to mass produce it.

Of course, for Xu Chuan, apart from technical problems, considering practicality is also something he needs to do.

As for Academician Yang Hong's curiosity, he smiled and replied: "If it is a problem in other aspects, perhaps I can't think of any solution."

"But I may have a chance to solve the magnetic field and working fluid."

After a slight pause, he looked at Yang Hong and continued: "Academician Yang should know high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite materials, right?"

Hearing this, Yang Hong nodded and said: "I know this, but if you want to apply high-temperature copper-carbon-silver composite materials to electromagnetic propulsion systems, it may be difficult."

"Whether it is the volume or the additional condensation system, it will greatly increase the weight of the electromagnetic propulsion system, which is undoubtedly a burden for aerospace."

Xu Chuan smiled and said: "In theory, this is correct, but my recent research direction is room-temperature superconducting materials and how to improve the critical magnetic field of superconducting materials. At present, there is already a little direction."

"Although the results are not known yet, if it succeeds, it should be no problem to use it in electromagnetic propulsion systems."

Hearing this, Yang Hong was stunned for a moment, opened his mouth and wanted to say something but stopped.

He wanted to ask what material and direction it was, but at his level, he was naturally very clear about the confidentiality of related research.

After thinking for a while, he looked at Xu Chuan and asked, "What about the working fluid?"

"Even if you can solve the magnetic field, the working fluid is the key. The price of xenon is more expensive than gold. If too much working fluid is needed to complete a space mission, it is better to use traditional chemical fuel for propulsion."

Hearing this, Xu Chuan smiled faintly and said, "Then don't use xenon."

"If you don't use xenon, what should you use? Argon?" Yang Hong was stunned again, and asked curiously, "Although argon is indeed cheaper than xenon, it is still in the research direction. Moreover, the amount of argon required to support the completion of a space mission will not be too little, and it may not be cheaper than chemical fuels."

Xu Chuan smiled and shook his head, saying: "No, just use nitrogen. Nitrogen is quite cheap and easy to separate, which is enough to support space missions."

"The reason why xenon is used in current electric propulsion is that xenon is the easiest to ionize, while other working fluids are difficult to ionize."

"The problem of ionizing nitrogen is naturally quite difficult if traditional methods are used. But it is not a problem at all when it comes to miniaturized controlled nuclear fusion reactors."

"The ionization temperature of nitrogen is more than one thousand degrees, which is not a problem at all for controlled nuclear fusion technology."

"Wait, maybe there is a cheaper one."

As he said this, Xu Chuan suddenly froze and fell into thinking while talking to himself.

On the other side, Yang Hong, who heard half of it, felt a little itchy in his heart, but he did not interrupt Xu Chuan's thinking.

He knew that if the other party's thinking today was fruitful, it might bring great changes to the development of the aerospace industry.

From the concise words just now, he understood the general meaning of the young man in front of him.

Use controlled nuclear fusion technology to provide tremendous electric energy for the electromagnetic propulsion system, and ionize cheap nitrogen and other working fluids at high temperature, and then combine with the strong critical magnetic field superconducting materials he is studying to provide thrust for the electromagnetic propulsion system.

This should be the complete conception of the new generation of electromagnetic propulsion system in front of him.

It has to be said that theoretically, this set of technologies can be fully realized as long as the relevant cores are fine.

Perhaps it is because he has been studying in a field for too long, and those familiar difficulties have been deeply rooted in his mind. When facing the technological structure of this cutting-edge field, his thinking is a bit rigid, and he no longer has the bold examples and cautious verification ideas of the past.

This is probably something that almost every scientific researcher will have after a long period of research work.

This is also the reason why most of the breakthrough work in the academic world is almost done in young and middle-aged people.

Xu Chuan, who was trapped in the idea, did not care about the environment of the outside world at all.

In his mind, a conceptual picture of the electromagnetic propulsion system was being improved bit by bit.

Suddenly, he raised his head, looked at Academician Yang Hong who was sitting opposite him with bright eyes, and asked excitedly: "Academician Yang, do you have a blackboard here?"

"Blackboard?" Yang Hong was stunned for a moment, and said: "Yes, there is, but it's not in my office. If you need it, I'll go get it?"

Xu Chuan nodded and said: "Then please help Academician Yang bring a blackboard and chalk. I have some new ideas."

"OK."

Yang Hong nodded, stood up and walked out of the office. After a while, he dragged a mobile blackboard over.

Xu Chuan quickly stepped forward, picked up the chalk and started writing on the blackboard.

The conceptual diagram in his mind gradually appeared on the blackboard in his hands.

On the side, Yang Hong looked curiously at the strange images that gradually appeared on the blackboard, feeling a little puzzled.

However, as Xu Chuan began to annotate and explain each module, he gradually froze, with shock and surprise in his pupils.

After a while, Xu Chuan, who put down the last stroke, threw the chalk in his hand into the chalk box, turned around and looked at Yang Hong with a smile, and said: "This is an idea I just came up with temporarily. Take a look, Academician Yang. But I I have never learned how to draw engineering drawings, so please forgive me for the ugly drawings.”

Looking at the structural diagram presented on the blackboard, Yang Hong couldn't help but swallowed and said, "How did you come up with the idea of ​​using compressed air as a working fluid?!"

Hearing this, Xu Chuan smiled and said: "Cheap!"

"At the beginning, I thought about using nitrogen, a relatively cheap and easy-to-produce working fluid, to replace xenon or argon as the engine's working fluid."

"But no matter how cheap they are, they have a cost."

"In that case, why not get it directly from the atmosphere?"

“The main components of the Earth’s atmosphere are nitrogen and oxygen, and their content accounts for more than 99% of the total components. It can be said that as long as they are in the atmosphere, these two are inexhaustible. "

"Although nitrogen and oxygen are more difficult to ionize than gases such as xenon and argon and have higher requirements for ionization, if a controllable nuclear fusion reactor is used to supply energy, it can be said that it is useless to ionize the air. pressure."

"In this case, why not directly draw working fluids such as nitrogen and oxygen from the atmosphere by adding a suction compression device to directly supply the electromagnetic propulsion system."

"In this way, this kind of propulsion device directly solves the problems of working fluid and endurance in the atmosphere. As long as the energy provided by the controllable nuclear fusion reactor is sufficient, theoretically, it can keep flying in the blue sky."

"As for going deep into outer space, this requires using the working fluid carried by the spacecraft itself."

"But compared to launching and using it directly from the ground, switching modes at high altitude, and then climbing into outer space, there is no doubt that the amount of working fluid required is much less."

"What do you think of this idea, Academician Yang? Can it be done?"

On the opposite side, Yang Hong took a deep breath, suppressed the shock in his heart, and said slowly: "This is simply the most amazing electromagnetic engine design structure I have ever seen."

"Shocking!"

"But I have to say that if you can solve the problems of miniaturization of controllable nuclear fusion and strong magnetic current accelerating fields, it is really possible."

Xu Chuan smiled and said: "I am going to name this electromagnetic propulsion system 'aerospace engine'!"

"Aerospace engine, aerospace engine"

Yang Hong muttered twice and said with bright eyes: "It is an engine that is suitable for both aviation and aerospace!"

"If you really design and manufacture this engine, it will be the biggest turning point in the aviation and aerospace fields!"

"It will even become one of the mainstream engines in the future era of interstellar voyages."

"After all, theoretically speaking, it is not only applicable to the earth, but to almost any planet with an atmosphere."

Xu Chuan smiled and said: "Considering alien planets or something like that is still too far away at the moment."

"But in theory, it is indeed suitable for the aerospace field and can be adapted to the aviation field. That's why I call it an aerospace engine."

After a pause, he offered an olive branch: "How about it, Academician Yang, are you interested? Come to Xinghai Research Institute and work with me to develop this new engine."

Yang Hong's face was obviously moved, and he opened his mouth, but he still didn't say the words of agreement.

He shook his head with a wry smile and said: "I'm very grateful to Academician Xu for your consideration, but I can't agree to this. After all, I still hold the position of chief designer of the Tiangong Space Station."

Hearing this, Xu Chuan smiled sheepishly, and he almost forgot about it.

This poaching went directly to the head of another chief designer, phew!

Yang Hong on the other side smiled and said, "But I can recommend someone to you."

"who?"

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