Boeing patents laser-fusion engine

[DocM]

While the U238 can also shield the radiation from the fusion reactions, it could make crash and weapon impact zones troublesome for some time - it's essentially the same as the depleted uranium used in artillery shells.

Boeing: call back when you figure out how to do it without the U238.

Patent....

http://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-just-patented-a-jet-engine-powered-by-lasers-and-nuclear-explosions-2015-7

Boeing just patented a jet engine powered by lasers and nuclear explosions

Last week, the US Patent and Trademark Office approved an application from Boeing's Robert Budica, James Herzberg, and Frank Chandler for a laser- and nuclear-driven airplane engine.

With airplane makers constantly on the lookout for new and more efficient ways to power their products, this laser engine is the latest idea cooked up by the engineers at Boeing.

Modern airliners such as the Boeing Dreamliner are powered by multiple turbofan engines. These engines deploy a series of fans and turbines to compress air and ignite fuel to produce thrust.

Boeing's newly patented engine provides thrust in a very different and rather novel manner. According to the patent filing, the laser engine may also be used to power rockets, missiles, and even spacecraft.

As of now, the engine lives only in patent documents. The technology is so out-there that it is unclear whether anyone will ever build it.

Here's how Boeing's new patented engine works.

Boeing's new jet engine works by firing high-power lasers at radioactive material, such as deuterium and tritium.

The lasers vaporize the radioactive material and cause a fusion reaction

[Praetor]

Lasers and nuclear material? yeah can't see no wrong in that!

[macoman]

Lasers and nuclear material? yeah can't see no wrong in that!

Laser, nuclear material and heat combined.... who will be the guinea pig pilots to test it in an aircraft?

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Laser, nuclear material and heat combined.... who will be the guinea pig pilots to test it in an aircraft?

 

Pick me....Pick me....(hand up in the air , pumping, from a seat in the back of the room)......

[greenwizard88]

If the nuclear fuel produces the thrust directly, wouldn't that mean that the nuclear fuel would have to be - at some level - exposited to the atmosphere? If so, how would this not have a nuclear contrail?

[DocM]

The fusion exhaust wouldn't really be "hot." The problem is if the thing hit the ground and the U238 jacket, a long lived alpha emitter, burned or otherwise hot into the environment. Same problem as using depleted uranium in tank cannon shells.

[JustGeorge]

LOL @ "Propelling the aircraft forward with great force".

 

That engine should make great travel time

[Sadelwo]

If they got this functional I could see a benefit to Civilian Space flight but on regular atmospheric aircraft? i cannot begin to imagine the amount of testing and regulations the FAA and every  other Aviation authority would have to create regulating the operation and ground maintenance of such an aircraft where the engine is basically a fusion reactor.

[Blue-Vision]

It's going to take, minimum, 15-25 years of R&D time before we see any kind of Engineering uses from this one. A Laser-based "Flash Fusion" system like this has a lot of potential applications, certainly; but until they have a working demonstration model I'm not so sure that this will amount to anything more than a "good idea" entry for the rest of the "good ideas" pile unless it gets picked up by someone with deep pockets.

 

With the Global Economy events today (China is just the start), we likely will have more immediate concerns to deal with, sadly.

[neufuse Veteran]

remember when our cars were all to be powered like this?....... ah the world of tomorrow....

[streetw0lf]

How come Apple didn't think of this first? 

[Aergan]

Dr Evil is not going to be best-pleased.

[+Red King Subscriber²]

Nuclear engines are long overdue.

[Osiris]

About time, nuclear engines are only like level 6 propulsion tech.  I guess +2 parsecs and +1 movement per combat turn is better than nothing.

[Neu B]

Laser, nuclear material and heat combined.... who will be the guinea pig pilots to test it in an aircraft?

Obviously you have no clue how jet engines are tested.

[Praetor]

I guess +2 parsecs and +1 movement per combat turn is better than nothing.

 

[FunkyMike]

Wasn't there some Soviet nuclear plane that irradiated the skies before the project was shut down.

[abecedarian paradoxious]

The US put the first operational nuclear reactor in the air though the craft, a modified Corvar B-36, wasn't nuclear powered: it was to test radiation shielding. Soviet Union also flew a plane for similar purposes- Tu-95LAL.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

If the nuclear fuel produces the thrust directly, wouldn't that mean that the nuclear fuel would have to be - at some level - exposited to the atmosphere? If so, how would this not have a nuclear contrail?

Deuterium-Tritium fusion produces Helium, I wouldn't stand behind the exhaust, but it'd be cleaner than an existing jet engine.

The only radioative material in the engine is the Uranium wall lining, in metal form it's pretty stable, you just don't want to break it up and inhale it (The Tritium fuel on the other hand would be worse for you)

[DocM]

There was a US nuclear powered bomber research project in the early 1950's using the B-36 airframe, but it was cancelled.

Shortly after Aviation Week ran a story about a Soviet nuclear powered bomber which had flown several times. This caused President Eisenhower to re-start the US program in the late 1950's with GE and Pratt & Whitney working on two different engine prototypes.

At the same time the US started flying the U2 spyplane and high powered spy satellites, and based on their classified data work on the nuclear powered bombers airframe was ordered to stop. Work on the nuclear engines continued.

In 1960 John Kennedy ran on the notion that Eisenhower had allowed a missile and bomber gap to develop, with Soviet production outstripping that of the US. After he won and got into the White House Kennedy discovered he was wrong;

1) the U2 and satellite data revealed the Soviet production of bombers was quite low, and their long range missile fleet was likewise smaller than expected. They were bluffing and spreading misinformation.

2) the 1950's Soviet nuclear powered bomber flights story was a hoax. A prototype airframe had been built and flown in 1961, far later than the AvWeek story had reported, but it had conventional jet engines and was mainly used to test shielding. Worse, it was very slow.

This caused the US nuclear powered bomber project to go far into the back burner, and the development of submarine launched ballistic missiles (starting with Polaris) and accurate land based missiles killed the nuclear powered bomber project.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Just my opinion.........Just did a quick read up.......seems there will not be enough material to initiate fission, but starts the process of throwing out neutrons, The chamber wall helps keep the  process going, which in fact wants to stop due to the negative feedback processes of neutron expulsion when using U238...engine output will be helium and hydrogen, non irradiated and the only "hot" item will be chamber walls for a short time.   basically a process of moving neutrons around at several energy states, excess photon production and technically, no daughter products........A turbine that uses U238 as fuel (non fission, non fusion) instead of J series fuel and actually will have a cleaner exhaust.    This is not a reactor, just an elevated temperature induced environment to produce continuous neutron generation (photon expulsion) with the exhaust being very hot helium and hydrogen......../s "fascinating"...this will work in principle..will take hand fulls of cash thrown at it....Cheers

[blerk]

I probably misread the article but I don't see how this is a jet engine? It's essentially a rocket as far as I can tell from the schematics above...

[Draggendrop Veteran]

I probably misread the article but I don't see how this is a jet engine? It's essentially a rocket as far as I can tell from the schematics above...

Compressed hot gases out the back nozzle......"jet" is loose term (poor analogy but based on premise of long duration engine use as compared to very short duration use for rockets)......due to cleaner exhaust products in lieu of toxic nasties out of rockets...take your pick for your descriptor of choice.......I would prefer..../s......turboencabulator driven single helix mutoid propulsive device (just cause it sounds cool).......

 

The above diagrams are rough at that, just a descriptor...no where close to resembling true schematics. Just reading about the plumbing required for compressor/turbo driven generator makes one realize these drawings are "stick figures" to convey a complicated process with the least amount of general confusion.....Cheers

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Obviously you have no clue how jet engines are tested.

Eventually with passengers in aircraft... what's your point?

[FloatingFatMan]

Let's stick it on our Mars rocket!