New explosive shock waves-driven rocket engine developed, say scientists

A new type of rocket engine, which is powered by explosions, seems to have been developed by a research team in Beijing.

The continuous rotating detonation combustion engine has been developed by Professor Wang Bing and colleagues of the School of Aerospace Engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

This engine can be more efficient than a normal rocket engine. It is driven by explosive shock waves, which help it spin like a tornado, even faster than the speed of sound.

In the 1950s, the idea of an engine, which could be powered by explosions, was proposed by Soviet scientists to launch rockets into orbit.

Over the years, several prototypes have been built. But most had a cylindrical combustion chamber, which made the engine too heavy for real-life applications.

By reducing the cylinder to a disk, Wang’s team said that they solved the issue.

In a conference paper published on cnki.net, which is the China’s largest online research platform, Wang and his colleagues wrote last month that the new layout was earlier considered difficult to be built as it required a complete redesign of almost all components. But the tests have proved that the technology worked.

According to Wang’s team, fuel burns much more efficiently when detonated. But the detonations can risk damaging components. So, it needs to be controlled.

(With inputs from agencies)