Combined cycle integrated combustor and nozzle system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9291124-B2
Application number	US-201414199769-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 6, 2014
Priority date	Dec 18, 2006
Publication date	Mar 22, 2016
Grant date	Mar 22, 2016

Abstract

An engine that operates and produces the entire required vehicle thrust below Mach 4 is useful for a Hypersonic combined cycle vehicle by saving vehicle and engine development costs. One such engine is a combined cycle engine having both a booster and a dual mode ramjet (DMRJ). The booster and the DMRJ are integrated to provide effective thrust from Mach 0 to in excess of Mach 4. As the booster accelerates the vehicle from Mach 0 to in excess of Mach 4, from Mach 0 to about Mach 2 incoming air delivered to the DMRJ is accelerated by primary ejector thrusters that may receive oxidizer from either on-board oxidizer tanks or from turbine compressor discharge air. As the TBCC further accelerates the vehicle from about Mach 0 to in excess of Mach 4 exhaust from the turbine and exhaust from the DMRJ are combined in a common nozzle disposed downstream of a combustor portion of the DMRJ functioning as an aerodynamic choke.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of operating a combined cycle engine, comprising the steps of:
operating a booster to produce a booster exhaust plume;
operating a dual mode ramjet (DMRJ) to produce an amount of DMRJ flow; and
creating using said booster exhaust plume an aerodynamic throat downstream of a low area ratio (AR) DMRJ combustor exit within a DMRJ nozzle.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said booster exhaust plume is underexpanded.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said booster is a rocket engine.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said booster is a low speed accelerator.

Assignees

• Aerojet Rocketdyne Inc

Inventors

• Bulman Melvin J

Classifications

• F02K7/14

  with external combustion, e.g. scram-jet engines · CPC title

• F02K7/16

  Composite ram-jet/turbo-jet engines · CPC title

• Y02T50/67

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• F02K7/10

  characterised by having ram-action compression, i.e. aero-thermo-dynamic-ducts or ram-jet engines · CPC title

• F02K7/18 Primary

  Composite ram-jet/rocket engines · CPC title