External combustion engine ?

[Michel Van]

In end of 1950s and begin of 1960s
Popular science magazine publish article about External combustion engine.

The principe:
Instead to burn the fuel inside an turbo jet- or Ram jet engine,
the fuel is pump outside the fuselage were it burns and accelerated the aircraft on high mach numbers.

Nothing happened about principe
So was this a immature concept ?

 

[dannydale]

This sounds like Flaming Pumpkin Seeds.

 

[sferrin]

Or more prosaically, the Sprint ABM second stage used external burning for attitude and divert control.

No it didn't. They tested it on Hibex/Upstage but Sprint used fins on the 2nd stage.

 

[tartle]

In the late 1960s my prof at was researching supersonic combustion,,, both internal and external. We used to help out on the rig some afternoon's, we were running a quartz nozzle so we could see the standing waves as combustion took place when we hit a resonant frequency and it shatered showering pieces of mighty hot quartz on us... only a smouldering anorack resulted but H&S today would go bonkers... try googling Cookson supersonic combustion.

 

[LowObservable]

I assume you mean "anorak" as a winter garment, rather than its later meaning, which would certainly have caused H&S some concern...

 

[tartle]

Definitely winter!! Although we could melt a lot of snow with a supersonic hydrogen flame!

 

[DSE]

In end of 1950s and begin of 1960s
Popular science magazine publish article about External combustion engine.

The principe:
Instead to burn the fuel inside an turbo jet- or Ram jet engine,
the fuel is pump outside the fuselage were it burns and accelerated the aircraft on high mach numbers.

Nothing happened about principe
So was this a immature concept ?

AKA External Burning shortened from external burning ramjet/scramjet. NASA did flight experiments on the F-15 at DFRC back during NASP. One classic early JHU/APL reference is:

Accession Number : AD0655459
Title : EXTERNAL BURNING RAMJETS PRELIMINARY FEASIBILITY STUDY

Descriptive Note : Technical memo.​

Corporate Author : JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV LAUREL MD APPLIED PHYSICS LAB
Personal Author(s) : Dugger, G. L. ; Monchick, L.
Handle / proxy Url : http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/AD0655459

Report Date : MAR 1967​

Pagination or Media Count : 99​

Abstract : Experiments and analyses have shown that burning beneath external surfaces of a supersonic vehicle can produce lift and reduce drag. Preliminary analyses of some two-dimensional external burning ramjet (ERJ) and external expansion ramjet (EERJ) models yield some encouraging results. The EERJ uses ducted subsonic combustion but all-external expansion, so that the two- dimensional (or half-round) nozzle obtains some heat relief by radiation and contributes to vehicle lift, increasing lift/drag ratio. Effects of vectoring the EERJ nozzle and advantages and disadvantages of substituting a simple ramp in place of the nonreflecting surface are explored briefly. Three possible paths for the design of hypersonic transport vehicles incorporating EERJ's for cruise power and auxiliary lower speed engines are pictured and discussed in general terms.​

Descriptors : *RAMJET ENGINES, *EXTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES, AIRFOILS, FEASIBILITY STUDIES, FLAMES, JET PROPULSION, THRUST, NOZZLES, COOLING​

Subject Categories : NON-ELECTRICAL ENERGY CONVERSION
JET AND GAS TURBINE ENGINES

Distribution Statement : APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE​

 

[Michel Van]

THx for PDF, DSE

 

[DSE]

THx for PDF, DSE

You are welcome. There's a fair bit more if you query the search engines at DTIC and NRTS for "external burning". Ferri had some classic papers iirc as well. For the most part however used in addition with airbreathing propulsion it has never really won out at the system level.