Electric Jets & Propellers

[Dragorans]

A great thing would be to put electric motors in from the beginning of Early Access, we could plan A LOT of missions if they have it, just like with Breaking Ground  in KSP1.

Another nice thing would be a electric jet engine. 

Basically, Air from an intake goes past by a powerful magnetron, which heats the air a lot, which generates thrust. It's nothing like an ion engine, in which a noble gas is bombarded with electrons and is directed by electromagnets.  This allows it to function in places where "air" isn't really air, like in Eve, or even Jool.

Maybe there could be a version like a RAPIER engine, where some gas is injected into the engine so it can run in space (don't know if this really works IRL and it's not tested, so I dont know if it is realistic).

 

 

[Manul]

Electric jet requires a LOT of electricity.  And a powerful compressor because it will not work if the air isn't compressed before being heated, uncompressed air isn't dense enough to produce significant thrust even if it goes through the engine in a right direction (and I'm not sure that it will not go backwards to the intake)  To produce electricity we need a nuclear reactor that heats something, this "something" expands, spins the turbine that spins the generator that produces electricity. And we need enough radiators to cool and condense the working fluid to reuse it. There is a more easy way to make thrust out of nuclear power: a nuclear thermal jet.

[Dragorans]

 

5 hours ago, Manul said:

Electric jet requires a LOT of electricity.  And a powerful compressor because it will not work if the air isn't compressed before being heated, uncompressed air isn't dense enough to produce significant thrust even if it goes through the engine in a right direction (and I'm not sure that it will not go backwards to the intake)  To produce electricity we need a nuclear reactor that heats something, this "something" expands, spins the turbine that spins the generator that produces electricity. And we need enough radiators to cool and condense the working fluid to reuse it. There is a more easy way to make thrust out of nuclear power: a nuclear thermal jet.

Hmm, it's true. But it would be much cooler to add this electric jet and a reactor part, with the reactor providing power to the engine. It also increases the amount of possible designs, and I LOVE it.

Also how would a nuclear reactor fit into a small plane? A good thing would be to add graphrene batteries to this case, Or perhaps Graphene capacitors, which would have much less range but would recharge in instants, which could simply be done with an RTG.

About the part of compressing the air, we already know how to compress the air a lot. A hybrid engine can also be made, in which the combustion gases pass through the magnetron too, which would solve this problem.

What you think?

Edited November 16, 2022 by Dragorans

[Vl3d]

I love the dream! Someone who actually has hopes and feedback about things that could be in KSP2, instead of wanting just a better KSP1.

[Manul]

10 hours ago, Dragorans said:

Also how would a nuclear reactor fit into a small plane?

Of course it wouldn't. A powerplant with an output of hundreds megawatts of electrical power required for a microwave plasma jet definitely will not fit. A reactor providing only thermal power  to heat the air is much more simple, compact and lightweight it can be just a huge RTG  on steroids.

 

Thrust to power consumption ratio of a microwave plasma jet is pretty linear so it will require megawatts of electrical power to generate kiloNewtons of thrust. And it's the best case scenario assuming that this tech scales up without major penalties and the magnetron is 100% efficient.

https://newatlas.com/aircraft/microwave-air-plasma-thruster/#gallery:2

[magnemoe]

Having electrical propellers however would be nice for planets without oxygen.
Now solar panels are very overpowered in KSP 1, try running that is basically an off road sports car of a couple of solar panels on the roof. 

[Dragorans]

3 hours ago, Manul said:

Of course it wouldn't. A powerplant with an output of hundreds megawatts of electrical power required for a microwave plasma jet definitely will not fit. A reactor providing only thermal power  to heat the air is much more simple, compact and lightweight it can be just a huge RTG  on steroids.

 

Thrust to power consumption ratio of a microwave plasma jet is pretty linear so it will require megawatts of electrical power to generate kiloNewtons of thrust. And it's the best case scenario assuming that this tech scales up without major penalties and the magnetron is 100% efficient.

https://newatlas.com/aircraft/microwave-air-plasma-thruster/#gallery:2

 

That graph you showed is on Earth, right? In denser atmospheres it can work much better than that, with the same consumption. The efficiency of such engine would be higher in dense atmospheres. If Ovin, for example, has a super dense atmosphere, it could work much better. But one problem is Ovin's very high gravity.

Also, let's make some logic:

Remember the Stratsenblitz video where he circumnavigated kerbin more than 20 times? It presents the logic that going slower does not increase the range.  Higher speeds bring more efficiency. By that logic, this engine could be much more efficient than a propeller electric engine.

Maybe I'm just crazy that I like the concept lol

Edit: Making the vehicle reach more than 800m/s is unfeasible with this engine. But speeds of at least 300 m/s are already much more than any electric motor 

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by Dragorans