Guy Bayan Capstone

As a method of air-breathing propulsion, turbojet engines have the advantage of being highly efficient, but this comes at the cost of mechanical complexity and consequently high manufacturing price. With this in mind, the primary goal of this project was to explore the ways in which turbojet complexity could be reduced while still maintaining high levels of efficiency. This was done by researching the principles on which turbojets operated, identifying the causes of fuel efficiency as well as the conditions necessary for combustion. A design was hypothesized that utilized solid fuel with a weak chemical oxidizer, in theory allowing for compressor efficiency to be low while still achieving combustion. Because it was unknown whether a partial chemically-oxidized fuel could still be further oxidized by compressed air, several preliminary tests were conducted. The results showed that this was possible, supporting the feasibility of this engine and allowing the experiment to continue. The next step was to test whether a partially-oxidized fuel could solely sustain compressor start-up, as this would precede atmospheric oxidation and the combustion would be inherently weak. A solid-fuel turbine was designed and built, being designated as Prototype 1. In addition to testing deoxygenated compressor startup, Prototype 1 demonstrated whether the simple materials used in construction could withstand the extreme conditions of a turbojet engine. The results of the test revealed that the turbine accelerated to 6,300 RPM in 2.33 seconds, proving the feasibility of deoxygenated startup.