fizzle
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2021
- Messages
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Hi, this is an approach to make a hybrid aircraft-airship to travel across the world in the limit of the Troposphere at 8km (or 9-10km depending of the type of jet, polar or subtropical and the time of the year. passenger aircrafts travel at 9-12km) using the jet streams and aided with a variable pressure or high pressure hydrogen gas balloon attached to an aircraft with low structural or empty weight by using air tanks as airframe structure and ropes in tensegrity and additional propulsion system with an array of isothermal air motors and of solar stirling engines powered by fresnel lenses.
This is an ideal scenario however this type of air-solar stirling aircraft can also be used for shorter distances without using the jet stream or the balloon, also some of the technologies which are in development can be applied to land vehicles or a sailboats as well.
All the technologies shown in this project have been developed for other uses and published in scientific papers or with built with samples or prototypes. This type of travel can be more energy-resource efficient than interoceanic blue water sailing because the less structural reinforcement weight and the less viscosity of the air compared to water and also safer because it can fly over hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones.
There are two types of jet streams across the globe, the faster polar streams (faster during winter moving to lower latitudes) and the slower subtropical streams with an average speed of 250kmh and usual range of 129 to 225kmh with peaks of 443kmh, and with an altitude range of 8 km (that can be used for transit) to 15 km (that can be reached when arriving to the desired longitude to glide trough to the destination).
The jet stream not only provides propulsion but also is a source of electric and mechanical wind power for electric or pneumatic energy generation or the powering of all heat exchangers and other processes inside the aircraft. Direct mechanical wind energy is more energy efficient than electric wind energy due to less energy conversion loses, for example you can power a compressor directly with a wind turbine instead using a wind turbine electric generator, voltage conversion and an electric motor.
The proposed aircraft can perform the climbing or soaring aided with a gas balloon (with hydrogen produced by wind turbine powered electrolysis), for example a balloon with a 6m diameter sphere has a volume of 113m3 and so a lifting capacity of 136 kg. The initial stages of the soaring can be helped with thermals and the powering assistance can be produced by an array of Stirling engines (more green, efficient and lighter than photovoltaic-electric motor) powered by a concentrated solar array of self-oriented fresnel lenses with the light distributed trough plastic fiber optic cables to the Stirling engines and other array of pistonless rotary engines feed with an isothermal compressed air setup (4 times the energy density of ion-lithium battery by applying heat when the air is released because when air decompress it cools wasting energy and draining the energy capacity factor of compressed air), for this purpose it can be used stored molten salt or wax and some of the fresnel lens area can be used to directly heat the air during decompression or reheat the molten salt when there's no sun. The propeller array system that also can be ducted not only can offer reduced weight and efficiency but safety.
nasa All-Electric X-57 concept with propeller array
Aerodynamic Performance and Interaction Effects of Circular and Square Ducted Propellers 2020 .pdf
solar stirling example
isothermal compressed air vehicle prototype that uses a paraffin heat exchanger to heat the decompressed air powered by a low pressure exhaust air recovery system
pistonless rotary engine, eccentric shaft vane engine (di pietro) that is almost silent and also can be soundproofed and thermally insulated at the same time to improve performance.
After climbing to the altitude of the jet stream, the aircraft can use a drag propulsion system as do sailboats with the spinnaker or a kite or parachute while also recharging the air tanks with the air engines in reverse mode and plugged in series in multistage compression, sailboats also use this type of energy regeneration with the propellers and electric generators while using the sails. Also in the case of floating several days the balloon can be refilled with hydrogen by using electric wind turbines to power the hydrolysis of water created with a heat exchanger similar of a dehumidifiers, using the air motors in reverse or an air compressor attached to a wind turbine that can be aided with heat recovered during filling the air tanks (compressing air releases thermal energy in form of heat). Also the stirling engines can create cold or hot temperatures for those processes when using the propellers as wind turbines.
While travelling across the jet stream at 8km supplementary oxygen tanks can be at hand and an oxygen concentration system using the above compressor systems in a similar way as commercial planes do, also the surface compressed air stored in the aircraft structural pressure vessels can be used to breath as a safety measure.
When it reaches the desired longitude the hydrogen can be partially released or liquefied by using the surrounding low temperatures with a heat exchanger system powered by the air motors in reverse or the above compressor. Then to fly to the destination it can use both balloon assisted gliding and propulsion, in the case of reaching 15000m of altitude before gliding an aircraft with a 50:1 L/D ratio is supposed to glide over a radius of 750 km, what can be increased with the balloon, the solar Stirling engines and isothermal air engines until depleting the air tanks, however in this stage some of the stirling engines can be attached trough a belt to the air engines in reverse to fill the air tanks, to maintain altitude during the night, evening or morning at the cost of reducing cruising speed.
lauk cygnus flying wing aircraft with 50:1 L/D ratio, 70 kmh stall speed and 16.8 m2 of wing area
solarship hybrid airship using helium inflatable structure as lift assistance and powered by solar panels placed in the roof
The required specifications for this concept aircraft can be high L/D ratio, plenty of surface area for the fresnel lens, proper cabin thermal insulation (that can be heated when the air is being compressed in the tanks) and low empty weight that can be accomplished by using large pressure vessels as part of the airframe structure and UHMWPE ropes in Tensegrity that can reduce the structural weight by 40%, that can also change the shape of the wings while flying using a mixture of rigid skin and flexible skin on frame. Also the mechatronics systems in the aircraft are pneumatic actuators or motors reducing weight and complexity, also water hydraulic actuators can be used as well.
Fiber reinforced thermoplastic pressure vessels filled with air are the safest energy storage in a vehicle, they rupture and there's no spontaneous or after collision fire hazard nor combustive explosion as with petrol, ethanol, hydrogen or batteries.
tensegrity can reduce 40% of structural weight and create morphing wings
This approach may be seen as complex, however when removing combustion engines and electricity from the equation not only everything is simplified but affordable. almost all the parts of this setup can be made with fiber, recycled thermoplastics by 3d printing and composite 3d cnc or miultiaxis cnc milling with affordable diy machines, however the mini stirling engines have to be made with an efficient (they can be silent too) design made in a proper metal casting, lathe and milling, most of the stirling engines posted in youtube have poor energy efficiency.
Also the heat exchanger system, air compression etc as well mechatronic systems can be controlled by arduino or raspberry pi and also an avionics system can be made using raspberry pi with navigation system and wireless IoT sensor integration similar to recent Signal-K sailboat navigation system. To give a bigger safety margin that most of commercial aircrafts OEM systems a faraday cage can be used to store spare electronic parts.
Zenith CH750 panel with Avilution’s XFS software made with cheap, readily available components designed for non-aviation applications
The main trade in of this kind of concept is the possibility of taking off and landing in almost any place without the need of airstrips, roads or football fields, the only requirement is hydrogen that can be synthesised by the aircraft when landed in a reasonable time. So this way there are no need for landing permits of experimental aircraft and other bureaucratic processes, also it can be avoided flying over airports or populations.
Links:
Hybrid airship - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Ship,_Inc.
Using the jet stream for sustainable airship and balloon transportation of cargo and hydrogen 2019 Using the jet stream for sustainable airship and balloon transportation of cargo and hydrogen
Project of high altitude balloon launched micro glider: Aircraft design, control and flight test 2020
The Structural Suitability of Tensegrity Aircraft Wings The Structural Suitability of Tensegrity Aircraft Wings | Request PDF
Compressed-air vehicle - Wikipedia
Experimental Investigation of A Compressed Air Vehicle Prototype With Phase Change Materials for heat Recovery 2020
Thermal analysis of near-isothermal compressed gas energy storage system [PDF] Thermal analysis of near-isothermal compressed gas energy storage system | Semantic Scholar
NASA All-Electric X-57 concept with propeller array Concept Art of All-Electric X-57 Released
Aerodynamic Performance and Interaction Effects of Circular and Square Ducted Propellers (PDF) Aerodynamic Performance and Interaction Effects of Circular and Square Ducted Propellers
lauk cygnus flying wing with 50:1 L/D ratio and 70kmh stall Flying Wing
Conceptual Design and Optimization of a Solar-Electric Blended Wing Body Aircraft for General Aviation (PDF) Conceptual Design and Optimization of a Solar-Electric Blended Wing Body Aircraft for General Aviation
Daimler structural pressure tanks for vehicles Electromobility: Fuel cell & hydrogen are a part of it | Daimler
ModAir - Modular Aviation Instruments
Avilution: Avionics from scratch Software developers seek avionics without constraints
Aviation analytics and the Internet of Things 2016
This is an ideal scenario however this type of air-solar stirling aircraft can also be used for shorter distances without using the jet stream or the balloon, also some of the technologies which are in development can be applied to land vehicles or a sailboats as well.
All the technologies shown in this project have been developed for other uses and published in scientific papers or with built with samples or prototypes. This type of travel can be more energy-resource efficient than interoceanic blue water sailing because the less structural reinforcement weight and the less viscosity of the air compared to water and also safer because it can fly over hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones.
There are two types of jet streams across the globe, the faster polar streams (faster during winter moving to lower latitudes) and the slower subtropical streams with an average speed of 250kmh and usual range of 129 to 225kmh with peaks of 443kmh, and with an altitude range of 8 km (that can be used for transit) to 15 km (that can be reached when arriving to the desired longitude to glide trough to the destination).
The jet stream not only provides propulsion but also is a source of electric and mechanical wind power for electric or pneumatic energy generation or the powering of all heat exchangers and other processes inside the aircraft. Direct mechanical wind energy is more energy efficient than electric wind energy due to less energy conversion loses, for example you can power a compressor directly with a wind turbine instead using a wind turbine electric generator, voltage conversion and an electric motor.
The proposed aircraft can perform the climbing or soaring aided with a gas balloon (with hydrogen produced by wind turbine powered electrolysis), for example a balloon with a 6m diameter sphere has a volume of 113m3 and so a lifting capacity of 136 kg. The initial stages of the soaring can be helped with thermals and the powering assistance can be produced by an array of Stirling engines (more green, efficient and lighter than photovoltaic-electric motor) powered by a concentrated solar array of self-oriented fresnel lenses with the light distributed trough plastic fiber optic cables to the Stirling engines and other array of pistonless rotary engines feed with an isothermal compressed air setup (4 times the energy density of ion-lithium battery by applying heat when the air is released because when air decompress it cools wasting energy and draining the energy capacity factor of compressed air), for this purpose it can be used stored molten salt or wax and some of the fresnel lens area can be used to directly heat the air during decompression or reheat the molten salt when there's no sun. The propeller array system that also can be ducted not only can offer reduced weight and efficiency but safety.
nasa All-Electric X-57 concept with propeller array
Aerodynamic Performance and Interaction Effects of Circular and Square Ducted Propellers 2020 .pdf
solar stirling example
isothermal compressed air vehicle prototype that uses a paraffin heat exchanger to heat the decompressed air powered by a low pressure exhaust air recovery system
pistonless rotary engine, eccentric shaft vane engine (di pietro) that is almost silent and also can be soundproofed and thermally insulated at the same time to improve performance.
After climbing to the altitude of the jet stream, the aircraft can use a drag propulsion system as do sailboats with the spinnaker or a kite or parachute while also recharging the air tanks with the air engines in reverse mode and plugged in series in multistage compression, sailboats also use this type of energy regeneration with the propellers and electric generators while using the sails. Also in the case of floating several days the balloon can be refilled with hydrogen by using electric wind turbines to power the hydrolysis of water created with a heat exchanger similar of a dehumidifiers, using the air motors in reverse or an air compressor attached to a wind turbine that can be aided with heat recovered during filling the air tanks (compressing air releases thermal energy in form of heat). Also the stirling engines can create cold or hot temperatures for those processes when using the propellers as wind turbines.
While travelling across the jet stream at 8km supplementary oxygen tanks can be at hand and an oxygen concentration system using the above compressor systems in a similar way as commercial planes do, also the surface compressed air stored in the aircraft structural pressure vessels can be used to breath as a safety measure.
When it reaches the desired longitude the hydrogen can be partially released or liquefied by using the surrounding low temperatures with a heat exchanger system powered by the air motors in reverse or the above compressor. Then to fly to the destination it can use both balloon assisted gliding and propulsion, in the case of reaching 15000m of altitude before gliding an aircraft with a 50:1 L/D ratio is supposed to glide over a radius of 750 km, what can be increased with the balloon, the solar Stirling engines and isothermal air engines until depleting the air tanks, however in this stage some of the stirling engines can be attached trough a belt to the air engines in reverse to fill the air tanks, to maintain altitude during the night, evening or morning at the cost of reducing cruising speed.
lauk cygnus flying wing aircraft with 50:1 L/D ratio, 70 kmh stall speed and 16.8 m2 of wing area
solarship hybrid airship using helium inflatable structure as lift assistance and powered by solar panels placed in the roof
The required specifications for this concept aircraft can be high L/D ratio, plenty of surface area for the fresnel lens, proper cabin thermal insulation (that can be heated when the air is being compressed in the tanks) and low empty weight that can be accomplished by using large pressure vessels as part of the airframe structure and UHMWPE ropes in Tensegrity that can reduce the structural weight by 40%, that can also change the shape of the wings while flying using a mixture of rigid skin and flexible skin on frame. Also the mechatronics systems in the aircraft are pneumatic actuators or motors reducing weight and complexity, also water hydraulic actuators can be used as well.
Fiber reinforced thermoplastic pressure vessels filled with air are the safest energy storage in a vehicle, they rupture and there's no spontaneous or after collision fire hazard nor combustive explosion as with petrol, ethanol, hydrogen or batteries.
tensegrity can reduce 40% of structural weight and create morphing wings
This approach may be seen as complex, however when removing combustion engines and electricity from the equation not only everything is simplified but affordable. almost all the parts of this setup can be made with fiber, recycled thermoplastics by 3d printing and composite 3d cnc or miultiaxis cnc milling with affordable diy machines, however the mini stirling engines have to be made with an efficient (they can be silent too) design made in a proper metal casting, lathe and milling, most of the stirling engines posted in youtube have poor energy efficiency.
Also the heat exchanger system, air compression etc as well mechatronic systems can be controlled by arduino or raspberry pi and also an avionics system can be made using raspberry pi with navigation system and wireless IoT sensor integration similar to recent Signal-K sailboat navigation system. To give a bigger safety margin that most of commercial aircrafts OEM systems a faraday cage can be used to store spare electronic parts.
Zenith CH750 panel with Avilution’s XFS software made with cheap, readily available components designed for non-aviation applications
The main trade in of this kind of concept is the possibility of taking off and landing in almost any place without the need of airstrips, roads or football fields, the only requirement is hydrogen that can be synthesised by the aircraft when landed in a reasonable time. So this way there are no need for landing permits of experimental aircraft and other bureaucratic processes, also it can be avoided flying over airports or populations.
Links:
Hybrid airship - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Ship,_Inc.
Using the jet stream for sustainable airship and balloon transportation of cargo and hydrogen 2019 Using the jet stream for sustainable airship and balloon transportation of cargo and hydrogen
Project of high altitude balloon launched micro glider: Aircraft design, control and flight test 2020
The Structural Suitability of Tensegrity Aircraft Wings The Structural Suitability of Tensegrity Aircraft Wings | Request PDF
Compressed-air vehicle - Wikipedia
Experimental Investigation of A Compressed Air Vehicle Prototype With Phase Change Materials for heat Recovery 2020
Thermal analysis of near-isothermal compressed gas energy storage system [PDF] Thermal analysis of near-isothermal compressed gas energy storage system | Semantic Scholar
NASA All-Electric X-57 concept with propeller array Concept Art of All-Electric X-57 Released
Aerodynamic Performance and Interaction Effects of Circular and Square Ducted Propellers (PDF) Aerodynamic Performance and Interaction Effects of Circular and Square Ducted Propellers
lauk cygnus flying wing with 50:1 L/D ratio and 70kmh stall Flying Wing
Conceptual Design and Optimization of a Solar-Electric Blended Wing Body Aircraft for General Aviation (PDF) Conceptual Design and Optimization of a Solar-Electric Blended Wing Body Aircraft for General Aviation
Daimler structural pressure tanks for vehicles Electromobility: Fuel cell & hydrogen are a part of it | Daimler
ModAir - Modular Aviation Instruments
Avilution: Avionics from scratch Software developers seek avionics without constraints
Aviation analytics and the Internet of Things 2016
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