China Electric Plasma Jet Engine


A team of Chinese scientists presented an innovative plasma jet engine design. In and of itself, this new concept is not revolutionary, but it could hold the key to the development of engines that operate in both the atmosphere and space.
The thrust output of this new form of engine is still insignificant when compared with conventional atmospheric engines, however, once the technology is scaled up, this form of engine could revolutionize the aerospace industry.
But before we examine this ground breaking design in detail, let's learn how plasma jet engine’s function.
An engine powered by plasma is what it sounds like
Spacecraft propulsion is often envisioned as being possible with plasma-based thrusters. The ion thruster engine, however, generates thrust by extracting an electrical current from a plasma source. Grids or anodes are then used to accelerate the ions to high speeds.
Plasma engines typically do not need high-voltage grids or anodes/cathodes to accelerate charged particles in the plasma source, instead relying on internal currents and potentials generated by a high-current electric arc between the two electrodes. Due to the limited voltage employed for acceleration, this tends to result in a reduced exhaust velocity.
What makes this new Chinese plasma engine so unique?
Researchers from Wuhan University's Institute of Technical Sciences developed a new design that employs air and electricity instead of gases like xenon. Testing has revealed that the engine is able to generate a significant amount of thrust, suggesting that it could one day be used in current aircraft.
This new plasma engine functions similarly to a combustion engine in that plasma is formed from a source gas, which is then heated to a high temperature and allowed to expand to provide thrust. The ionised air is employed in the new engine to create a low-temperature plasma, which is then pushed into a tube via an air compressor. Microwaves blast the air as it goes up the tube, forcefully shaking the ions and causing them to collide with non-ionized atoms.
The temperature and pressure of the plasma were dramatically raised as a result of this process, resulting in tremendous thrust further down the tube.


This incredible achievement is made possible in part by the employment of a flattened waveguide (a rectangular metal tube) that concentrates microwaves. The microwaves are delivered down the guide, which tapers down to half its original size as it approaches the plasma and then expands again, thanks to a specially built 1KW, 2.45-Gh magnetron. This technique increases the electric field strength and affects the plasma with as much heat and pressure as feasible.

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