Chinese scientists harness fourth state of matter to create ‘air plasma’ jet engine that runs on electricity alone
Scientists in Wuhan, China claim to have created a carbon-neutral prototype jet engine which could one day allow for a new era in fossil-fuel free manned flight.
Their prototype engine compresses air and ionizes it with microwaves thus generating plasma which it expels out the back of the engine to generate thrust. Plasma is the fourth state of matter which usually only exists in the laboratory, the surface of the Sun or for brief instances during lightning strikes.
The proposed system differs from previous attempts at creating plasma jet thrusters as they relied on xenon plasma which cannot withstand the friction inherent in the Earth’s atmosphere. Simply put, they were not powerful enough.
Their proof-of-concept prototype launched a one-kilogram (2.2lb) steel ball 24mm (almost an inch) into the air. While not particularly impressive on face value, when scaled up, this would equal the same amount of thrust produced by a conventional, commercial jet engine.
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