Compressed LNG for jet engines?

[Astro14]

it might work for short flights (energy density) but this isn’t going to replace jet fuel any time soon because the resultant aircraft will have very little fuel/endurance/range.

Wings aren’t designed for high pressures like CNG - so, where do you put the fuel? Fuselage tank?

Or do you strengthen the wing to handle the pressure, adding weight and reducing range every further?

Either way, for anything beyond a Husky, you’re talking a clean-sheet airplane or a very short range demonstrator. Certainly nothing commercially viable.

Cryogenic fuels are a pipe dream. Handling, boil off, etc. make them impractical for aircraft - you lose too much fuel as the aircraft flies. This isn’t a Saturn V that has fuel hoses hooked up until seconds before liftoff and burns out minutes later. The fuel needs to work for a long taxi and long flight.

 

[y_p_w]

What, no uranium?

There's actually talk about rechargeable chemical uranium batteries. Would be a possible use for depleted uranium stores.

 

[kschachn]

There's actually talk about rechargeable chemical uranium batteries. Would be a possible use for depleted uranium stores.

But surely not for motor vehicle use. That would be worse than CNG or LNG in an accident or fire. Imagine the mayhem when uranium is involved in a fire on a crowded street corner and what the hazmat response would be. Depleted doesn't mean anything in terms of toxicity and radioactivity.

 

[y_p_w]

I mentioned the CNG Husky. Not sure if it's available for sale or this was just a one-off demonstrator. It has the CNG tank mounted as a pod under the fuselage. They claimed that it's equivalent to 138 octane.

 

[y_p_w]

But surely not for motor vehicle use. That would be worse than CNG or LNG in an accident or fire. Imagine the mayhem when uranium is involved in a fire on a crowded street corner and what the hazmat response would be. Depleted doesn't mean anything in terms of toxicity and radioactivity.

They're talking about it for industrial energy storage.

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/japan-korea-develop-prototype-nuclear-batteries​

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency has developed what it says is the world's first "uranium rechargeable battery" and that tests have verified its performance in charging and discharging. Meanwhile, South Korean researchers have developed a prototype betavoltaic battery powered by the carbon-14 isotope.​

​

 

[MolaKule]

From concept to prototype to practical is a long road. Then there are the initial and lifetime costs to consider, aka, ROI.

 

[y_p_w]

What is being spoken of in this article is simply making a turboshaft engine, the same thing that is used on propeller driven aircraft and helicopters, and driving a generator. What they do with the electricity after it's been generated by the turbine is varied.

No. It's primarily generating thrust. But it's driving the fan indirectly.

 

[oil pan 4]

Seems like it would work.

 

[OVERKILL]

View attachment 282338Seems like it would work.

Yes, GT's for peaking and CCGT's for load following and baseload are insanely common, far exceeding the number of Rankine Cycle gas plants now in service, though they do not have the maneuverability and low standby capacity capability that Rankine has. When you can hook the turbine right up to a gas main, the ability to store the fuel becomes considerably less of an issue.