I read recently about an airplane that is powered by ion flow which apparently creates a forward thrust airflow which creates lift in the wings.
https://www.unilad.co.uk/technology/scientists-have-created-a-plane-that-flies-using-ion-thrusters-and-no-fuel/
No moving parts involved, no fuel, no propeller, no engine.
It is fueled by ions pulled from nitrogen in air .
This technology is confusing to me as I am a non-scientist. Although I am 5 I have the intellectual prowess of a 12 year old.
Is this thrust generation analogous to those old Sharper Image Ionic Breeze air filters which created a small air flow without any moving parts?
And I assume although there is no fuel there must be A battery or solar cell to create electric current?
In: Technology
There are moving parts: the ions. Ion engines have no moving parts in the same way an old CRT TV doesn’t have moving parts…the moving parts are just really tiny.
There is fuel; the engine uses electricity, which you can get from batteries (which got the energy from somewhere else) or an onboard generator burning liquid fuel.
There is no propeller but there is propulsion; all propulsion is just momentum transfer. A propeller is a way to change rotary motion in to momentum change in the air. This engine is a way to change electrical potential into momentum change in the air.
There is an engine; it’s the entire setup of electrodes and equipment. It’s just much more highly integrated to the airframe than usual so you don’t see an obvious “pod” hanging off the wing or anything like that.
Don’t get me wrong, this is really clever and cool technology, but it’s not magic. It still has all the normal parts of any aerospace propulsion system, they’re just in weird shapes and locations so it doesn’t look like what we’re used to.
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