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JASC
Wins Pratt & Whitney SED-WR Award
Originally
Published, June 2005
In June 2005,
JASC was awarded a contract to continue development of a multi-channel
hot gas valve (HGV) array to distribute high-temperature gaseous
JP-7 fuel to various zones of the SED-WR vehicle’s scramjet
engine combustor. The design of these flight-ready valves are based
on technology developed under prior ground test versions of the
valve (GDE-1, GDE-2, and SED-X1).
The vehicle's propulsion system will be a scramjet (supersonic combustion
ramjet) engine, which utilizes storable liquid JP-7 fuel. This fuel
is pumped through the engine’s sidewalls - thus cooling the
engine and vaporizing the fuel – before reaching the valves.
The valves then manage delivery of the fuel to the engine injectors
at temperatures up to 1330 °F - while keeping the close-coupled
actuator cool via an ingenious combination of fuel cooling and radiation
shielding. These valves will be flight qualified in 2006, and are
slated to be tested on a ground-based engine in 2007 (SED-X2). Flight
tests of the SED-WR vehicle are scheduled to begin in 2008.
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Scramjet
Engine Demonstrator - WaveRider (courtesy of Pratt & Whitney)
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In conjunction
with the HGV award, JASC was simultaneously awarded a contract to
develop the start control valve for the SED-WR vehicle. Like the
HGV, this valve will be fueldraulically actuated, and is designed
to accurately meter high-pressure, gaseous ignitor fluid to the
scramjet engine. This single-channel valve forms the heart of the
engine’s start system, and will be qualified and tested in
parallel with the HGV.
The SED-WR program is being funded through the Air Force's Hydrocarbon
Scramjet Engine Technology (HySET) Program, under the broader Hypersonic
Technology (HyTECH) Program. The single engine demonstrator vehicle
will be operate in the Mach 4.5-6.5 range, and has both military
and commercial applications.
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