DIY Jet engine?
 

Im more of a person sensitive to pollution and putting green house gasses in the atmosphere. So I had a plan for a jet engine to use methane, Was going to use methane gas for my first prototype to see how well methane ignites. Then I was going to move on to liquid methane. Advantages of methane is its light but at the same time denser than kerosene and lighter. Disadvantages is the ignition needs to be very hot, Not plasma hot. But something that needs a spark to ignite it.
Was going to focus on a small jet engine. Around 2 pounds of thrust, And around 600 grams of fuel(A gallon of liquid methane because its lighter) The estimate for how much fuel it will use is around 600 secs every gallon. So ten minutes is the flight time at full throttle. Thrust ill be about 2:1 thrust to weight ratio.

Good luck.

But I think you will find that a turbine will drink WAY more fuel than you are accounting for. Also... 2 Lbs of thrust will be useless since you are projecting more than 2 Lbs just for your fuel, and fuel tank. I'm sure the weight of a tank, that would hold 600g of CNG/LNG would weigh at least 1lb on it's own. (Since you have to contain 3600 psi)

As far as a "Hobby" use.... it's not going to be viable. We want to refuel, and go fly. There isn't any real way to refill a CNG tank in the field without expensive equipment.

This is why the old propane run engines all went away.

With that said... if you get something running, post up some pics.

Well I was looking at an electric peltier. And yeah its going to be hard to refuel..

You're forgetting an important thing, kero is quite a clean fuel, it's the oil that's the nasty thing in this situation, you also need to think about the properties of methane in terms of flash point heat etc! you could end up cooking a NGV, then you have the fuel parameters in the ECU that have been setup for Kero and not methane. I'm not ruining the idea, it's very clean to use methane but it will need more input than just swapping the fuel etc :)

Yeah but kero has carbon dioxide that lasts for thousands of years. While methane only stays in the atmosphere for 3 years. I was thinking of a pressurized nozzle which would shoot out methane into the engine then mix the methane with the air by a motor. And than ignite it with a spark igniter.

You action will have no effect one passenger jet burn more for one round trip than all rc jet for next 10 years in the world.

The real threat is Cattle and them farting. This is not a joke by the way

Totally correct there, concrete also has a large impact aswell as peat, people panic too much with regards to 'greenhouse gasses', we have scientific proof that the air was more dense with it millions of years ago yet nature flourished with rain forests covering only a quarter of what we have now. CO2 and carbon monoxide is not something we should worry about, we should be worrying about the carcinogenics that are put into the atmosphere, carbon monoxide is a way of life for us and the plants that depend in it......

So whats your plane and turbine going to be built from. Don't you think that what produces all these parts also produces pollution. I'm all in for trying to care for the environment but come on you have been brought up in today's world and not the Stone Age. This is why the only true wilderness out there is between a greenness ears.

Ummmm. Look dude, if you're that concerned about the environment, I hope that you are riding a bicycle to the flying field.

I applaud your enthusiasm for designing/building, but am fairly doubtful you'll be making any more difference than if you took a teaspoon of salt out of the ocean. And to build a 2lb thrust turbine?

Wait, I just got it. This ur kidding. Haha. You got us. Good one!

Shouldn't this thread have been started on April 1st?

If there was any true benefit, I'm sure it would have been done by now, but with today's turbines it's just easier to stick with the industry standard until turbines become banned and we are forced to use those noisy things called ducted fans.

You guys know that our carbon footprint in the scheme of things is infantisimile compared to the volcanic activity mother nature produces, and is producing at a couple of major eruptions right now. Fly and be happy with whatever fuel you want!
Happy Flying
Loopman :o

Just read an artical that Sun Spots Activity is at a 300 year low and the only thing that is going to keep the northern hemisphere from another Ice Age is global warming .... Go Figure.

In one ear and out the other, the science behind it is too large for scientific models to understand it currently so as per usual the governments just point the finger!

It seems to me that real engineers announce once they have done something, and wannabees announce that they are going to do something.

Lets review a little chemistry shall we?

CH4 + (2)O2 = CO2 +(2) H2O

(methane) + Oxygen = Carbon dioxide + Water

Carbon dioxide = Green house gas = global warming = Al Gore lecturing you about how you can't play with jets as he's walking out of his G5 that he flew in

Any type of combustion is going to produce greenhouse gasses. Hell make a jet run off water, and you still produce a greenhouse gas called "Steam". Water vapor accounts for 70% of all greenhouse gasses.

Quit acting holier than thou. Just do the project because it will be fun. Or build a solar powered jet. Then you claim what you are saying.

Curious, what kind of vehicle do you drive?

Edit: Better Idea. Invent anti gravity.

Edit Edit: Way better Idea. Invent warp drive.

Edit Edit Edit: Way Way better idea. Invent a holodeck from star treck so I can create a hologram of a younger Jennifer Anniston.

Hyperspace, we get way more than 2lbs thrust with something a lot "cleaner". It's called EDF.

And don forger that hypocrite owns a "carbon exchange" and is becoming filthy filthy rich off the carbon cap and trade game. scotty

Oh god we have those con artists in the UK, forever seeing a new court case on TV because some granny was sold carbon credits that were only useable for corporations!!!

Just plant a couple trees in your back yard. Let them work 24/7 sucking up all the CO2 you could possibly produce with your 2 lb thrust Hobby Engine. Call it a day and move onto something fun! :)

Can I have the real one?

I wonder how much coal, or natural gas would have to be burned to generate the electricity necessary to refine the aluminum needed, not to mention the oil pumped to create plastics, plus the machinery to ...:pHeh,Heh,Heh.....is all I can say....

+1
All I can add is what I said in my previous post.
The only true wilderness is between the greens ears.

Jpx in france had an accident in 1990 years, they running propane gas at this time, i think that some countries was prohibited runs engines with gas.
Good luck
Jose

Agree with Jose... And based on your co2 emissions concern why not consider a good EDF system instead?

Oh no he can't go EDF. The materials used to make does batteries and materials puts a big impact on the environment. I would suggest a paper plane to hand throw. Oh wait a minute but then a tree would be cut down to make the plane. Well I got a better idea. Don't fly anything and watch me fly.