Meteor has the best example of solid fuelled ramjet engine. These type of ramjets are also called “ducted” or “air-augmented”. By introducing extra air in to the combustion chamber a richer fuel/air mix is obtained to improve after burning and more controlled thrust.I wish Gürcan Bey would explain why they developed a liquid fuel ramjet instead of solid fuel.Can someone who knows answer me. Can the solid-fuel ramjet engine developed by Roketsan for Akbaba be used in an air-to-air missile?
A liquid based ramjet with throttle control is easier to build and design. Fuel is injected in to combustion chamber in a controlled manner, giving throttle control and thus speed control. But you would need a separate fuel tank. Also keeping and storing liquid fuels for extended periods of time are difficult and problematic at times.
A solid fuel ramjet stores its booster stage fuel in its combustion section. This fuel is exhausted during boost phase through the nozzle-less booster. After the speed for ramjet operation is reached the fuel for ramjet propulsion, which is stuck on to the inner periphery of the combustion chamber is peeled off in layers by airjets in an ablative manner. By controlling how much of this fuel is peeled off and when it is peeled off, the ramjet is given throttle control. This is a very difficult and precise rocket engineering achievement. Meteor works with this system. Akbaba, if as quoted has a solid fuel ramjet engine, must be of similar make up.
A solid fuel ramjet does not need a separate fuel tank. It also doesn’t suffer from fuel storage problems. It is just very difficult to make. The solid fuel for ramjet needs special metal particles to augment its thrust level. These are added easily to a solid fuel. However with liquid fuels, this is not possible as these particles would sink in liquid and doesn’t mix homogeneously.
Our Gökhan, although classified as a liquid fuelled ramjet powered missile, it actually uses a Gel based liquid fuel. This type of fuel can accommodate particles to be added homogeneously as they are suspended in the Gel, and has no problems with long term storage. It acts as a solid fuel but is injected in to the combustion chamber like liquid fuels. It just needs a separate fuel tank. A good example of ramjet that use gel based fuels is on the Brahmos missile.
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