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 is 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 the 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.
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 operating in the Mach 4.5-6.5 range and has both military and commercial applications.
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