Engineering:Zero Emission Hyper Sonic Transport
| ZEHST (Zero Emission High Speed Transportation) | |
|---|---|
ZEHST Plane Concept | |
| General information | |
| Type | Hypersonic airliner |
| Manufacturer | EADS |
| Designer | EADS |
| This engineering needs to be updated. Please update this engineering to reflect recent events or newly available information. (January 2025) |
The Zero Emission Hyper Sonic Transport[1] or ZEHST[2] is a planned hypersonic passenger jet airliner project by the multinational aerospace conglomerate EADS and the Japanese national space agency JAXA.[3]
On 18 June 2011, the ZEHST concept was unveiled by EADS at the Le Bourget Air Show. The envisioned vehicle uses a combination of three different types of engines, including relatively conventional turbofans, rocket motors, and scramjets to attain a maximum speed of Mach 4.5 (four and a half times the speed of sound).[4][5] The ZEHST has been projected to carry between 50 and 100 passengers while flying at very high altitudes for greater efficiency.[4]
Conceptually, the ZEHST has been promoted as a descendant of, or a successor to, Concorde, a supersonic airliner that was withdrawn from passenger routes in 2003.[5] According to projections released, the ZEHST would be capable of flying between Paris and Tokyo in 2.5 hours, or between New York and London in one hour.[6][7] In 2011 EADS predicted that the ZEHST could be flying by 2050,[4] according to an article in SuperBlondie revising the prediction in 2024 to 40 years from then.[7]
Development
Even before the introduction of the Concorde supersonic airliner during the 1970s, the aviation industry has wanted to produce high-speed transport aircraft. Since the 1990s, several collaborative research efforts in the field have been financed in Europe.[8] By the 2010s, both the American aerospace company Boeing and the multinational aerospace conglomerate EADS were reportedly working on separate plans to develop hypersonic aircraft.[4][5] Such efforts have largely been constrained to theoretical work, but some progress has been observed over the decades, and innovations have continued to be patented in the field, such as a patent for a mixed-propulsion arrangement awarded to EADS in 2010.[9] Amongst other aspects, efforts have been made to reduce noise generated by the sonic booms commonly produced by aircraft flying at supersonic speeds.[5][10]
On 18 June 2011, EADS revealed the Zero Emission Hyper Sonic Transport (ZEHST) concept at the Le Bourget Air Show.[11][12] As originally announced, the aircraft would combine three distinct propulsion systems: two turbofan engines for taxiing, take-off, and up to Mach 0.8; then rocket boosters up to Mach 2.5, afterwards switching to a pair of underwing scramjets to accelerate up to its maximum speed of Mach 4.5 (four and a half times the speed of sound).[5][13] The fuel of these engines is envisaged to be a biofuel primarily made out of seaweed,[1] along with a combination of oxygen and hydrogen.[4] Largely due to this fuel composition, the aircraft has been referred to as a "green" aircraft that generates "almost zero emissions".[14][15]
The ZEHST has an unusually high cruising altitude of 32 km, flying within the outer atmosphere, compared to the 11km of conventional airliners; this altitude was chosen because the air is thinner and causes less drag.[4] The use of conventional turbofan engines during takeoff would make the ZEHST quieter than conventional airliners. The ZEHST's configuration has not been finalised[when?].[4] In addition to EADS itself, much of the propulsion-based development work on the ZEHST project had been made in cooperation with the European missile specialist MBDA and the French national aerospace research centre ONERA.[8] International engagement also secured partners; the cooperative HIKARI R&D project is underway between Japanese and European agencies.[8] The ZEHST is not the only such effort that the company has engaged in; by 2015, Airbus Group (EADS's new name) was reportedly working on two hypersonic projects, one in conjunction with Japanese partners and the other with Russian and Australian involvement.[5] That same year, Airbus chief executive Tom Enders stated his support for development of a hypersonic long range passenger transport.[16]
See also
- Supercruise
- Concorde
- Tupolev Tu-144
- SpaceLiner
- Boeing 2707
- Orient Express X-30 follow-on
- Boeing Sonic Cruiser
- HyperMach SonicStar
- Reaction Engines A2
- Skylon
- Airbus Defence and Space Spaceplane
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jones, Bryony (21 June 2011), "Race to be first with 'son of supersonic", CNN, http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/06/21/concorde.hyper.sonic/, retrieved 21 June 2011
- ↑ "Concorde 2.0: New York to London in an hour?". theweek.com. 8 May 2015. http://theweek.com/articles/483778/concorde-20-new-york-london-hour.
- ↑ Lichfield, John (20 June 2011), "London to New York in 90 minutes: is this the Concorde of the future?", The Independent (UK), https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/london-to-new-york-in-90-minutes-is-this-the-concorde-of-the-future-2299925.html, retrieved 25 June 2011
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 "Concorde's successor revealed at Paris Air Show", The Independent, 20 June 2011, https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/concordes-successor-revealed-at-paris-air-show-2300191.html, retrieved 21 June 2011
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Wakefield, Jane (7 May 2015). "Could we fly from London to New York in an hour?". BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33786999.
- ↑ Chen, Stephen (4 August 2015). "Proposed Airbus hypersonic jet could fly from London to New York in one hour". scmp.com. https://www.scmp.com/tech/science-research/article/1846321/proposed-airbus-hypersonic-jet-could-fly-london-new-york-one.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Thompson, Ben (2024-06-05). "'Hypersonic jet of the future' was touted to fly at Mach 4 and run on seaweed". Supercar Blondie. https://supercarblondie.com/hypersonic-jet-of-the-future-zehst/.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "ZEHST: A model for future flight". ec.europa.eu. https://ec.europa.eu/research/innovation-union/ic2014/index_en.cfm?pg=showcase10.
- ↑ "US Patent 9079661: Ultra-rapid air vehicle and related method for aerial locomotion". Google =. 2010. https://patents.google.com/patent/US9079661.
- ↑ Clarke, Chris (24 November 2015). "11 Outlandish Attempts To Build The Next Concorde". popularmechanics.com. https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/g2302/11-outlandish-attempts-to-build-the-next-concorde/.
- ↑ "EADS unveils Concorde of the future". imeche.org. 20 June 2011. https://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/eads-unveils-concorde-of-the-future.
- ↑ "Cet avion va révolutionner le transport aérien" (in fr). 18 June 2011. http://www.leparisien.fr/economie/video-l-avion-qui-va-revolutionner-le-transport-aerien-18-06-2011-1499125.php.
- ↑ Kaminski-Morrow, David (19 June 2011). "PARIS: EADS details near-hypersonic transport concept". Flight International. https://www.flightglobal.com/paris-eads-details-near-hypersonic-transport-concept/100639.article.
- ↑ "Green 'hypersonic' jet could fly to New York in 90 minutes". businessgreen.com. 20 June 2011. https://www.businessgreen.com/news/2080192/green-hypersonic-jet-fly-york-90-minutes.
- ↑ "Hypersonic passenger jet to run on clean fuel is unveiled at Paris Air Show". latimesblogs.latimes.com. 21 June 2011. https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2011/06/hypersonic-aircraft-to-run-on-clean-fuels-proposed-at-paris-air-show.html.
- ↑ Trimble, Stephen (3 March 2015). "Airbus chief flags interest in future high-speed aircraft". Flight International. https://www.flightglobal.com/airbus-chief-flags-interest-in-future-high-speed-aircraft/116101.article.
External links
- "Hypersonic Passenger Flight", Aviation Week, http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/commercial_aviation/ThingsWithWings/index.jsp?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3A7a78f54e-b3dd-4fa6-ae6e-dff2ffd7bdbbPost%3A142e3831-a169-4de6-9871-a73b69d999d2, retrieved 2011-06-19 with a diagram of the plane.
- "Astrium Efficiency Initiative To Trim Work Force", Space news, 18 June 2011, http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/110618-astrium-work-force.html.
- "ZEHST: Zero Emission Hypersonic transportation", Google YouTube, EADS, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcFtAKwUJkA.
- "Interview", Google YouTube, EADS, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Mp-xqggOdo.
- "Extended", Google YouTube, EADS, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEi4OMWonMU.
