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by credit_guy
2354 days ago
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Ceramics never made it into internal combustion engines, but they did make it into jet engines. In particular the whole 737-MAX debacle is because of the fabulous new engine built by GE, which Boeing simply thought they cannnot not install it on their 737 (unfortunately, they did a patch work at that). Here's a quote from [1]. "These “super ceramics” are as tough as metals, but they are also one-third as heavy and can operate at 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit—500 degrees higher than the most advanced alloys. This combination allows engineers to design lighter components for engines that don’t need as much cooling air, generate more power and burn less fuel." 2400F is about 1600K. If you plug this into the Carnot efficiency formula and use a T_cold of about 220, you get something like 86%. If they ever find a way to replace the silicon carbide they currently use with hafnium carbide, they can reach 90% [1] https://www.ge.com/reports/space-age-cmcs-aviations-new-cup-... |
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