这种喷气发动机不需要燃烧化石燃料

这种喷气发动机不需要燃烧化石燃料

A prototype for a new jet engine promises to fly passengers halfway around the world — without burning fossil fuels.

一种新型喷气发动机的原型机有望让乘客飞越半个地球——而无需燃烧化石燃料。

The engine, developed at the Institute of Technological Sciences at Wuhan University, would allow passengers to fly carbon-neutral skies. Researchers say it needs only electricity and the air that swirls around it.

这台由武汉大学科技学院研发的发动机，将使乘客可以在无碳天空中飞行。研究人员说，它只需要电力和环绕它的空气。

Most jet engines, including the one pictured, burn fossil fuels. (Photo: Steve Mann/Shutterstock)

Of course, that air needs to undergo a complex process before it can actually fuel jet propulsion.

当然，空气需要经过一个复杂的过程才能为喷气推进提供燃料。

As the engineers explain in a research paper published this week in the journal AIP Advances, the engine compresses air and ionizes it with microwaves. The resulting air plasma is what provides the engine's thrust.

正如工程师们在本周发表在《AIP进展》杂志上的一篇研究论文中所解释的那样，发动机压缩空气并利用微波电离空气。产生的空气等离子体提供了引擎的推力。

"Our results demonstrated that such a jet engine based on microwave air plasma can be a potentially viable alternative to the conventional fossil fuel jet engine," lead researcher and Wuhan University engineer Jau Tang explains in a press release.

“我们的研究结果表明，这种基于微波空气等离子体的喷气发动机有可能成为传统化石燃料喷气发动机的可行替代品，”首席研究员、武汉大学工程师Jau Tang在一份新闻稿中解释道。

There's still a ways to go, however, before we fly carbon-neutral skies. Especially considering engineers only managed to launch a 2.2-pound ball about an inch into the air using the engine — although, they note, that's roughly the proportional equivalent of a normal jet engine.

然而，在我们实现碳中和之前，还有很长的路要走。特别是考虑到工程师们只能用引擎将一个2.2磅重的球发射到大约一英寸高的空中——尽管，他们注意到，这大致相当于一个普通的喷气发动机的比例。

If the "air plasma" engine proves viable, it could revolutionize an industry badly in need of a technological overhaul. These days, airlines are reeling from a coronavirus pandemic that has grounded all but essential flights in much of the world. But the industry had been in a steady decline long before the outbreak.

如果“空气等离子”发动机被证明是可行的，它将彻底改变一个急需技术革新的行业。这些天来，航空公司受到了冠状病毒大流行的影响，在世界大部分地区，除了必要的航班外，所有航班都停飞了。但早在疫情爆发之前，该行业就一直在稳步下滑。

The ever-increasing costs of fuel has pushed airlines to develop alternatives like biofuels, a renewable energy source produced from biomass. But an even bigger threat to airlines may be changing public opinion. With a world in climate crisis, air travel is increasingly seen as a carbon-spewing indulgence — so much so that Sweden even has a word for it. The term flygskam, literally translates to "flight shame," and it has become pervasive enough in Europe to have a real impact on the industry's bottom line.

不断上涨的燃料成本促使航空公司开发生物燃料等替代能源，生物燃料是一种由生物质生产的可再生能源。但航空公司面临的一个更大的威胁可能是改变公众的看法。在全球气候危机的背景下，航空旅行越来越被视为一种排放二氧化碳的放纵行为——以至于瑞典甚至用了一个词来形容它。flygskam这个词，字面意思是“逃离的耻辱”，它在欧洲已经足够普遍，对行业的底线产生了真正的影响。

An air plasma engine, on the other hand, could alleviate much of the environmental concern with its promise of a carbon-neutral ride.

另一方面，空气等离子发动机可以减轻对环境的担忧，因为它承诺实现碳中和。

"The motivation of our work is to help solve the global warming problems owing to humans' use of fossil fuel combustion engines to power machinery, such as cars and airplanes," Tang explains in the release. "There is no need for fossil fuel with our design, and therefore, there is no carbon emission to cause greenhouse effects and global warming."

“我们工作的动机是帮助解决全球变暖问题，因为人类使用化石燃料内燃机来驱动机器，比如汽车和飞机，”唐在新闻稿中解释道。“我们的设计不需要化石燃料，因此不会产生导致温室效应和全球变暖的碳排放。”