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US 11,926,410 B2Granted
Drag recovery scheme for nacelles
AssigneeJetZero, Inc.
InventorsMark A. Page, John Winkler, Brendan Kennelly
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Technologies are described herein for a drag recovery scheme. In various examples, a recovery engine is placed within a vortex flow of air caused by the impingement of air upon a nacelle of a main engine. The propeller of the recovery engine can use the vortex flow of air to provide additional thrust the aircraft, thus reducing the load on the main engines or providing an increased velocity.
Claims12
An aircraft, comprising:
- a fuselage comprising a plurality of fixed wings, a nose, and a rear;
- a blended wing body comprising a continuous curvilinear geometry between each wing of the plurality of fixed wings and the nose of the aircraft;
- at least one main engine housed within a nacelle, wherein the nacelle is disposed on a top portion of the fuselage, the at least one main engine configured to provide a first thrust component to the aircraft in a first airstream having a first velocity, wherein the at least one main engine comprises a forward end and an aft end;
- an impingement area located at the front end of the nacelle, wherein the impingement area is configured to generate a second airstream vortex as a function of the first airstream interacting with the impingement area;
- at least one recovery engine to provide a second thrust component to the aircraft in the second airstream vortex having a second velocity less than the first velocity, wherein the at least one recovery engine is fully disposed below the surface of the fuselage, wherein the at least one recovery engine has a forward end and an aft end, wherein the forward end of the at least one recovery engine is located between the aft end of the at least one main engine and the rear of the fuselage.
2 more elements
A method of operating an aircraft, the method comprising:
- providing a first thrust component to the aircraft by operating a first main engine in a first airstream, the first main engine housed within a first nacelle disposed on a top portion of a fuselage of the aircraft, wherein the first main engine has a forward end and an aft end, wherein the aircraft comprises:
- a fuselage comprising a plurality of fixed wings, a nose, and a rear;
- and
- a blended wing body comprising a continuous curvilinear geometry between each wing of the plurality of fixed wings and the nose of the aircraft;
- diverting a portion of the first airstream into a second airstream vortex using an impingement area, wherein the impingement area is located at the front end of the nacelle;
- and
- providing a second thrust component to the aircraft by operating a first recovery engine in the second airstream vortex having a second velocity less than the first velocity, wherein the first recovery engine has a forward end and an aft end, and the forward end of the first recovery engine is located between the aft end of the first main engine and the rear of the fuselage, wherein the first recovery engine is fully disposed below the surface of the fuselage.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.