A Boeing engine patent sees the aerospace giant looking to the future of aircraft propulsion. But given our current mastery of the technology, will it remain on paper and never come to reality?
Today's commercial aircraft are powered by turbofan engines. Inside are a series of fans and turbines that compress air. This is then mixed with fuel where the mixture is ignited in a separate chamber to provide thrust.
In the patent, Boeing proposes a radically different method to power aircraft which Ars Technica explained:
"Somewhere in the middle of the engine there is a fusion chamber, with a number of very strong lasers focused on a single point. A hohlraum (pellet) containing a mix of deuterium and tritium (hydrogen isotopes) is placed at this focal point. The lasers are all turned on at the same instant, creating massive pressure on the pellet, which implodes and causes the hydrogen atoms to fuse."
According to the Boeing engine patent, thrust is created by ejecting hot gases produced by the fusion. Fast neurons created by the fusion then hit a fissile material leading to a fission reaction which generates a lot of heat.
A heat exchanger takes away the heat produced and uses it to drive a turbine. This turbine will then generate electricity to power the lasers.
Essentially, Boeing envisions a self-powered engine for the future that could be used to power missiles, spacecraft, rockets and aircraft, according to Gizmodo.
But our current knowledge on the technology remains a huge stumbling block to turn it into reality.
"As of now, the engine lives only in patent documents. The technology is so out-there that it is unclear whether anyone will ever built it," Business Insider wrote.
The Boeing engine patent, US 9,068,562 B1, titled "Laser-Powered Propulsion System," credits Robert Budica, James Herzberg and Frank Chandler as inventors. It was filed October 5, 2012 and approved June 30, 2015.
