Engineering students at the University of Calgary are constructing a rocket engi

Engineering students at the University of Calgary are constructing a rocket engine that runs on biofuel.

Not a valid attachment ID.
Nowadays, most rockets are liquid-powered, utilizing an oxidizer in addition to fuel.

SpaceX uses liquid oxygen as an oxidant and methane or refined kerosene to power its rockets.

The University of Calgary's BioRocket Team is considering using sustainable aviation fuel, ethanol, or diesel in its place.

The oxidizer will be nitrous oxide.

"The nitrous basically lets it burn," BioRocket project manager Lukas Kobler stated.

Thus, the oxidizer is acting similarly to a can of hairspray on a lighter. The flame is becoming more larger and more potent as a result.

According to Kobler, the process's cost structure is now altered by the reuse of rocket engines.
"Up until recently, the majority of the cost of launching a rocket was the rocket itself, because we would fly these rockets and we would dispose of them," he stated.

However, we're now considering reusable rockets. It is becoming increasingly crucial to employ fuels that are sustainable and reasonably priced over the long term, as the cost balance is now shifting and the propellants are the cost.

Biofuels will work, according to production lead Rimoon Koryal, who is a senior in mechanical engineering.

"They have the same energy density, so we're not losing too much performance," he stated.

"However, we're cutting down carbon emissions, and overall environmental impact is a lot more minimized using biofuels compared to fossil fuels."

The assignment began in It's important to note that you can demonstrate that you worked and collaborated with teams while searching for jobs outside of college. Since there isn't much academic participation, the lecturers are primarily there to check in with you, but ultimately, it is up to you how you wish to go."

The controls and electronics lead, Jayden Sorensen, who is in her last year of electrical engineering, says she will be able to put her five years of education to use.

"Everything that I've learned thus far in my degree is coming together in this project," she stated.

"I truly need to look at everything I've done, including internships and classes. This project is coming together, which is fantastic.

Each member of the team has years of involvement with the Student Organization for Aerospace Research (SOAR) team at the university, which most recently took first place in its division at the Intercollegiate Rocket Competition in New Mexico.

The hybrid system that powers that rocket combines liquid oxidizer and solid fuel.

Sorensen remarked, "I feel like SOAR has been boot camp for this project,"

"I learned so much about how to integrate multidisciplinary systems and work under high-pressure environments and this capstone feels like the ultimate test of everything I've learned through my degree and through SOAR."

The team intends to launch in the spring of 2025 and is constructing a rocket around its biofuelled engine.

Jesse Gerbrandt, who is in his last year of software engineering, is responsible for making sure that all of the rocket's systems "talk" to one another.

"We have to do the control GUI and that's basically the interface," he stated.

"It has every sensor." data on it, all the controls, all our valves and then all the onboard avionics have to actually control the engine, the pressure control, essentially how it works is we set a target pressure and then in software, it controls based on what the current pressure is versus that target pressure."

He's confident the team can build and fly a rocket.

"I think it's just, like, some of the most incredible engineering out there," Gerbrandt said.

"It's super inspiring to me that that can be done, and I could potentially have a part in it."

Kobler says at the least, the team wants to be able to fire their biofuel rocket engine.

"But we are designing a rocket around the motor, and we would like to fly that rocket," he said He said, "To fly that rocket."

"We want to show that this propellant combination is viable and if it is, then it could potentially be scaled up and there's various applications for this kind of technology."




[attachment deleted by admin]