BLADELESS TURBINE IS THE KEY TO NEW SUPERSONIC JET - COULD IT HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR POWER GENERATION?

supersonic plane that promises to be the next generation of commercial travel could carry 300 passengers in ultra-lux flights.

Designed by Oscar Viñals from Barcelona, Spain, the spaceship-like aircraft looks like something straight out of Star Wars. The aircraft, named Sky OV, would be able to reach a top speed of Mach 1.5 – around 1,150mph – and be powered by electricity at no cost to the environment. Its ultramodern features include retractile wings, a translucent ceiling and bladeless turbojects which potentially could lend itself to a new generation of electricity generators.

Viñals "The design of this concept is a mix between future commercial and military projects based on new fuselage' shapes, engines and construction materials. There are so many things that make Sky OV unique," he said. "Its blade-less engines, the translucent ceiling with quantum solar dots as a part of its fuselage or its capacity to fold the wings.

  "The plane is also quiet, faster than current commercial aircraft, completely green, zero emissions and capable of covering very long distances."

The Sky OV is Viñals' latest design since he came up with a previous super-jet that would surpass the speed and size of the legendary Concorde. Hyper Sting is a concept plane that could whizz passengers from London to New York City in just 80 minutes in the near future. The plane would travel at a speed of 2,486mph – twice as fast as Concorde. Measuring 328 feet long with a 168-foot wingspan, the aircraft is also nearly twice its size. The designer said 170 passengers could enjoy travel aboard the Hyper Sting.

A turbojet engine is a jet engine which produces all of its thrust by ejecting a high energy gas stream from the engine exhaust nozzle. In contrast to a turbofan or bypass engine, 100% of the air entering the intake of a turbojet engine goes through the engine core.

The Sky OV design features component parts of a turbojet engine - the inlet, the gas turbine engine, consisting of a compressor, a combustion chamber and a turbine, and the exhaust nozzle. Air is drawn into the engine through the inlet and compressed and heated by the compressor. Fuel is then added in the combustion chamber and ignited. The burning fuel adds energy to the exhaust stream by heating and expanding the air. Sufficient energy to drive the compressor is extracted from the exhaust stream by the turbine. The remainder of the exhaust energy is used to produce thrust, a process which is enhanced by the geometry of the exhaust nozzle. As the exhaust gas passes through the nozzle, it is accelerated to high speed as it expands thus providing propulsion. The thrust produced by the engine can be selectively increased by incorporating an afterburner or re-heat into the engine design.