 Natural Pulse Combustion
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Dec. 9, 2003 — A type of beetle that defends itself by spraying high-pressure streams of boiling liquid at predators may help engineers design a better aircraft engine, said the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in a press release.
The bombardier beetle has a miniature, heart-shaped combustion chamber from which it squirts pressurized jets of hot liquid at ants, frogs, spiders and other predators.
A better understanding of how this combustion chamber works could help engineers build an aircraft engine that re-ignites quickly when it cuts out during extreme conditions, said the release.
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Gas turbine aircraft engines have a tendency to cut out during freezing temperatures. When this happens, hot plasma is squirted into the combustion chamber to re-ignite the engine.
But at high altitudes, the atmospheric pressure is so low that the plasma stream weakens, like a garden hose turned down almost completely. When the plasma doesn't hit the combustion chamber in a solid, accurate stream, the engine doesn't re-ignite.
Researchers will use computer-based numerical and mathematical modeling to study the beetle's pulse combustion technique during a three-year project at the University of Leeds, said the release.
The project will initially focus on the beetle's one-millimeter-long combustion chamber. Researchers intend to duplicate this chamber on a larger scale so that they can observe how gases are re-ignited within its walls.
They will also test various shaped nozzles and outlets to better mimic the beetle's rapid-fire squirting mechanism.
"The bombardier beetle's defense mechanism represents a very effective natural form of combustion," said Andy McIntosh, Professor of Thermodynamics and Combustion Theory at the Energy and Resources Research Institute in the University of Leeds, in the release.
"Copying such natural mechanisms is part of the growing field of biomimetics, where scientists learn much from intricate design features already in nature," he said. "Understanding this beetle better could lead to significant advances in combustion research."
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Name: Bombardier Beetle (Brachinus sp.)
Primary Classification: Coleoptera (Beetles) Location: Worldwide Habitat: Tempearate woodlands or grasslands. Diet: Smaller insects. Size: From one to two inches in length. Description: Shiny black with reddish-orange thorax; elongated, flattened body; two sheaths over its wings; long antennae; long, slender, reddish-orange legs. Cool Facts: When threatened, it squirts pressurized jets of hot liquid — a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone — in rapid succession from the end of its abdomen. Conservation Status: Common |
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