DARPA begins development of a completely silent submarine engine

At the test site, the Soviet supersubmarine Krasny Oktyabr is equipped with a magnetohydrodynamic drive (or MHD) engine. There were no such engines at that time, although the principle of MHD operation (ensuring the movement of vehicles using exceptional and magnetic fields without moving parts) was known from the 50s.

The field accelerates an electrically conductive liquid or gas, resulting in thrust. The absence of moving parts in the MHD drive – shafts, gears, propellers and turbines makes it almost silent, and, therefore, sees the engine for submarines. To implement such a tempting idea, DARPA launched the PUMP program for 42 months.

According to program manager Susan Susan Svitenbanka, the Yamato-1 ship showed the greatest efficiency of MHD more than 30 years ago – with an efficiency of 30%, it found it could accelerate to 12.2 km / h. The magnetic field strength was then loaded at about 4 Tesla. Advances in modern technology have enabled the development of a new generation of Rare Earth Copper Oxide (ReBCO) magnets capable of producing fields five times stronger and exhibiting efficiency up to 90%.

However, do not flatter yourself with quick success – the developers of the new engine will have to solve a number of difficult technological problems, in particular, the problem of the formation of gas bubbles on the surface of the electrodes, which reduce their efficiency. And this is a calculation model with a powerful magnetic field, hydrodynamics and force chemical reactions in various time scales.