UK-based Reaction Engines Ltd reports thata key element of its revolutionary Synergetic Air Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE) has successfully passed the first phase of high-temperature testing in the USA.

The pre-cooler heat exchanger successfully achieved all test objectives, which were designed to directly replicate supersonic flight conditions; further tests are now planned at even higher temperatures.

The ground-based tests saw the pre-cooler successfully quench the 420°C intake air-flow in less than 0.05sec.

Mark Thomas, Reaction Engines chief executive (www.reactionengines.co.uk), said: “This is a hugely significant milestone, which has seen our proprietary precooler technology achieve unparalleled heat transfer performance.

“This provides an important validation of our heat exchanger and thermal management technology portfolio, which has applications across emerging areas such as very high-speed flight, hybrid electric aviation and integrated vehicle thermal management.”

The intake temperature replicates thermal conditions corresponding to flight at Mach 3.3 and matches the speed record of the SR-71 Blackbird aircraft, the fastest jet-engine-powered aircraft produced to date.

In the recent tests, the compact precooler achieved 1.5MW of heat transfer — equivalent to the energy demand of 1,000 homes — successfully cooling incoming air from a temperature at which hot steel starts to glow.

The tests are the first phase in an extensive test programme that will see the pre-cooler test article exposed to high-temperature air-flow conditions in excess of the 1,000°C expected during Mach 5 flight.