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Registered Member #2985
Joined: Fri Jul 09 2010, 04:05PM
Location: Chippewa Falls, WI
Posts: 9
I don't know much about this kind of thing, so bear with me. I thought of an interesting idea, which has probably been tried before. Could you create some kind of thrust engine powered by water, by passing the water through an electric arc hot enough to thermally decompose the water into hydrogen and oxygen, then ignite the mixture (of course, more oxygen would be provided through intakes)? Or would all the water vaporize to steam before it could decompose?
Registered Member #27
Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 02:20AM
Location: Hyperborea
Posts: 2058
It will work if done right but you never have access to enough electrical power on a rocket to make it useful. You don't need any extra oxygen since water contains the perfect amount.
Registered Member #2998
Joined: Tue Jul 13 2010, 08:34PM
Location: Swedish forests.
Posts: 26
...And you won't gain any extra energy from it. It might be used to increase the thrust (like some type of electrothermal device) beyond the pathetic levels of pure ion motors. But then you will still need a fuel (water) that is bulky, instead of using just the ions in the air. Might be cool as a proof of concept, but I see little practical use in it.
Registered Member #2099
Joined: Wed Apr 29 2009, 12:22AM
Location: Los Altos, California
Posts: 1714
Yes, no energy is gained by dissociating and recombining H2O molecules. Water can and has been used as a propellant in electrothermal thrusters (variously called arcjets or resistojets).
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Water decomposition question
