Breakthrough in Engine Design: Graphite Solution for Combustion Chamber

And the material that kept superheated gases from escaping? Essentially the same black mineral found inside a pencil: graphite. Now, researchers from Northwestern Polytechnical University and the Beijing Power Machinery Institute say they have solved a problem that has stumped engineers for decades. The engine’s combustion chamber throat – a moving metal component that tightens and relaxes to manage airflow at different speeds – adjusted itself in one third of a second while inhaling gases at 1,650 degrees Celsius, according to a paper published in the Journal of Propulsion Technology on May 28.