Designer Georgy Vasiliev from Kazan has developed an engine scheme for high-altitude drones. The power unit is designed for long-duration loitering at altitudes of up to 50 kilometers at speeds ranging from 200 to 600 km/h.
Vasiliev's main idea is to combine mechanical thrust and useful heat in a single energy circuit.
The system uses a cogeneration principle. Part of the energy goes to rotate the propeller, and part of the heat is directed to onboard tasks – heating the lifting gas, de-icing, and thermal stabilization of systems.
The engineer proposed a closed-loop scheme with an organic refrigerant. It includes an air-cooled condenser, a pump, a heat exchanger, an expansion machine, and a combustion chamber that maintains stable combustion under low-pressure conditions.
Heat exchange panels can be integrated into the wing structure or the airship envelope, turning the body into an active cooling element.
