Ionic PROPulsion in atmosphere

INNOVATE, PROPEL, SOAR:

ionic air-breathing propulsion exploring new horizons for aerospace

IPROP project presented at the ICAS2024 

A novel design technique for airships featuring ion-thrusters has been presented at the 34th Congress of the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences...

IPROP on the Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics

An atmospheric EHD thruster has been tested in a wind tunnel by the PoliMi laboratory group of the IPROP project, simulating low speed flight conditions and comparing...

IPROP methodology on MDPI Aerospace journal  

In a recently published journal paper on MDPI Aerospace, the IPROP team at DAER-PoliMi has presented a design methodology for including ion-plasma thrusters on large...

DAER activities on airships at Zeppelin-Reederei Presentation, Essen/Mulheim Airport

The annual meeting of U-LTA, an international association dedicated to coordinating industry and research in the development of new applications for airships (Upscaling...

Politecnico di Milano leads the IPROP project for the study of ionic propulsion in the atmosphere

Professor Marco Belan↗ from the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DAER) of Politecnico di Milano coordinates the European project IPROP - "Ionic...

Kick-Off of the EIC funded Project IPROP

The IPROP Project began on November 1st, 2023. This project, coordinated by prof. Marco Belan of the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology of Politecnico di...

SUMMARY

This project aims to bring ionic air-breathing propulsive systems beyond the pioneering phase, exploring their capabilities and improving their performance. Non-thermal plasma for atmospheric propulsion is a subject of recent investigations: model airplanes and vertical lifters have recently flown with this type of propulsion, but the potential of this technology is much higher. Many open aspects in this field deserve to be investigated, from fundamental research on ion production to geometric optimization of electrodes and integration of propulsion systems in existing aircrafts.

DURATION OF THE PROJECT

48 MONTHS

START OF THE PROJECT

11.01.2023

END OF THE PROJECT

31.10.2027

THE NETWORK OF PARTNERS

  1. POLIMI, Politecnico di Milano. Milano, Italy.
  2. UNIBO, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna. Bologna, Italy.
  3. KIT, Karlsruher Institut Fuer Technologie. Karlsruhe, Germany.
  4. VKI, Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics. Sint-Genesius-Rode, Belgium.
  5. ISAE Supaero, Insitut Superieur de l’Aeronautique et de l’Espace. Toulouse, France.
  6. CNRS, Centre National de la Recherce Scientifique CNRS. Paris, France.
  7. AERONORD, Aeronord di Enzo Cisaro & C. s.a.s. Milano, Italy.
  8. TUD, Technishe Universitaet Dresden. Dresden, Germany.