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An exhaust gas recirculating power plant has been developed using an existing lightweight spark ignition four-stroke engine. Application is a remotely piloted unmanned aircraft for global environmental research at very high altitudes. The engine uses gasoline and oxygen as reactants. Liquid oxygen is carried in a cryogenic tank on board of the aircraft. Mass balance is maintained through a waste gate in the loop. A specially tailored electronic engine management system had to be developed to control fuel injection, oxygen metering and ignition timing. Additional control parameters are the waste gate to control the loop pressure and the aerodynamic cooling flaps on the cooling ram air side of the exhaust gas heat exchanger to control the air charge temperature. The advantages of this control scheme are the manifold pressure and the ratio of reactant to diluent can be held at any desired level, independent of atmospheric conditions.

This paper documents the design and validation of a closed cycle propulsion system suitable for use on the Perseus A high altitude research aircraft. The atmospheric science community is expected to be the primary user of this aircraft with initial missions devoted to the study of ozone depletion and global warming. To date large amounts of funding are not available to the atmospheric science community, so to be useful, the aircraft must satisfy stringent cost and performance criteria. Among these, the aircraft has to be capable of carrying 50 kg of payload to altitudes of at least 25km, have a initial cost in the $1-2M range, be capable of launch from remote sites, and be available no later than 1994. These operational criteria set narrow boundaries for propulsion system cost, complexity, availability, reliability, and logistical support requirements.