Thruster Engine

From Reach

A thruster engine is a Reach variant of a jet engine on earth. However, there are a number of significant differences.

Intake

Jet engines cannot operate on Reach as the chemical corrosivity of the air would quickly dissolve the internal workings of the turbine. With no way to use natural air, an alternative was developed: Liquid oxygen. Using a supply of liquid oxygen to replace the intake, not only was the intake volume increased, but the burning happened at a higher temperature, generating more thrust.

Fuel

Normal internal combustion engines on Reach use liquid Carbon 122, but thruster engines use a gelled condensate. Carbon 122 in gelled form stores 2x as much energy as a comparable amount of liquid fuel, but costs 7x as much. Of interesting note was the fuel source used by Mike "Crazy" Kwiyowski during his second run of The Trans-Pole. He ordered a thruster engine that used purely solid fuel, thus sidestepping the restriction in the rules that prevented gelled Carbon 122. However, this idea has not caught on, as the solid fuel stores less energy than the gel is is far more expensive to create.

Thrust

Thruster engines are mainly used to assist standard internal combustion engines. They are less efficient, requiring more fuel to travel less distance. However, they are popular due to the speed boost they can provide. Firing up one or two of these will double a vehicles speed for a number of minutes, allowing the user to escape imminent threat. Fuel cannisters are rated either 5, 10, or 20 minutes, for the amount of time they will burn when activated.