Hoosierguy2

Hoosierguy2 t1_iy94qc0 wrote

They did test hydrogen with a standard j-57. The 304 was a highly optimized configuration. It had a massive heat exchanger after the cumbustors and it looked more like a steam turbine inside. Lots of tiny bladed compressor stages

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Hoosierguy2 t1_iy8oglw wrote

Not a "first". In the 50's the US government through Lockheed was developing a replacement for the U2. It was going to be bigger, faster and powered by hydrogen. Pratt & Whitney developed the engine for the project. Project 304.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Liquid-hydrogen-fueled-Pratt-Whitney-Aircraft-304-turbojet-engine-with-afterburner_fig3_331583415

Problem was they couldn't figure out how to store enough cryogenic hydrogen and keep it cryogenic to make it work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_CL-400_Suntan

EDIT: Pratt got the engine working pretty well. Lockheed couldn't get the CL-400 figured out. Pratt's work with hydrogen ended up helping them develop the RL-10 upper stage rocket engine.

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