NASA Tests "Propulsor" Jet Engine Written 8 December 2016

The Daily Mail reports that NASA “has successfully tested” a “new fan and inlet design, commonly called a propulsor,” that potentially could increase fuel efficiency by 8% and “reduce drag and weight.” Current jet engines are “typically located away from the aircraft’s body” to avoid ingesting the “boundary layer” of “slower flowing air that develops along the aircraft’s surfaces,” but the propulsor design aims to reduce fuel burn by “ingesting the boundary layer air flow to propel the aircraft.” In testing, researchers “will change the wind speed and vary the boundary layer thickness and fan operation to see how these changes affect the propulsor’s performance, operability and structure,” with applications for aircraft being developed by NASA and its partners.
More Info (Daily Mail)