Gas Turbine Engine, Subsystems I

In WW-II and shortly thereafter, piston powered aircraft peaked in power, performance and
complexity wise. Power went up to over 4000 bhp for large multi-row radial engines. Only to be
defeated by the jet engine, which was developed by (among others) Germany's Dr. Hans von
Ohain and separately in the UK by Sir Frank Whittle. Its principles are based on the "Aeolipile"
of the ancient Greek scientist Hero and other great thinkers like Leonardo da Vinci and the laws
of Isaac Newton.
Compared to a piston engine, the gas turbine has less parts and the moving parts rotate in only
one direction without stopping and accelerating as the pistons normally do in a engine. Thus, a
running gas turbine is basically free of the vibrations normally found in piston engines, which
translates in much longer engine service life (TBO) and higher reliability.
There are a number of engine subsystems which assist in keeping the engine running. Start
systems, ignition and the fuel system. Without going into great depth we will uncover how they
work.
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Engine Subsystems
The GTE needs a number of subsystems to start it, supply it with fuel, lubricating oil and
monitor its performance to make sure that we are not creating a hot start and destroy the internals
of the engine.
Starting a GTE
To start a turbine we need to get the air flow going and at some point add fuel and a spark. Easier
said than done. Usually the starter (also the generator) drives the HP turbine/compressor
assembly (N2) to a sufficiently high RPM and airflow so that when fuel is added and ignited it
will lite up and accelerate to idle RPM (around 55% N2) and is then self sustaining. During the
start sequence it is important that the pilot monitors the EGT and its rate closely. If an abnormal
high rate is observed the fuel flow should be closed immediately!
Hot starts
Todays GTEs have fully automatic start systems and these monitor, among other things, ITTs
and EGTs to make sure the engine starts safely. Without any chance on hot starts, these can be
the result of fuel left in the combustion chamber. A ventilation cycle should then be performed.
In flight restart are performed by bringing the aircraft in the relight envelope. As the turbine is
already windmilling there is no need to use the starter motor, just add fuel and ignition and the
engine will start.
Ignition
Like piston engines
GTEs are also fitted
with dual ignition
systems. These are
rated in Joules (w/s).
The life of the
igniters is extended
by limiting the
amount of energy if
continuous use is
necessary, for
example in heavy
rain, snow and or
turbulence. Most
systems have low and high output igniters and both are used during engine start where the low
output igniter is used for continuous use. Modern electronic igniter systems can be regulated in
energy output (J).
Fuel system
A low pressure high volume booster pump delivers fuel from a tank to the engine driven high
pressure pump at a rate high enough to sustain engine operation under all flight conditions.
Vapor lock and cavitation should be prevented by the system. Some installation have a fuel
cooled oil cooler, which heats the fuel and any water in the fuel is then dissolved before it could
freeze and block the system or filters.
Fuel pressure
The engine driven high pressure pump raises pressure to several hundred PSI for fuel operated
servos and to the combustion cans. Most pumps are the gear type and bypass action (to regulate
pressure) is through a spill valve. Other pump models include the plunger type where delivery
depends on the speed of rotation and stroke of the plungers (small pistons), pressure can reach
2000 psi and flow rates from 100 to 2000 USG/h are common.
Fuel Control Unit
Engine thrust is regulated through a fuel control unit (FCU). This unit is commanded by the
throttle and controls fuel flow and takes air density into account. Air density changes are the
result of changes in speed (ram air), air temperature, humidity and altitude.

Gas Turbine Engine, Subsystems II

In WW-II and shortly thereafter, piston powered aircraft peaked in power, performance and
complexity wise. Power went up to over 4000 bhp for large multi-row radial engines. Only to be
defeated by the jet engine, which was developed by (among others) Germany's Dr. Hans von
Ohain and separately in the UK by Sir Frank Whittle. Its principles are based on the "Aeolipile"
of the ancient Greek scientist Hero and other great thinkers like Leonardo da Vinci and the laws
of Isaac Newton.
Compared to a piston engine, the gas turbine has less parts and the moving parts rotate in only
one direction without stopping and accelerating as the pistons normally do in a engine. Thus, a
running gas turbine is basically free of the vibrations normally found in piston engines, which
translates in much longer engine service life (TBO) and higher reliability.
Afterburning, to increase power, and thrust reversers are related subjects, therefore we will
discuss them here on one page.
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Reverse thrust
Methods of reverse thrust
Since some GTEs still produce a forward thrust, even when the power levers are at idle, it really
helps to be able to reverse the thrust so that stopping a jet airliner on a slippery surface is
possible. Or even to control forward speed during taxi. Landing distance is also greatly reduced
when thrust reversers are used to augment the normal wheel brakes during landing. Turboprop
aircraft change propeller blade angle to reverse thrust.
The perfect thrust reverser works by bending the thrust 180° but this is mechanically not really
doable. The maximum angle is about 135°, which contributes to the reverse thrust. Bypass
engines reverse only the cold bypass air by moving the translating cowl aft and blocking doors
reverse the cold air through cascade vanes forward.
Yaw
After selecting reverse thrust the pilot must wait a second or two to let the reserve thrust system
reposition itself before applying higher thrust. Especially in multi engine aircraft where not all
components move in sync this could introduce unwanted yaw.
Propeller reverse thrust
On turboprop aircraft selecting reserve thrust moves the blades in a negative pitch angle. During
blade change, fuel supply to the engine must be regulated/controlled so that when the blades
move through the zero thrust angle the engine does not overspeed.
Afterburning
This is a very effective way of increasing the thrust of an engine without installing a heavier
model with a possibly larger frontal area and dealing with higher operational cost to run that
engine, only this method is not very often used in commercial airliners. The Concorde had
engines with afterburners, for the rest they are mainly used in military aircraft.
Extra fuel
Afterburning is done by burning extra fuel after the turbine in the tailpipe. A series of concentric
fuel spray bars inject fuel in the exhaust and this will be ignited by a catalytic (platinum based)
or electric igniter of hot streak of flame from a combustor. The hot exhaust alone is not enough
to ignite the fuel. Exhaust in the burner cans is cooled by secondary air to keep the temperature
of the turbine blades within limits, which is too low to auto-ignite JET fuel.
Fuel consumption is increased as is thrust and speed, which could result in the aircraft being
flown to far from base on afterburner and not being able to fly back (or to any airport) on the fuel
remaining.
Ignition
Ignition of the afterburner must be realised under different circumstances as varying airspeeds,
mixture strengths, gas flow rates and altitudes. Cooling of the inside of the tailpipe is done by a
layer of cooler air to protect it against flame temperatures of over 1500°C.

Gas Turbine Engine, Subsystems III

In WW-II and shortly thereafter, piston powered aircraft peaked in power, performance and
complexity wise. Power went up to over 4000 bhp for large multi-row radial engines. Only to be
defeated by the jet engine, which was developed by (among others) Germany's Dr. Hans von
Ohain and separately in the UK by Sir Frank Whittle. Its principles are based on the "Aeolipile"
of the ancient Greek scientist Hero and other great thinkers like Leonardo da Vinci and the laws
of Isaac Newton.
Compared to a piston engine, the gas turbine has less parts and the moving parts rotate in only
one direction without stopping and accelerating as the pistons normally do in a engine. Thus, a
running gas turbine is basically free of the vibrations normally found in piston engines, which
translates in much longer engine service life (TBO) and higher reliability.
Two subjects here: Fire prevention and engine noise. Gas turbine engines have been know to
create a lot of noise around airports, much has been done to get them quiet.
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Jet Engine Noise

With an increasing population around airports it is important that the noise levels coming from
aircraft are limited as far as possible. Houses should be sound proved too and people wanting to
live near an airport should realise the consequences of living there.
Hushkitting
Older aircraft used to be hushkitted, where a noise limiting package was installed afterwards,
which is not so effective as designing an engine with noise suppressing in mind. Research has
shown that noise is generated in three major parts: fan or compressor, turbine and the exhaust.
Where the noise from the exhaust is the more predominant one.
Exhaust noise
Originates in the shear zone between the high velocity gas stream and the atmosphere. Small
eddies exists near the exhaust nozzle and further away the eddies become larger and each whit
their own resonating frequency. In the core of the gas stream the velocity exceeds M 1.0 and
these shockwaves also produce noise.
Compressor / Turbine noise
These noises are generated when air is compressed and passes of stationary and rotating vanes
where the speed and density of the airflow, blade construction, type and length will dictate the
generated frequency of the noise. Normally this will be heard when the engine is at low thrust
because the exhaust noise becomes more predominant when selecting higher thrust levels.
Noise suppression
Exhaust noise is reduced by increasing the mixing with the atmosphere thus reducing the relative
velocity. In addition engine manufacturers are applying sound absorbing materials inside of the
engine near the compressor fan and turbine. The high bypass ratio GTE has two exhaust streams,
the cold air surrounds the hot exhaust and mixes reducing the noise.
Sound absorbing materials are made of thin layers of aluminum, titanium or steel separated by a
honeycomb structure and this is during construction of the engine bonded inside.
Fire prevention
Gas turbine aircraft have features to lower the risk of fire: prevention,
detection and extinguishing systems. Cockpit crew uses checklists with
actions to take but it is essential that to stop a fire the supply of
combustibles or air must be stopped or the temperature must drop below
that needed to sustain the fire.
Prevention
Engines are designed and installed in the aircraft in such a way that the
risk is minimized. Fuel and oil components are placed in cool zones and are drained and
ventilated and a fire proof bulkhead of steel or titanium sits between the cool zone and the
combustors and turbines. Engine pods are ventilated with enough atmospheric air flow not to
cause drag or that the extinguishing agent would not work.
Detection
This must be rapid without creating any false alarms. The detection system may consist of a
series of detector units or continuous elements sensing type. Usual placement is in ventilation
outlets providing early warning.
Three types are used for detection:

• Thermistor, semiconductor which reacts to temperature

• Thermocouple, creates an EMF in relation to temperature
• Continuous electrical element, capacitance type which reacts to temperature
In the cockpit a distinct ringing bell is used to alert the crew in addition to other visual or tactile
warning methods.
Extinguishing
The engine must be shutdown (cuts fuel and ignition) before releasing the extinguishing agent.
Halon or sometimes CO2 is used and held in metal bottles and flows through metal tubes and
sprayed onto selected areas. Two shots are available on the aircraft (not engine). Do not try to
restart the engine, this may result in starting the fire again but now without extinguishing agent
on board.