ME 430 Gas turbines and jet propulsion

Gas turbine cycles for aircraft propulsion

Anish S
Aircraft gas turbine cycles- Useful power output is in
the form of thrust.

Turbojet and turbofan engine- Thrust is generated in

nozzle.

Turboprop engine-Mostly from a propeller with smaller

amount from the exhaust nozzle.

Effect of forward speed and altitude on engine

performance needs to be considered

The designer of aircraft engines must recognize the differing

requirements for take-off, climb, cruise and maneuvering.

The requirements are different for civil and military

applications and for long- and short-haul aircraft.
 Criteria of performance

Assume here that the mass

flow m is constant (i.e.
that the fuel flow is
negligible

Air enters the intake with a velocity Ca equal and

opposite to the forward speed of the aircraft,

The jet velocity is Cj.

Net thrust F due to rate of change of momentum
mCj is called the gross
momentum thrust and mCa the
intake momentum drag.

Can you think of any other

thrust on the engine?

When the exhaust gases are not expanded completely to Pa in the propulsive duct,
the pressure Pj in the plane of the exit will be greater than Pa and there will be an
additional pressure thrust exerted over the jet exit area Aj equal to Aj(Pj-Pa).
Net thrust F due to rate of change of momentum

Sum of the momentum

thrust and
the pressure thrust

When aircraft is flying at a uniform speed Ca in level flight the

thrust must be equal and opposite to the drag of the aircraft at
that speed.
 Assume exhaust gases are expanded
completely, then…

the required thrust can be obtained by designing the engine to

produce either a high-velocity jet of small mass flow

OR

a low-velocity jet of high mass flow.

The question arises as to what is the most

efficient combination of these two variables
 Propulsion efficiency hp
Ratio of the useful propulsive energy or thrust power (FCa) to the sum of that energy
and the unused kinetic energy of the jet.

The latter is the kinetic energy of the jet relative to the earth, namely m(Cj - Ca)2/2

Also called the

Froude efficiency

Can you tell the conditions for maxima and minima for F and hp?

(a) F is a maximum when Ca = 0, i.e. under static conditions, but hp is then zero;

(b) hp is a maximum when Cj/Ca = 1 but then the thrust is zero.

 (a) F is a maximum when Ca = 0, i.e. under static conditions, but hp is then zero;

(b) hp is a maximum when Cj/Ca = 1 but then the thrust is zero.

This put the designer in a difficult situation….

We may conclude that although Cj must be greater

than Ca, the difference should not be too great….

Turboprops are suitable up to speeds of M 0.6 while turbofans are

used for Mach numbers between 0.75 and 0.85.
 Remember…
The propulsion efficiency is a measure of the effectiveness with which the
propulsive duct is being used for propelling the aircraft,

it is NOT the efficiency of energy conversion within the power plant itself that we
will symbolize by he.
Potentially useful kinetic
Efficiency of energy energy for propulsion
conversion
The rate of energy supplied
 For aircraft engines, SFC is defined as the fuel consumption per unit thrust.
The overall efficiency given can be written in the form

Note : With a given fuel, the value of Qnet will be constant

and it can be seen that the overall efficiency is proportional
to Ca/SFC

Another important performance parameter is the specific thrust Fs, namely the
thrust per unit mass flow of air

SFC and specific thrust are related by

 When estimating the cycle performance at altitude we shall need to know how
Ambient pressure and temperature vary with height above sea level.

The International Standard Atmosphere (IsA)

Temperature decrease by about 3.2 K per 500 m of
altitude up to 11 000 m,

after which it is
constant at 216.7 K until 20 000 m.
 There are two other parameters that was not considered
for cycle analysis….

Intake and propelling nozzle efficiencies

The prime requirement is to

minimize the pressure loss up to the
compressor face while ensuring that the
flow enters the compressor with a uniform
pressure and velocity, at all flight
conditions.

Intake isentropic
efficiency
The ram efficiency hr is defined by the
ratio of the ram pressure rise to the
inlet dynamic head, namely
Note these relations….

The intake efficiency will depend upon the location of

the engine in the aircraft
(in wing, pod or fuselage), but we shall assume a value
of 0.93 for hi in the numerical examples
 Propelling nozzles…. With a simple jet engine, there will be a single
nozzle downstream of the turbine.

The turbofan may have two separate nozzles

for the hot and cold streams

The value is obviously dependent on a wide

variety of factors, such as the length of the jet
pipe, and whether the various auxiliary features
mentioned earlier are incorporated because they
inevitably introduce additional frictional losses.

We can assume a value of 0.95, generally

Simple jet cycle analysis

Lets do this with an example…

Determination of the specific thrust and SFC for a simple turbojet

engine, having the following component performance at the design
point at which the cruise speed and altitude are M 0.8 and 10 000 m:
Find conditions across the compressor
Find conditions across the turbine
Nozzle calculations

How do we know whether the nozzle is

choking ?
Nozzle calculations..

This is also the temperature

equivalent of the jet velocity (C5 2/2Cp)
because T05 = T04.

For pressure ratios up to the critical value, p5 will be put equal to pa in

equation, and the pressure thrust is zero.

Above the critical pressure ratio the nozzle is choked, p5 remains at the
critical value pc, and C5 remains at the sonic value (gRT5)1/2.

how the critical pressure should be evaluated for non-isentropic flow?

Nozzle calculations..
The critical pressure ratio p04/pc is the pressure
ratio p04/p5 which yields M5 = 1.

Consider the corresponding critical temperature

ratio T04/Tc: it is the same for both isentropic and
irreversible adiabatic flow.

This follows from the fact that T04 = T05 in all

cases of adiabatic flow with no work transfer
Nozzle calculations …how to find critical
pressure ratio.

Having found Tc ..
Go to efficiency (hj) expression and find
that the value of the temperature reached after an
isentropic expansion to the real critical pressure pc,
namely
Nozzle calculations …
..now lets continue with the numerical
Simple jet cycle analysis

Lets do this with an example…

Determination of the specific thrust and SFC for a simple turbojet engine, having the following
component performance at the design point at which the cruise speed and altitude are M 0.8
and 10 000 m. Take theoretical fuel air ratio as 0.0194
Note these relations….
Find conditions across the compressor
Finding conditions across the turbine
Nozzle calculations

How do we know whether the nozzle is

choking ?
Nozzle calculations..

This is also the temperature

equivalent of the jet velocity (C5 2/2Cp)
because T05 = T04.

For pressure ratios up to the critical value, p5 will be put equal to pa in

equation, and the pressure thrust is zero.

Above the critical pressure ratio the nozzle is choked, p5 remains at the
critical value pc, and C5 remains at the sonic value (gRT5)1/2.

how the critical pressure should be evaluated for non-isentropic flow?

Nozzle calculations..
The critical pressure ratio p04/pc is the pressure
ratio p04/p5 which yields M5 = 1.

Consider the corresponding critical temperature

ratio T04/Tc: it is the same for both isentropic and
irreversible adiabatic flow.

This follows from the fact that T04 = T05 in all

cases of adiabatic flow with no work transfer
 Nozzle calculations …how to find critical
pressure ratio.

Having found Tc ..
Go to efficiency (hj) expression and find that
the value of the temperature reached after an
isentropic expansion to the real critical pressure pc,
namely
Nozzle calculations …
..now lets continue with the numerical
 Optimization of the turbojet cycle
• In the design of a turbojet the basic
thermodynamic parameters at
the disposal of the designer are the turbine
inlet temperature and the compressor
pressure ratio.

It can be seen that specific thrust is strongly dependent on

the value of T03, and utilization of the highest possible
temperature is desirable in order to keep the
engine as small as possible for a given thrust.

The effect of increasing the pressure ratio

rc is clearly to reduce SFC
The choice of cycle
parameters depends very
much on the type of aircraft
and its mission.

While high turbine temperatures are

thermodynamically desirable, they
require the use of expensive alloys
and cooled turbine blades leading to
an increase in manufacturing
complexity and cost combined with a
decrease in engine life.

The thermodynamic gains from increased pressure ratio must be

considered in the light of increased
weight, complexity and cost due to the need for more compressor and
turbine stages and the need for a multi-spool configuration.
thrust decreases significantly with increasing altitude,
owing to the decrease in ambient pressure and density,
 Afterburner
Afterburning, as the name implies, involves
burning additional fuel in the jet pipe

• The penalty in increased SFC is heavy

• The pressure loss in the afterburner can be
significant
 Afterburner
Assuming that
a choked convergent nozzle is used

Thus the jet

velocity can be found from (gRTc)1/2, with Tc given
by either
T06/Tc = (g + 1)/2 >>>>> with afterburner

or

T04/Tc = (g + 1)/2 >>>>>without afterburner

The jet velocity is proportional to √T0 at inlet
to the propelling nozzle

The gross momentum thrust, relative to that of

the simple turbojet, will be increased in the
ratio √(T06/T04)

For the temperatures shown in Fig. this amounts to √(2000/959) = 1.44

 Afterburning will normally be brought into operation
when the engine is running at its maximum rotational
speed, corresponding to its maximum unaugmented
thrust.
The afterburner should be designed so that the engine
will continue to operate at the same speed when it
is in use, and hence the nozzle must pass the same mass
flow at a much reduced density.

This can be achieved only if a variable nozzle is fitted

permitting a significant increase in nozzle area.

Note that the pressure thrust will also be

increased owing to the enlarged nozzle area
 The turbofan engine
In the turbofan a portion of
the total flow bypasses part of the compressor,
combustion chamber, turbine and
nozzle before being ejected through a separate
nozzle.
Thus the thrust is made up of two components,
the cold stream (or fan) thrust and the
hot stream thrust
 In the turbofan a portion of the total
flow bypasses part of the compressor,
combustion chamber, turbine and nozzle
before being ejected through a separate
nozzle

Thus the thrust is made up of two

components, the cold stream (or fan)
thrust and the hot stream thrust.
 The differences in calculations
(a) overall pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature are specified as before, but it is also necessary to specify the
bypass ratio (B) and the fan pressure ratio (FPR).

(b) From the inlet conditions and FPR, the pressure and temperature of the flow leaving the fan and entering the bypass
duct can be calculated. The mass flow down the bypass duct can be established from the total flow and the bypass
ratio. The cold stream thrust can then be calculated as for the jet engine, noting that air is the working fluid. It is
necessary to check whether the fan nozzle is choked or unchoked; if choked the pressure thrust must be calculated.

(c) In the two-spool configuration the fan is driven by the lp turbine. Calculations for the Hp compressor and turbine are
quite standard, and conditions at entry to the lp turbine can then be found. Considering the work requirement of the lp
rotor,

The value of B may range

from 0.3 to 12 or more
If the two streams are mixed it is necessary to find the conditions after mixing by
means of an enthalpy and momentum balance;

It should be recognized that the fuel flow is based on the core flow, while
the specific thrust is based on the total flow
 Turboprop engine
Higher thrust per unit mass flow of fuel can
be obtained by increasing the mass flow of air which results in
better fuel economy.

This fact is utilized in a turboprop engine which is an

intermediate between a pure jet engine and a propeller engine.

Turboprop engine attempts to increase the air flow by using a

propeller driven by the turbine
in addition to a small thrust produced by the exhaust nozzle.

Turbine provide power for both the compressor and the propeller.

Thus the turboprop engine derives most of its propulsive thrust from the
propeller and derives only a small portion (10 to 20% depending upon the
flight velocity) from the exhaust nozzle.
Since the shaft speed of
gas turbine engine is very
much higher than that of a
propeller, a reduction gear
must be placed.

Net thrust is the

combination of fan thrust
and core engine thrust.
 Some facts about turboprop engine

Because propellers become less efficient as the speed of the aircraft increases,
turboprops are used only for low speed aircraft, like cargo planes.

High speed transports usually use high bypass turbofans because of the high fuel
efficiency and high speed capability of turbofans.

A variation of the turboprop engine is the turboshaft engine. In a turboshaft

engine, the gear box is not connected to a propeller but to some other drive
device. Turboshaft engines are used in many helicopters, as well as tanks, boats
Propellers work well until the flight speed of the aircraft is high enough
that the airflow past the blade tips reaches the speed of sound.

Beyond that speed, the proportion of the power that drives the
propeller that is converted to propeller thrust falls dramatically. For this
reason turboprop engines are not used on aircraft that fly faster than
0.6–0.7 Mach

To maintain propeller efficiency across a wide

range of airspeeds, turboprops use constant-
speed (variable-pitch) propellers. The blades of
a constant-speed propeller increase their pitch
as aircraft speed increases.
Another benefit of this type of propeller
is that it can also be used to generate
reverse thrust to reduce stopping
distance on the runway.

Additionally, in the event of an engine

failure, the propeller can be feathered,
thus minimizing the drag of the non-
functioning propeller.
 RAMJET ENGINE
Can you understand this engine?
How does it work?

• Uses the forward motion of

the engine to produce
thrust.
• Produces no thrust when
stationary (no ram air)
 Air enters a ramjet's diffuser at supersonic speeds, shock
waves help build ram pressure.
A diamond-shaped center body in the intake further
squeezes the air and slows it to subsonic speeds to more
efficiently mix with fuel and combust.
Combustion occurs in an open chamber akin to a giant
afterburner, where liquid fuel is injected or solid fuel is
ablated from the chamber's sides

Normally, the air enters the engine with a supersonic speed

which must be reduced to a subsonic value to prevent the blow
out of the flame in the combustion chamber.
 Facts of RAMJET

• Ramjet-powered vehicles require an assisted take-off like a rocket assist to

accelerate it to a speed where it begins to produce thrust.
•
• Ramjets work most efficiently at supersonic speeds around Mach 3 (2,300
mph; 3,700 km/h) and can operate up to speeds of Mach 6 (4,600 mph;
7,400 km/h).

• The engine heavily relies on the diffuser and it is very difficult to

design a diffuser which will give good pressure recovery over a wide
range of speeds.

• Due to high air speed, the combustion chamber requires flame holder
to stabilize the combustion.
 SCRAM JET
A scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) is a variant of a ramjet airbreathing jet
engine in which combustion takes place in supersonic airflow.

The BrahMos-II is expected to have a range of 1,000 kilometres

and a speed of Mach 8.
During the cruise stage of flight the missile will be propelled by
a scramjet airbreathing jet engine.