Aircraft Propulsion

Aircraft Propulsion
• Man had always dreamed of flying like birds.
• Flying required lifting off the ground and propelling the aircraft
forward (propulsion)
• Weight - is the force created by the pull of gravity toward the center
of the earth.
• Drag -is the force produced by the resistance of the air to the forward
motion of the airplane.
• Lift -is the force that directly opposes the weight of an airplane and
holds the airplane in the air. Lift is generated by every part of the
airplane, but most of the lift on a normal airliner is generated by the
wings
 Aircraft Propulsion
• When an airplane flies, the wing is designed to provide enough Lift to
overcome the airplane’s Weight, while the engine provides enough Thrust
to overcome Drag and move the airplane forward.
• Increasing the weight of an aircraft affects the amount of lift needed.
• In turn, a larger wing would provide more lift, but that would increase the
amount of drag and therefore increase the amount of thrust needed.
• The forces of flight are interconnected, and a change in one affects the
others.
 Aircraft Propulsion
• Thrust- is used to overcome the drag of an airplane
• Thrust is generated by the engines of the aircraft
through propulsion system.
• So the propulsion system must be in physical contact with a
working fluid to produce thrust.
• Any fluid can be used to achieve the jet propulsion principle.
But, there are limitations imposed upon the choice of the
suitable fluid when it is applied to the propulsion bodies
 Aircraft Propulsion
What is propulsion?
• The word propulsion is derived from two Latin
words:
pro means before or forwards and pellere means to drive.
• Propulsion means to push forward or drive an object forward.
• A propulsion system is a machine that produces thrust
to push an object forward.
• On airplanes, thrust is usually generated through
some
application of Newton's third law of action and reaction.
• A working fluid, is accelerated by a machine, and
the reaction to this acceleration produces a force on the
engine.
 Aircraft Propulsion
• Classification of Jet propulsion
Jet propulsion engine may be classified broadly into two
groups
 Air breathing engines-combustion takes place by using
atmospheric air
 Rocket engines-combustion takes place by using its
own
oxygen supply
• Classification of Air breathing engine
 Ramjet engine
 Pulse jet engine
 Turbojet engine
 Turbo prop engine
 Turbo Fan engine
 Aircraft Propulsion

Parts of a Aircraft Engine:

• Fan - The fan is used to draw the ambient air into the engine
• Compressor - The compressor squeezes the air that enters it
into, resulting is an increase in the air pressure.
• Combustor - In the combustor the air is mixed with fuel and
then ignited. The mixture of air and fuel catches fire. This
provides a high temperature and high-energy airflow.
• The fuel burns with the oxygen in the compressed air,
producing hot gases. The temperature can reach upto 2700°C
 Aircraft Propulsion

Parts of a Aircraft Engine:

Turbine - The high-energy airflow coming out
of the combustor goes into the turbine,
causing the turbine blades to rotate.
Nozzle - The nozzle is the exhaust duct of the
engine which produces the thrust for
the plane.
 Aircraft Propulsion
Working Principle
• The fundamental operating principles are common in all the jet
propulsion engines that by generating high-velocity exhaust gases
• Due to high velocity of gases coming out from the unit a reaction or
thrust is produced in the opposite direction. This thrust propels the
aircraft forward
• All jet engines operate by forcing incoming air into a tube where
the air is compressed, mixed with fuel, burned, and exhausted at
high speed to generate thrust
 Aircraft Propulsion

1. Ramjet Engine
The ramjet engine is the most simple jet engine and has no moving
parts. It consist of only three operating components:
• Diffuser
• Combustion chamber
• Discharge nozzle
 The function of supersonic and subsonic diffusers are to convert the K.E of
the entering air into P.E .This energy transformation is called ram effect and
the pressure rise is called the ram pressure
 Aircraft Propulsion

• Ram means to force in. In ramjet air is forced into the engine from the
atmosphere at a very high speed and its velocity gets reduced and its
static pressure is increased by supersonic diffuser
• Then the air passes through the subsonic diffuser and its velocity further
reduced to subsonic value. Due to this the pressure of air increases to
ignition pressure .
• Then the high pressure air flows into the combustion chamber. In the
combustion chamber where it is mixed with fuel and burnt
• The hot gases are then allowed to expand in the exhaust nozzle
• In the nozzle pressure of the hot gases is converted into K.E so the gases
coming out from the unit with very high velocity
• Due to high velocity of gases coming out from the unit a reaction or thrust
is produced in the opposite direction. This thrust propels the aircraft
 Aircraft Propulsion
Thermodynamic Cycle
• The Ramjet engine works on the Brayton cycle
 Aircraft Propulsion

Advantages of Ramjet:
• Ramjet engine is very simple and does not have any
moving
part, Less maintenance and low cost
• The SFC is better than other gas turbine engines at high speed
• Light weight when compared with turbojet engine
• Mechanically simple, reliable, cheap & tolerant of
high
temperatures.
Disadvantages:
• Since the take-off thrust is zero, it is not possible to
start a ramjet engine without an external launching device
• The Combustion chamber required flame holder to stabilize the
combustion due to high speed of air
 Aircraft Propulsion
Applications of Ramjet:
• It is widely used in high speed aircrafts and missiles due to
high thrust and high operational speed.

The Lockheed D-21 is an

American supersonic drone

• The BrahMos is a medium- range

ramjet supersonic cruise missile that
can be launched from submarine,
ships, aircraft, or land.
• It is the fastest cruise missile in the
world.
• It is a joint venture between the
Russian and India's
Defence Research and Development
Organisation
(DRDO) who together have formed
BrahMos Aerospace.
 Aircraft Propulsion

2. Turbo jet Engine

It has five basic components
• Diffuser
• Rotary compressor
• combustion chamber
• Turbine
• Exhaust nozzle
 Aircraft
Propulsion

Working Principle of Turbojet Engine:

• Air from the atmosphere enters into turbojet engine and the air velocity get reduced
and its static pressure is increased by diffuser
• Then the air passes through the rotary compressor in which the air is
further
compressed.
• This compressed air is then forced into a combustion section where it is mixed with fuel
• and burned.
• Then the ho tcombustion gases are passed through a turbine section consisting of more
rotating blades.
• The hot exhausting gases turn the turbine blades and the power produced by the
• turbine
Then hot is just sufficient
gases are thento drive the to
allowed compressor,
expand infuelthe
pump and other auxiliaries
exhaust nozzle. In the
pressure
nozzle of the hot gases is converted into K.E so the gases coming out from the unit
with very high velocity. Due to high velocity of gases coming out from the unit a
reaction or thrust is produced in the opposite direction. This thrust propels the aircraft
 Aircraft Propulsion
Advantages of Turbojet Engine:
• construction is simple
• Less wear and tear, maintenance cost
• It runs smoothly because continuous thrust is produced by
continuous combustion of fuel
• Low grade fuels like kerosene, etc., can be used this
paraffin
reduces the fuel cost.
Disadvantages:
• It haslow take-off thrust and hence poor
starting characteristics
• Fuel consumption is high
• The fuel economy at low operational speed is extremely poor
• Sudden decrease of speed is difficult.
 Aircraft Propulsion
Applications Turbojet Engine:
• It is best suited for piloted aircrafts, Military aircrafts
 Aircraft Propulsion

3. Turbo prob Engine:

• It is very similar to turbojet engine in this type the turbine drives
compressor and propeller
It consists of
• Diffuser,
• Compressor,
• Combustion chamber,
• Turbine,
• Exhaust nozzle,
• Reduction gear and propeller
 Aircraft Propulsion
Working of Turbo prob Engine:
• Air from the atmosphere enters into turboprop engine.
• The air velocity gets reduced and its static pressure
increased
by diffuser.
• Then the air passes through the rotary compressor in which
the air is further compressed.
• This compressed air is then forced into a combustion section
where it is mixed with fuel and burnt.
• The highly heated combustion gases are then passed through
a turbine section consisting of more rotating blades
• The exhausting gases turn the turbine blades which are
connected by a shaft to the compressor blades at the front of
the engine.
 Aircraft Propulsion

• The hot gases are then allowed to expand in the exhaust nozzle, in the
nozzle pressure of the hot gases is converted into K.E so the
gases coming out from the unit with very high velocity
• Due to high velocity of gases coming out from the unit a reaction or thrust
is produced in the opposite direction. This thrust propels the aircraft
 Aircraft Propulsion
Advantages of Turbo prob Engine:
• High take-off thrust
• Good propeller efficiency at a speed below 800km/hr
• Reduced vibration and noise
• Better fuel economy
• Easy maintenance
Disadvantages:
• The main disadvantage is, the propeller efficiency is rapidly
decreases at high speeds due to shock and flow separation
• It requires reduction gear which increases the cost of the
engine
• More space needed than turbojet engine
• Engine construction is more complicated
 Aircraft Propulsion
Applications of Turbo prob Engine:
• The turbo prop engine is best suited for commercial and military air-craft
operation due to its high flexibility of operation and good fuel economy.
 Aircraft Propulsion

4. Turbofan Engine:
• Turbofan engine is a combination of turbo prop and
turbojet engines
• The turbofan has an internal (inside) propeller or fan,
which is
inside a duct
• This makes much more thrust than the turboprop that has outside
propellers.
•
Aircraft Propulsion

Working of Turbofan Engine:

• Air from the atmosphere enters into turbofan engine
• The air after passing through the fan is divided into two streams,
primary air and secondary air.
• The primary air flow through the turbofan engine consisting of
compressor, Combustion Chamber, turbine and exhaust nozzle.
Combustion takes place in the CC and thrust is produced.
Aircraft Propulsion

• The Secondary air or by-pass air or cold air at relatively low pressure
flows around the turbofan engine and expands in the fan nozzle
hence thrust is produced.
• The thrust developed by the secondary air is at lower velocity and
thrust developed by the primary air is at much higher velocity.
• The total thrust produced in the engine is the sum of thrust
produced by the primary air and the secondary air. This total thrust
propels the aircraft.
• The ratio of mass flow rate of cold air and the hot air is known as
by-pass ratio.
 Aircraft Propulsion

Advantages of Turbofan Engine:

•Thrust produced is higher than turbo jet engine
• Weight per unit thrust is lower than turboprop engine
•Less noise and high take off thrust
Disadvantages:
• Lower speed limit than turbo jet
engine
• Construction is complicated compared to turbo
jet engine
• Fuel Consumption is high compared to turbo
prop
engine.
 Aircraft Propulsion

5. PULSE JET ENGINE or FLYING BOMB

It is similar to Ramjet engine and consist of
• Diffuser
• Combustion chamber
• Tail pipe
• Valve grid
 Aircraft Propulsion

working principle of Pulse Jet Engine:

• Air from the atmosphere enters into pulse jet engine.
• The air velocity get reduced and its static increased by
pressure
• diffuser
when certain pressure difference exists across the valve grid, the valve
will open and allow the air to enter into the combustion chamber
• In the combustion chamber fuel is mixed with air and combustion
starts by the use of spark plug
• The highly heated products of combustion gases are then allowed to
expand in the exhaust nozzle section (Tail Pipe)
• Due to high velocity of gases coming out from the unit a reaction or
thrust is produced in the opposite direction this thrust propels the
aircraft.
 Aircraft Propulsion

Advantages of Pulse Jet Engine:

• pulse jet engine is very simple
• less maintenance
• cost is low
• light weight
• pulse jet engine develops thrust at zero speed
Disadvantages
• High rates of fuel consumption
• Low propulsive efficiency
• High degree of vibration leads to noise pollution.
 Aircraft Propulsion
Applications of Pulse Jet Engine:
• It is used in subsonic flights Missiles and Target aircraft missiles