Gas Turbine Theory

Thrust and Efficiency

Schematic of a single-shaft
turbojet engine:
Prior to the compressor, the air enters an intake or diffuser
wherein the kinetic energy in the flow is converted to thermal
energy, increasing pressure and temperature.
The air then enters a compressor, wherein work is done on
the gas further increasing its pressure and temperature.
In the combustion chamber, heat is added through
combustion, increasing temperature, while pressure
remains more or less constant. In the combustion chamber,
there is no work done on the flow.
The hot gas from the combustor then expands in a turbine,
where the gas does work. Pressure and temperature drop.
The work done by the turbine is used to power the
compressor through the common shaft.
Finally, the hot gases are expanded through a nozzle
creating a high energy exhaust jet. Pressure and
temperature drop, but there is no work transfer.
Turbojet Engine
 The above turbojet engine is an
example of a single-stream air-
breathing engine, where all of the
intake air goes through the main
engine.
Thrust Equation
Conservation of Mass
 Assuming that the mass fluxes through
the various sections are uniform:

 is the mass flux leaving the control

volume through the sides.
External mass flux (mass flow
rates)
Knowing the basic
mass flow rate
 Ax u
equation:
m
v
For a turbojet, the  ( A  Ai )u
external mass fluxes m  u ( A  Ai )
1/ 
will be as follows:
 ( A  Ae )u
m  u ( A  Ae )
1/ 
 Internal mass flow of a turbojet
  
ma  mf  me
 (Mass imbalance between external masses
equals mass leaving through the sides)

m s  u ( A  Ai )  u ( A  Ae )
Conservation of mass

m s  u ( A  Ai )  u ( A  Ae )
 The mass leaving the control volume
through the sides must equal the mass
imbalance between the external mass
(i.e., the part that does not enter the
engine) entering and leaving the
control volume.
Conservation of Momentum
 Considering only components of forces and
momentum in the x-direction:

Now, applying the above equation to the

control volume in question, we get:
Conservation of Momentum

Given

Then,
Conservation of Momentum

And the external forces in the x-direction:

So,
 When we combine the net momentum
flux and the net external forces:

 This equation can be simplified if we

use
Thrust Equation

Is the thrust equation, where

is the fuel-air ratio.

For a supersonic nozzle, the exit pressure can

be significantly higher than the ambient
pressure and so there can be a significant
contribution from this term. Most of the time,
however, the pressure force term is small.
Ideal Thrust Equation
 Also, for jet engines, typically f << 1.
 Thus, The thrust equation reduces to
the familiar form:
Ideal Thrust Equation
 This is the ideal thrust equation, since,
it ignores important drag components
that are introduced by the engine that
are customarily taxed on the engine
thrust (rather than on the aircraft drag):
 spillage drag, which is the momentum
imparted to the spillage flow,
 And the nacelle (engine cowl) drag,
caused by the external flow.
 Conservation of Energy

OR

The energy added in the combustion chamber increases the

stagnation enthalpy of the air-stream.
Conservation of Energy
 The kinetic energy of the jet
specifically defines a jet power:
Conservation of Energy
 The kinetic energy of the exhaust jet results
in a thrust force, which may be thought of as
doing work by virtue of the motion of the
aircraft. This gives rise to the concept of
thrust power, which is defined as thrust
times the flight velocity:

Thrust Power = T × u
Engine Performance
 We noted that the energy added in the
combustion chamber equals the increase in
stagnation enthalpy of the air-stream.
 This is an idealized expression since there
are bound to be energy losses---particularly,
due to heat transfer and friction. Moreover,
we note that the thermal energy in the
exhaust also constitutes a waste since it
cannot be usefully converted to thrust
power.
Engine Performance

Thermal efficiency is the ratio of the

increase in kinetic energy of the air-
stream to the energy added in the
combustion chamber:
Engine Performance
 The thermal efficiency can be
maximized by reducing the heat
transfer losses, friction losses and the
exhaust thermal energy.
 Higher exhaust kinetic energy or
higher exhaust jet velocity leads to
higher thermal efficiency.
Propulsion Efficiency
 This efficiency is defined to describe
the transfer of kinetic energy in the
exhaust stream to thrust power. It is
defined as the:
Propulsion Efficiency
 By substituting for T, and since f << 1 the
propulsive efficiency equation simplifies to:

 Maximizing the propulsion efficiency means

making ue as close to u as possible. If they
were equal though, there is no thrust and
thrust power.
Propulsion Efficiency

Two interesting observations for a single-

stream turbojet:
1. Maximizing propulsion efficiency (i.e.,
low exhaust velocity) is not consistent
with maximizing the thermal efficiency
(high exhaust velocity).
Propulsion Efficiency
 Maximizing propulsion efficiency by lowering
the exhaust velocity means increasing the
mass flow rate of the air-stream, which in turn,
leads to increased fuel consumption (assuming
has to be fixed for the combustion chamber).
This again contributes to lowering of the
thermal efficiency.
Propulsion Efficiency
 The way to resolve this is by
introducing two air-streams as in the
turbofan or turboprop, both of which
promise better propulsion efficiency.
Overall Efficiency
 This is essentially a combination of the
above two efficiencies and is defined
as the ratio of the thrust power to the
power added in the combustion
chamber:
Overall Efficiency

 Because this relates the thrust power

of the engine to the fuel consumption
rate, this is ultimately the most
important measure of the efficiency of
the engine.
Specific Thrust
 Another useful measure of
performance is the specific thrust,
which is defined as the thrust per unit
mass flow rate of air through the
engine.
Specific Fuel Consumption
 A performance parameter that is
somewhat similar to the specific
impulse is the thrust specific fuel
consumption (TSFC) or simply the
specific fuel consumption (SFC), which
is defined as:
Dual Stream Engine
 Dual-stream engine: such as turbofan and
turboprop.
 In these engines, all of the air does not go
through the main engine; rather a major
portion of the air-flow by-passes the main
engine. In the turbofan engine, the bypass
air is accelerated by a ducted fan, while in a
turboprop, the air is accelerated in an
unconfined region by rotating propeller
blades.
Turbofans
 The ratio of air that by-passes the main
engine to the amount that goes through the
main engine is called the by-pass ratio.
 Commercial transport aircraft engines
typically use by-pass ratios of about 5-6 and
are referred to as high-bypass, while military
aircraft usually use ratios of less than 1.0
and are called low-bypass.
Turbofans
 In the turbofan engine, the average
exhaust velocity is much lower than
that in the pure turbojet.

 There are a couple of reasons for this.

Turbofans

1. The main engine provides work for

running the turbofan and so there is
less thermal energy (or enthalpy)
available for conversion to kinetic
energy in the main nozzle, leading to
a lower exhaust velocity,
Turbofans

2. The by-pass air is accelerated by the

turbofan, but the exhaust velocities
are much less than in a regular
turbojet engine because there is no
energy addition through combustion.
Turbofans
 Thus, we anticipate that the turbofan
will provide higher propulsion
efficiency than the turbojet.

 Recall,
Turbofans
 Naturally, for maintaining the same thrust,
the turbofan would handle a larger mass of
air. 
T  m a (ue  u )
 Since much of the air by-passes the main
engine, this increased air flow rate does not
result in increased fuel consumption as in
the case of the pure turbojet. In fact, if the
core-engine airflow can be reduced
somewhat, the turbofan would actually
require less fuel flow rate.
 Conservation of Mass
 For the core
engine:

 For the by-pass air:

Conservation of mass for the
entire turbofan

 Where (fuel-air ratio)

 And (Bypass ratio)

Thrust Equation of Turbofan
 Neglecting pressure terms, we can
write the thrust equation for the
turbofan as:

 Or, using the definition of β

 Conservation of Energy
  u2   u e2  u c2
(m a  m b )(h  )  m f Q R  m e (h e  )  m b (h c  )
2 2 2
Energy In Energy Out
Conservation of Energy:

 where the power added in the

combustion chamber ideally balances
the stagnation enthalpy increases of
the two streams.
Turbofan Specific Thrust
 The specific thrust is obtained by dividing
the thrust by the air flow rate through the
core engine:

 We note that generally the specific thrust of

the turbofan engine will be higher than that
of a similarly sized turbojet engine.
Turbofan Thermal Efficiency
 We can write an expression for the
thermal efficiency by considering the
kinetic energy increases of the two
streams:
Turbofan Propulsion Efficiency
 We can similarly define an expression for
the propulsion efficiency:

 The turbofan engine usually has lower

exhaust gas velocities and, therefore,
provides higher propulsion efficiencies than
the turbojet engine.
Overall Efficiency
 The overall efficiency of the turbofan engine is
written as:

 For the same thrust, if the turbofan engine can use

less airflow through the main engine than a
comparable turbojet engine, the fuel consumption is
reduced and the overall efficiency increases.
Turboprops and Turboshafts
 The turboprop differs from the turbojet and turbofan
engines in that the major component of the thrust
comes from the propeller device.
 The main purpose of the engine is then to provide
shaft power to run the propeller.
 In addition, the engine also provides thrust through
its exhaust.
 If the mass fluxes through the main engine and the
propeller are known, then the turbofan expressions
can be used to express the total thrust of the
turboprop.
 Turboprops and Turboshafts
 It is customary to treat the shaft power
portion of the energy balance
separately. The conservation of energy
equation for the turboprop becomes:

The power produced in the combustion chamber is used in part

to increase the stagnation enthalpy and in part to provide shaft
power to the propeller.
Turboprops and Turboshafts
 Typical by-pass ratios for turboprops can be
as high as 50 or 60. Thus, very high
propulsion efficiencies are possible for a
turboprop.
 Moreover, it is evident that most of the thrust
is delivered by the propeller and the main
purpose of the engine is to provide shaft
power to run the propeller.
Thermal Efficiency –
Turboshafts and Turboprops
 The useful work done by the main
engine is comprised of two parts: (1)
the shaft power to run the propeller,
and (2) the increased kinetic energy of
the air-stream through the main
engine:
Thermal Efficiency –
Turboshafts and Turboprops
 The two components may be summed
up to give an "equivalent shaft power",
Pes:
Propeller Efficiency
 It is customary for turboprops to define
a propeller efficiency (ηpr) rather than a
propulsion efficiency (ηp).
 Propeller efficiency is defined as the
ratio of the thrust power to the
equivalent shaft power:
Overall Efficiency
 The overall efficiency is defined in the
conventional way: