Lecture-10 Prepared under

QIP-CD Cell Project

Jet Propulsion

Ujjwal K Saha, Ph. D.

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
Fans, Compressors & Turbines
 Simple Open Cycle Gas Turbine
Intake

Combustor

Power Turbine

Compressor Turbine Gas Generator Shaft Output Shaft

HP Turbine

Exhaust

• Intake air is compressed by compressor turbine

• Compressed air enters combustor where it mixes with fuel
and the mixture is burned, adding heat to the system
• Combustion gasses enter high pressure turbine, which turns
gas generator shaft, which powers the compressor turbine
• Combustion gasses then enter power turbine, which turns
output shaft, and then are exhausted
 Gas Turbine Shaft Types

• Single Shaft
– One shaft drives both the compressor and the load
– Harder to start since entire engine is mechanically
connected to the drive train

• Split Shaft
– Compressor and gas-generator turbine share a
common shaft
– Power turbine is decoupled and drives output shaft
independently
– Gas generator section not affected by changes in
propeller loading
 Gas Turbine Shaft Types

• Single Shaft
• Split Shaft
• Twin-Spool
– Two stage compressor, each stage driven by
separate turbine
– Gas generator shaft is actually a low
pressure shaft turning inside a hollow high-
pressure shaft
– More complex and larger than split shaft
engine
 AERODYNAMIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
‰ The suitability of an aircraft engine is judged by
three quantities viz.,
9 Specific weight
9 TSFC
9 Thrust/frontal area
‰ While it is desirable to have lower values of the
first two quantities as against high values of the
third, it so happens that the best of all the three
aspects can not be achieved at the same time.
‰ Hence, the design of an engine has always
been an exercise in compromise and depends
upon the intended use of the engine.

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 AERODYNAMIC DESIGN ELEMENTS

• High total pressure ratio

• High aerodynamic loading
• High efficiency (with sufficient off-design
operating range)
• Minimizing the no. of compressor stages
• Minimizing the no. of blades (in rotor
and stator rows per stage)
• Wider incidence range
•Acceptable noise level

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8
 Compressor Types
• Centrifugal
– Single entry or dual-entry impellers
– Air accelerates radially outward from the
hub to the diffuser
– Rugged, simple in design, relatively light
weight
– Large frontal area, lower efficiency, hard
to use more than one stage
Single & Double Entry Compressors

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Schematic of Centrifugal Compressor
Velocity Triangles - Centrifugal Compressor
 Compressor Types

•Axial Flow
– Uses several stages of rotor and stator
pairs, with decreasing diameter from
front to rear
– Easy to vary compression ratio by
adding or removing stages
– Stators can be fixed or variable pitch
– Most commonly used type for
propulsion gas turbines
 Compressors
• AXIAL

• CENTRIFUGAL

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General Electric CF6 turbofan

Pratt & Whitney

PW4000 turbofan

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 Compressors
Axial Centrifugal
• Higher efficiency, • Robust
(today) • Not sensitive to tolerance or
• Small front area disturbances
• High π per stage
• Easy stage stacking
• Large stacking loss
• Well known theory
• Same weight as axial
• More real (unknown) flow
effects

Exactly the same theory! But all formulas differ!

Complex Flow in Compressors

General Electric
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Axial Compressor V2
Ps PT
C1
INLET GUIDE VANES
W1 C1
W1
U
FIRST STAGE BLADE U
W2 C2
W2 C2
U
FIRST STAGE VANE
C3 W3 C3
W3
U
U
SECOND STAGE BLADE
W4 C4
W4
C4
U
SECOND STAGE VANE

C5 20
Velocity Triangles for One Stage
Effect of Increasing Fluid Deflection
 Important Parameters

‰ Pressure ratio
‰ Diffusion factor
‰ Fluid deflection
‰ Efficiency
‰ Degree of reaction
‰ Loss coefficients

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 Annulus Shapes

The constant inner diameter design, mostly found in

industrial units, is less expensive as compared to other
designs. Compressors with constant outer diameter
are used where minimum number of stages is
required, and as such, they are usually found in aircraft
engines. The constant mean diameter design of
compressors makes the combustor to have an
awkward shape, with the result that the required
changes in flow direction causes additional pressure
losses.

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 Compressor blades

• NACA 65 thickness
Note especially
• C4 thickness
• Acc - dec on pressure
• Circular arc side
– DCA • Min pressure on suction
– MCA side
• Controlled diffusion • Slope, BL growth on
blade suction side (?)
– no shock
– minimum BL • Check off-design
behaviour
Types of Blade Profiles
 COMPRESSOR STALL

• Occurs if for some reason air velocity

decreases without a commensurate
decrease in RPM or if RPM increases
without the necessary air velocity
increase.
• Similar to wing stall
• Can result in blade failure

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 Rotating stall
• One blade stall Surge
• Stall on suction side • One blade stall
blade • Overload on upstream
blade
• Destall on pressure
• All compressor stall
side blade
• Measured from vibration
• (Improving for
downstream stage)
 Sub-, Trans-, Super- Sonic Machine
• All subsonic
• Mach 1 on blade suction surface
• Relative tip inlet supersonic
• All l.e. supersonic
• Relative tip outflow supersonic
• All rotor supersonic
• Absolute flow supersonic

Shock Problems, losses and separation,

influence areas
TURBINES

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 Turbines - Applications

‰ Hydro, steam and gas turbines for electric

power generation
‰ Airplane and helicopter applications
‰ Aircraft auxiliary power units
‰ Pump drives for gas or liquid pipelines
‰ Land and marine applications including
turbochargers
‰ Expanders in gas liquefaction and
cryogenic refrigeration
‰ Space power systems

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 Good Marks to Recon

Compressor
– The pressure side is leading the rotation

Turbine
– The suction side is leading the rotation
 TURBINES
• Develops shaft rotational energy from the
kinetic energy of the hot combustion gases
entering through the vanes
• Usually of axial flow design
• Drives the compressor and various engine
accessories
• The remaining useful energy can be used
as jet thrust or shaft mechanical work

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 Turbine Construction

• STATOR
– Stationary guide nozzles (vanes) discharge gas at
high velocity onto the moving blades
– Attached to turbine casing

• ROTOR
– Consists of a shaft and bladed wheel (disc)
– Attached to the main power-transmitting shaft

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Velocity Triangles – Axial Turbines

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 Parameters Affecting Turbine Blade Design

Vibration Environment
Number of Blades
Tip Shroud

Airfoil Shape
Inlet Temperature

Trailing-Edge Thickness
Blade Cooling

Allowable Stress Levels (AN2)

Material (N = Speed, RPM)
Service Life Requirements 36
 Important Parameters

‰ Pressure ratio
‰ Mass flow rate
‰ Efficiency
‰ Degree of reaction
‰ Loss coefficients
‰ Blade loading coefficient
‰ Stage loading coefficient

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 Radial Turbines

• Radial inflow turbines are suitable for many

applications in ship, aircraft, space power
systems, and other systems where compact
power sources are required.

• They are also used in air liquefaction plants

and have been employed in power
generation units providing up to 2 MW of
power for a variety of industrial applications,
aiming to replace heavy diesel engines.
 Radial Turbines

• Radial turbines have several advantages

over an axial turbine. They maintain a
relatively high efficiency when reduced to
very small sizes and can handle an elevated
pressure ratio.

• The pressure ratio for radial turbines used in

turbochargers can be up to 4:1, but in some
applications, as for example in their use in
power generation systems, it can be as high
as 6:1.
Schematic of Radial Flow Turbine
 Summary
• Centrifugal compressors are simple,
inexpensive, lightweight, and have a high
pressure rise per stage

• Centrifugal compressors experience large

inter-stage losses and require a large frontal
area; they are typically less efficient than
multistage axial compressor

• Multistage axial compressors can achieve

larger compression ratios and are better
suited for high-power marine applications

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 Summary

• Radial inflow turbines are suitable for

applications where compact power sources
are required.

• They maintain a relatively high efficiency

when reduced to very small sizes and can
handle an elevated pressure ratio.

• The pressure ratio in turbochargers can be

up to 4:1, but in some applications, it can be
as high as 6:1.
 References

1. Hill, P.G., and Peterson, C.R., (1992), Mechanics and

Thermodynamics of Propulsion, Addison Wesley.
2. Saravanamuttoo, H.I.H, Rogers, G.F.C, and. Cohen, H,
(2001), Gas Turbine Theory, Pearson Education.
3. Oates, G.C., (1988), Aerothermodynamics of Gas Turbine
and Rocket Propulsion, AIAA, New York.
4. Mattingly, J.D., (1996), Elements of Gas Turbine
Propulsion, McGraw Hill.
5. Cumpsty, N.A., (2000), Jet Propulsion, Cambridge
University Press.
6. Bathie, W.W., (1996), Fundamentals of Gas Turbines, John
Wiley.
7. Treager, I.E., (1997), Aircraft Gas Turbine Engine
Technology, Tata McGraw Hill.

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 Web Resources
1. http://www.soton.ac.uk/~genesis
2. http://www.howstuffworks.co
3. http://www.ge.com/aircraftengines/
4. http://www.ae.gatech.edu
5. http://www.ueet.nasa.gov/Engines101.html
6. http://www.aero.hq.nasa.gov/edu/index.html
7. http://home.swipnet.se/~w65189/transport_aircraft
8. http://howthingswork.virginia.edu/
9. http://www2.janes.com/WW/www_results.jsp
10. http://www.purdue.edu/nrotc/Classlinks/
11. http://www.allison.com/
12. http://wings.ucdavis.edu/Book/Propulsion
13. http://www.pilotfriend.com/
14. http://unm.edu
15. http://www.grc.nasa.gov
16. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History
17. http://membres.lycos.fr/bailliez/aerospace/engine
18. http://people.bath.ac.uk/en2jyhs/types.htm
19. http://roger.ecn.purdue.edu/~propulsi/propulsion/rockets
20. http://www.answers.com/main
21. http:// www.ku.edu/
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