21AS43

Unit 1
Jet Engine Performance
THRUST EQUATION

Fig : Schematic Diagram of a Propulsive Device

Let us consider a control volume of a propulsive device having a very large cross sectional
area Ai and Aj at the entry and exit. The flow of air and gases through the engine are
separated from the external flow of air by the solid boundaries of the engine casing.

Let us consider a mass of air mi to enter the control volume through Area Ai with velocity Vi
and Pressure Pi and then the products of combustion of mass mj exits through the area Aj
with velocity Vj and Pressure Pj. The pressure and velocity are being constant over the entire
control volume except at the exit area Aj. Also the flow is assumed to be steady and
reversible outside the control volume. The net thrust produced by the engine is a combination
of momentum thrust and pressure thrust.

Total Thrust= Momentum Thrust + Pressure Thrust..............(1)

FTotal  Fmomentum  FPr essure ..............(2)

Fmoment  m j v j  mi vi ..............(3)
FPr essure  ( Pj  Pi ) Aj ..............(4)
Sub (3) and (4) in (2)
FTotal  m j v j  mi vi  ( Pj  Pi ) Aj ..............(5)
mi =Mass flow rate of air through the engine inlet in Kg/s
m j = Mass flow rate of exhaust gases through the engine outlet in Kg/s

m j  mi  m f

m f =Mass of fuel supplied to the engine in Kg/s

m j  mi  m f
mf
m j  mi (1  )
mi
 m j  mi (1  f ) ..............(6)
mf
f  ..............(7)
mi
Sub (6) in (5)
F  mi (1  f )v j  mi vi  ( Pj  Pi ) A j ..............(8)
In any typical jet engine, the pressure thrust developed will always be small compared to the
momentum thrust. So the pressure thrust can be safely neglected from the above equation. so
the equation reduces to
As an example, an early turbojet, the Bristol Olympus Mk. 101, had a momentum thrust of
41368N and a pressure thrust of 8000N. giving a total thrust of around 50000N.

F  mi (1  f )v j  mi vi ..............(9)
In case of aircraft powerplants, the mass of fuel supplied to the engine is always less when
compared to the mass of air supplied. Hence, the fuel air ratio (f) is also small around 0.01 to
0.02. So, the mass of fuel can be neglected from the above equation and the resulting
equation is
F  mi v j  mi vi ..............(10)
From the above equation,
mi v j = Inlet Drag of the Inlet Momentum
m i v i =Gross Thrust
a) Net Thrust: The thrust produced by a turbojet engine in flight. Net thrust considers a
momentum of air entering and leaving the engine.

b) Gross Thrust: The thrust produced by a turbojet engine when the engine is static or not
moving. Gross thrust is obtained when the inlet momentum is zero.

F  mi (v j  vi ) ..............(11)

This is the equation for thrust generated by a turbojet engine.

From this, we can write the equation as
vj
F  mi vi (  1)
vi
1
F  mi vi (  1)
vi
vj
1
F  mi v i (  1)

  Effective Speed Ratio
Effective Speed Ratio is the ratio of forward velocity of the aircraft to the velocity of the
exhaust gases.

FACTORS AFFECTING JET ENGINE PERFORMANCE

A jet engine is much more sensitive to operating variables than a reciprocating engine. The
operating variables on which the gas turbine engine depends are as follows:

1. Engine RPM
2. Effect of Speed
3. Effect of Temperature
4. Effect of Pressure
5. Effect of Density

 ENGINE RPM

Engine speed in RPM has a great effect on the thrust developed by the jet engine. From the
figure it is evident that there exists a non-linear relation between the engine RPM and the
engine thrust. From the thrust equation F=ma(V2-V1), the mass of air pumped by the
compressor is directly proportional to the thrust obtained. When the RPM of the compressor
is increased, the mass of air supplied to the engine increases which eventually helps in
increasing the thrust of the jet engine. At low RPM, the thrust developed is less and vice
versa. Also at higher engine speeds, the change in RPM has more effect on thrust than at low
RPM i.e., the fluctuation in RPM is directly proportional to the change in thrust.

Fig : Thrust vs. Engine RPM

 EFFECT OF SPEED

In the jet engine equation, F=ma(V2-V1), V1 is the velocity of the air entering the engine.
Whenever the forward velocity of aircraft increases, the velocity with which the air enters the
engine also increases. And at the same time, the jet nozzle velocity V2 is generally fixed by
the speed of sound. Hence, when the forward velocity of the aircraft increases, the difference
in the term (V2-V1), decreases and hence the thrust decreases.
But in reality, as the aircraft's forward velocity increases, the amount of air being packed into
the compressor increases due to the RAM EFFECT and it increases the thrust of the engine.
So the loss of thrust due to the decreases in difference between (V2-V1) is partially offset
by the increase in the mass of air ma entering the engine due to ram effect and it
actually increases the total thrust of the jet engine.

Fig : Jet engine thrust vs. airspeed

 EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE

Usually gas turbine engines are very sensitive to the variations in temperature of air. A rise in
temperature will cause the kinetic energy of the air molecules to increase, which decreases
the density of the air. The decrease in the density of the ambient air will decrease the mass of
air ma to decrease resulting in a decreased thrust. In any case, if the engine operates in air
temperature hotter than the standard temperature, there will be less thrust produced and the
engine needs to pump in extra amount of fuel to maintain a given thrust.

Conversely, on a cold day, the density of the ambient air will be high resulting in an
increased amount of air entering the engine. As the mass of air ma is more, the thrust
produced will also be more. But a jet engine cannot operate at very low temperatures,
because at low temperatures the density or mass of air entering will be very high. And the
power required to drive the compressor will increase and thus the engine will require more
fuel to maintain the same engine speed.

Fig : Thrust vs. Temperature

  EFFECT OF PRESSURE

An increase in the ambient pressure increases the mass of air available for the jet engine. And
as the mass of air entering the engine increases, the thrust capacity of the engine
proportionately increases.

Fig : Thrust vs. Pressure and Thrust vs. Altitude

 EFFECT OF DENSITY

Density is defined as the number of molecules per unit volume. Density is affected by both
pressure and temperature. When temperature increases density decreases and when pressure
increases the density also increases. Further, the density changes are most noticeable with
changes in altitude. With the altitude, the pressure increases and temperature decreases. As
the pressure decreases, the thrust decreases and with the decrease in temperature the thrust
increases. However, with altitude, the pressure drops off faster than the temperature and
actually there is a drop in the thrust with the increase in the altitude. In reality, at 36,000ft, the
temperature stops falling and remains constant while the pressure continues to fall rapidly. As
a result the thrust will deteriorate more rapidly above 36,000ft because, the thrust loss due to
pressure drop will no longer be partially compensated by the drop in temperature. Thus,
36,000ft is the optimum altitude for long range airplanes.

THRUST AUGMENTATION

Among the various types of jet engines, the turbojet engine is the one that produces the least
amount of thrust for a given engine size. This is due to the fact that the thrust generated by a
turbojet engine is only by the exhaust gases. Any aircraft equipped with a turbojet engine will
be enabled with the basic thrust (nominal thrust). With the basic thrust, an aircraft will be
able to perform all the conventional manoeuvres like take-off, cruise, land etc. But there are
certain circumstances where in an aircraft has to perform special missions for which the basic
thrust is not sufficient. Various special missions may be

 Take-off from a short runway or a reduced runway-Ex Naval vessels

 Take-off on a hot summer day
 Combat manoeuvres-Ex- Dogfight
In order to perform all these manoeuvres a turbojet engine has to generate a large amount of
thrust. Higher thrust can be generating by using a large sized engine. But using a large sized
engine will have its own concurrent weight penalties. Hence, in such critical conditions, to
meet the thrust requirements, a method called thrust augmentation is preferred. Thrust
augmentation is a technique by which the basic thrust of a jet engine can be increased without
increasing the size of the engine. Basically, there are there methods by which the thrust of a
jet engine can be augmented. They are:

1. Afterburning Technique
2. Water or Water-Alcohol Injection Technique
3. Bleed Burn Cycle

AFTERBURNER TECHNIQUE

Afterburner is one of the widely used thrust augmentation technique by which the basic thrust
of the jet engine can be periodically augmented to improve the thrust during take-off, climb
and combat manoeuvre. Afterburner is the common method of thrust augmentation and is a
characteristics feature of all supersonic aircrafts. The use of afterburner is made possible due
to the fact that the main combustion chamber consumes only 25 % of the total oxygen
passing through the engine. As a result, the remaining 75% of the air can be burnt with
additional fuel in a secondary combustion chamber located downstream of the turbine i.e., in
an afterburner. Thus afterburner may be defined as an auxiliary burner attached to the tailpipe
of the jet engine. By using the afterburner, an additional fuel can be burned downstream of
the turbine which increases the temperature of the exhaust gases and consequently the thrust
of the exhaust gases. By using an afterburner, an additional thrust of upto 50% can be
increased. Basically an afterburner is nothing but a combination of a simple gas turbine
engine and a Reheater, where the expansion of the exhaust gases is accomplished in two
stages and reheating the gases to the maximum permissible temperature between the stages.

Fig : Schematic of an afterburner

The basic components of an afterburner are

1. Diffuser
2. Spray Bars
3. Torch Igniter
4. Flame Holders
 5. Screech Liners
6. Fuel Valves and Pumps
7. Variable Area Nozzle

WORKING OF AN AFTERBURNER

During the working of an afterburner, the hot exhaust gases form the turbine will be made to
pass through the diffuser, where the gases are first deswirled and diffused and then made to
enter the combustion chamber of the afterburner. Simultaneously, the fuel will be injected
into the afterburner through multiple fuel spray bars. Further, the combustion process is
initiated with the help of torch igniters or pilot burners which are placed in the wake of the
number of flame holders. The process of combustion results in the generation of hot exhaust
gases.

During combustion, the temperature of the exhaust gases increase rapidly and can reach upto
22000C. Since, the temperature of the exhaust gases are very high, the flame is made to
concentrate around the jet pipe axis, thereby maintaining a safe wall temperature. Most of the
afterburner will be provided with a specialised liner which acts as both cooling liner and
screech liner. The liner is generally corrugated and perforated with thousands of small holes.
This liner prevents the high frequency and amplitude pressure fluctuations resulting from
excessive noise, vibrations and other combustion instabilities from causing physical
destruction of the afterburner components. All engines incorporating an afterburner must be
equipped with a variable nozzle in order to accommodate the large changes in the
temperature produced by the afterburner.

Fig : T-s diagram for an afterburner system Fig : Effect of afterburner on the rate of
climb

During the non-afterburning operation, the nozzle will be in minimum position, but when it is
switched ON, the nozzle will automatically open to provide an exit area suitable for the
increased volume of gas stream. The opening of nozzle prevents any increase in the back
pressure from occurring which tends to slow down the turbine as well as the compressor and
will ultimately lead to the stalling of the compressor. Using Afterburning operation 50% extra
thrust can be obtained but it proportionately increases the SFC.
WATER OR WATER-ALCOHOL INJECTION TECHNIQUE

Water injection technique is one of the simplest method of augmenting the thrust of a jet
engine. This technique is mainly used during take-off and when there is a drop in the thrust
due to the changes in the atmospheric pressure or temperature. Using this technique, power or
thrust upto 30 % can be boosted for take-off. The thrust developed by the water injection
technique is termed as Wet Thrust and the thrust developed without the use of water
injection is termed as Dry Thrust.

The principle by which this method produces extra thrust is by creating cooling effect.
During the working, the water-alcohol mixture or just water is added into the engine through
a series of spray nozzles. When water is injected into the compressor inlet, the temperature of
the compressed air decreases which increases the density and eventually the mass of the air.
This further increases the discharge pressure ratio at the exit of the compressor. When this
cooled compressed air is passed into the combustion chamber, the turbine inlet temperature
will be reduced. In order to increase the combustion temperature in the combustion chamber,
the mass flow rate of the fuel has to be increased.

The water provides additional thrust in one of two ways, depending on where the water is
added. Some engines have the coolant sprayed directly into the compressor inlet, whereas
others have fluid added at the diffuser. When water is added at the front of the compressor,
power augmentation is obtained principally by the vaporizing liquid cooling the air, thus
increasing density and mass airflow. Furthermore, if water only is used, the cooler, increased
airflow to the combustion chamber permits more fuel to be burned before the turbine
temperature limits are reached, thus increasing the turbine inlet temperatures. Higher turbine
temperatures will result in increased thrust.

Water added to the diffuser increases the mass flow through the turbine relative to that
through the compressor. This relative increase results in a decreased temperature and pressure
drop across the turbine that leads to an increased pressure at the exhaust nozzle. Again, the
reduction in turbine temperature when water alone is used allows the fuel system to schedule
an increased fuel flow, providing additional thrust.

Water alone would provide more thrust per kg than a water-alcohol mixture due to the high
latent heat of vaporization and the overall decrease in temperature. The addition of alcohol
has two other effects. If only water is injected, it would reduce the turbine inlet temperature,
but with the addition of alcohol, the turbine temperature is restored. Thus the power is
restored without having to adjust the fuel flow. The alcohol also serves to lower the freezing
point of the water. The alcohol adds to the power by providing an additional source of fuel,
but because the alcohol has a low combustion efficiency, being only about half that of gas
turbine fuel, and because the alcohol does not pass through the central part of the combustion
chamber where temperatures are high enough to efficiently burn the weak alcohol-air
mixture, the power added is small.
In both cases water is the fluid used because its high heat of vaporization results in a fairly
large amount of cooling for a given weight of water flow. Demineralised water is generally
used to prevent deposit build-up on compressor blades. Note that when water injection is
used, fuel flow is not reduced and is often increased. The increased thrust results from the
increase in wa and/or wf allowed because of the cooling effect of the water or the increased
ma is flow through the fixed area turbine that effectively increases the operating pressure ratio
of the engine. All of the preceding depends on where in the engine the water is injected. The
water injection system is not without penalty. Water and the injection system are very heavy;
there is a thermal shock to the engine, and compressor blade erosion can occur when the
system is activated. An important limiting factor, compressor stall can also be a problem with
water injection. Furthermore, the alcohol used with the water does not have the same burning
characteristics as jet fuel nor does it burn in the correct place in the combustion chamber.
Generally water/air ratios are in the order of 0.45 to 2.25 kg of water to 45 kg air. The water
tank holds approximately 4542 litres, which is usually exhausted during takeoff. About 110 s
are required to consume all of the liquid. Any water not used during takeoff is drained
overboard.

The rise in pressure can be seen from the below given compressor h-s diagram. Process 1-2
represents normal dry compression process which is achieved by the turbine work ht , being
delivered to the compressor. Now when the water alcohol injection system is turned on, as
the mixture of water alcohol evaporates within the compressor, it cools the air to produce the
compression line 1-2". The amount of work delivered by the turbine with or without water
injection remains essentially same, therefore points 2" and2 must lie on the same enthalpy
line. It is apparent that water alcohol injection produces a higher compressor discharge
pressure which in turn produces an increase in thrust.

Fig : Compressor h-s diagram