Aircraft Propulsion - Level 3

In this section we cover materials related to propulsion, the means of moving the
aircraft forward through the air. We include materials on the types of engines that
have been and are being used, how thrust is calculated for jet engines and for
propeller-driven engines. We will cover with more detail how gas turbines work and
the design requirements of the different parts of the gas turbine.

Aircraft Engines
F100-PW-220/F100-PW-220E TUBOFAN ENGINE
F100-PW-229 TURBOFAN ENGINE
F119-PW- 100 TURBOFAN ENGINE
F117-PW-100 TURBOFAN ENGINE
Aircraft Engine Thrust Calculations
Gas Turbine Operation and Design Requirements
Introduction to Gas Turbines
Gas Turbine Usage
Gas Turbine Cycles
Gas Turbine Components

Aircraft Engines

Piston Engines
From the 1903 flight of the Wright Brothers to the mid-1940's, the piston engine was
the only power plant used for aircraft. Originally aircraft engines were built around
the same design of car engines. Specifically in the design of cooling systems. Car

engines are water or liquid-cooled. They rely on radiators (Heat Exchangers) in order
to take air from the outside and cool the warm water coming from the engine (Figure
1).

Figure 1. Schematic of a car engine cooling system.

The problem involving water cooled engines is the excess drag and weight that would
be added to the plane thereby having a significant influence in aircraft performance.
By 1908 this degradation of aircraft performance due to liquid-cooled systems was
noticed and air-cooled engines were first introduced. The savings in weight were
substantial. The air-cooled engine weight (on average) was between 30% and 40% of
the weight of the liquid-cooled engine.
The first generation of air-cooled engines did not perform as well as expected. In this
first generation the cylinders were arranged in a circle around a crankcase. The
propeller was fastened to the front of the crankcase and the entire engine rotated! This
was done to increase the air velocity over the cylinders for cooling purposes. But what
made this type of engine a failure was that the gyroscopic forces were large, limiting
the ability of the aircraft to maneuver. This problem was later solved by designing aircooled engines in a similar radial arrangement, but with the engine fixed and only the
propeller rotating. But liquid-cooled engines were not finished just yet, because from
about 1915 onward, better designs of liquid-cooled engines were able to develop more
power than air-cooled engines. So for the next 25 years, one of the major aircraft
design debates concerned the relative drag, weight, and maximum power capabilities
of liquid-cooled versus air-cooled engines.
Many of the best fighters of World War II were powered by liquid-cooled engines and
by the mid-1940s the debate was over and air-cooled engines were the victors. One
major development assisting the air-cooled engines was the development of the
NACA cowling. This was an enclosure for the engine that limited the flow of air over
the engine cylinders to the air actually in contact with the cooling fins of the cylinders.

This advanced was very important in improving the efficiency of air-cooled aircrafts
(Figure 2).

Figure 2. Schematic of an improve air-cooled engine with cowling.

From the mid 1940s until today, many advancements have been made in air-cooled
engines. The evolution of the propeller-based engines are called turboprops, although
the only similar characteristic of today's turboprop and the original air-cooled engines
is in that both of them use a propeller in the front.

Air-Breathing Engines
Air breathing engines are also known as gas turbines and aircraft engines are referred
to (wrongly) as just turbines. An aircraft gas turbine is a device in which freestream
air is taken in through a designed inlet, compressed in a rotating compressor, heated in
a combustion chamber, and expanded through a turbine. The gas then exits through a
nozzle at a velocity greater than freestream (Figure 3). Though one can classify a
piston engine as air breathing, the amount of air taken in by gas turbines is much,
much greater. Therefore, we will classify gas turbine engines as air breathing
engines.

Figure 3. Schematic diagram of a turbojet engine.

Gas turbines are subdivided into four categories: turboprops, turbofans, turbojets, and
prop-fans. The differences are in the speed at which they are used. In reality, the
differences in these categories are due to the concepts on which these engines were
created. The speed limitations are due to the limitations for the different concepts.
The turboprops (Figure 4) are mainly used for cargo planes that fly at speeds typically
between 300-500 mph. Its arrangement is derived from that of turbojet engine
system. The only difference is that turboprops have a propeller blade and a gear box in
front of the engine followed by a similar arrangement as that of a turbojet engine. The
turboprop differs from the gas turbine in that the gas turbine drives a propeller. The
propeller is the component which generates the thrust for propulsion - not the exhaust
jet as in the turbojet case. This is the conceptual difference. The turboshaft is, by the
way, in principle also a turboprop.

Figure 4. Schematic diagram of a turboprop engine.

The turbofan (Figure 5) is an engine system similar to the turboprop but with a
smaller multiple blade fan encased in a cowling without the gear box. The turbofan is
a turbojet with a fan to generate a bypass flow along the core turbojet in order to
increase the mass flow. The increased mass flow enhances the efficiency of the
engine. The fan is driven by the gas turbine. Note that the fan may be geared or direct
driven. This engine system is used for multiple types of aircrafts such as cargo planes,
passenger planes, fighter aircrafts, etc. The range of velocities for which this engine is
used is typically from below Mach 1.0 (one time the speed of sound) to speeds above
Mach 1. Examples of turbofan engines from Pratt and Whitney are the F119-PW100, F117-PW-100, F100-PW-229, and F100-PW-220 series.

Figure 5. Schematic diagram of a turbofan engine.

The turbojet is the basic, plain, gas turbine. It is a hot gas generator with a jet nozzle
to create enough kinetic energy for the propulsion. The turbojet is the most inefficient
engine when compared to the turboprop and the turbofan but produces high thrusts. It
consumes more fuel than its counterparts but the range of velocities at which is
operated cannot be achieved by the turboprop or the turbofan. The top operational
velocity is the vicinity of Mach 3.0. Among the most famous aircrafts that make use
of this propulsion system are: the Anglo-French built Concorde, the Russian TU-144,
and the famous American bomber B-52.
The last of the air breathing propulsion systems is the prop-fan (Figure 6). The propfan is a newer air breathing system. It is a combination of a turboprop and a turbofan.
Its arrangement makes it the only propeller driven aircraft that is capable of pushing
an aircrafts to speeds up to Mach one. Its only problem and the main reason for why it

has not been incorporated into commercial aircrafts is the intensity of the noise
coming from it. It has a higher efficiency than any of the air-breathing engines. It is
basically a turbojet engine with a propeller in the back of the engine rather than in
front like the turbojet or turbofan.
The propfan need not be a pusher - it can just as well be a tractor, just as the turboprop
can be a pusher! The difference between the prop-fan and the turboprop is that in the
prop-fan the exhaust jet is used for propulsion in combination with the propeller/fan.
Basically, it is a turbofan engine with a higher bypass ratio (ratio of air mass going
through bypass to air mass going into engine) and, possibly but not necessarily,
without a fan duct. The boundary between the prop-fan and the turbofan is floating, as
can be appreciated by different company's vocabulary (e.g., unducted fan engine).

Figure 6. Schematic diagram of a prop-fan engine.

Beyond Turbojets
The turbojet is the general configuration for mostly all aircraft-related propulsion
systems. But as flight speed increases beyond Mach 3.5 (3.5 times the speed of sound)
the turbojet configuration becomes highly inefficient. The reason for this is that as
Mach number increases and the total inlet temperature rises, so does the total inlet
pressure. In the vicinity of Mach 3, the inlet pressure rise is sufficient to permit the
compressor to be omitted. This would imply that there would be no need for a turbine
either since the sole purpose of the turbine is to drive the compressor. The resulting
engine is known as a ramjet. A ramjet is probably the simplest and yet most powerful

aircraft engine. The ramjet is basically a duct with the front end shaped in the form of
an inlet, the aft end designed as a nozzle, and the combustion chamber in the middle
(Figure 7). While a ramjet may be operated below Mach 3, they must operate at
speeds greater than Mach 3 to be competitive with turbojets.

Figure 7. Schematic diagram of a ramjet.

As speeds increase beyond Mach 5, the temperature at the inlet will increase
tremendously. This increase in temperature would tend to dissociate and ionize the air,
a process that absorbs energy and reduces the temperature increase sought from the
burning of the fuel. In order to correct this problem, a new generation of ramjets was
developed known as scramjet or supersonic combustion ramjet. Very few vehicles
(mostly missiles) have been fitted with this type of propulsion system.

The information in this section has been extracted from several sources. Those
sources have been contacted and permission to use their material on our site is
pending. However, the format in which this material has been presented is
copyrighted by the ALLSTAR network.
The ALLSTAR network would like to thank Mr. Dirk Veenhuizen for comments that
helped enhance this page.

Pratt & Whitney Engines

F100-PW-220/F100-PW-220E TUBOFAN ENGINE

Aircraft using this engine (click here)

Aircraft using this engine (click here)
Engine Characteristic
Maximum Thrust (Full
Augmentation)

23,770 pounds (105.7 kN)

Intermediate Thrust
(Nonaugmented)

14,590 pounds (64.9 kN)

Weight

3,2324 pounds (1467 kg)

Length

191 in. (4.85 m)

Inlet Diameter

34.8 in. (0.88 m)

Maximum Diameter

46.5 in. (1. 18 in)

Bypass Ratio
Overall Pressure Ratio

0.6
25 to 1

This material is copyrighted to Pratt and Whitney and they retain and reserve all
rights to this material. The use of this material by the ALLSTAR network is with
permission of Pratt and Whitney. The ALLSTAR network's copyright applies to
the format used in presenting this material. Pratt and Whitney should be
contacted directly for permission to use this material.

Pratt & Whitney Engines

F100-PW-229 TURBOFAN ENGINE

Aircraft used on (click here)

Engine Characteristic
Maximum Thrust (Full
Augmentation)

29,100 lb (129.4 kN)

Intermediate Thrust
(Nonaugmented)

17,800 Ib (79.2 kN)

Weight (Specification
Maximum)

3,740 lb (1,681 kg)

Length

191 in. (4.85 m)

Inlet Diameter

34.8 in. (0.88 m)

Maximum Diameter

46.5 in. (1. 18 in)

Bypass Ratio
Overall Pressure Ratio

0.36
32 to 1

This material is copyrighted to Pratt and Whitney and they retain and reserve all
rights to this material. The use of this material by the ALLSTAR network is with
permission of Pratt and Whitney. The ALLSTAR network's copyright applies to
the format used in presenting this material. Pratt and Whitney should be
contacted directly for permission to use this material.

Pratt & Whitney Engines

F119-PW-100 TURBOFAN ENGINE

Aircraft using this engine (click here)

Engine Characteristic
Type

Twin-Spool, Augmented
Turbofan

Application

F-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter

Thrust

35,000 Pound Thrust Class

Engine Control

Full-Authority Digital Electronic

Control

Twin Spool/Counter
Rotating/Axial Flow/
Compression System Low-Aspect Ratio
Three-Stage Fan
Six-Stage Compressor
Combustor

Annular

Turbine

Axial Flow/Counter Rotating

One-Stage, High-Pressure
Turbine
One-Stage, Low-Pressure
Turbine

Nozzle

Two-dimensional Vectoring
Convergent/Divergent

This material is copyrighted to Pratt and Whitney and they retain and reserve all
rights to this material. The use of this material by the ALLSTAR network is with
permission of Pratt and Whitney. The ALLSTAR network's copyright applies to
the format used in presenting this material. Pratt and Whitney should be
contacted directly for permission to use this material.

Pratt & Whitney Engines

F117-PW-100 TURBOFAN ENGINE

Aircraft using this engine (click here)

Engine Characteristic
Maximum Thrust (Full
Augmentation)
Weight (Specification
Maximum)
Length

41,700 pounds (167.3 kN)

7,100 pounds (3,220 kg)
146.8 inches (3.73 m)

Inlet Diameter

78.5 inches (1.99 m)

Maximum Diameter

84.5 inches (2.15 m)

Bypass Ratio
Overall Pressure Ratio

5.9 to 1
30.8 to 1

This material is copyrighted to Pratt and Whitney and they retain and reserve all
rights to this material. The use of this material by the ALLSTAR network is with
permission of Pratt and Whitney. The ALLSTAR network's copyright applies to
the format used in presenting this material. Pratt and Whitney should be
contacted directly for permission to use this material.

Aircraft Engine Thrust Calculations - Level 3

In this section, we deal with one of the forces acting on an aircraft, namely, the thrust
produced by the aircraft's engine. In the first part of this section we will look at
propellers and their efficiency. In the second part of this section, we will provide the
formula for the thrust of a jet engine.

Total Propeller Efficiency

Propellers are used to drive many lightweight aircraft and were the principal means of
propulsion for military aircraft until the advent of the jet engine. As such, it is
important to know how propellers work and how efficient they are. The propeller
efficiency can never reach the ideal efficiency of 100 %. This is because in the
development of the propeller efficiency several concepts are ignored,

1. The friction drag of the blades.

2. The kinetic energy of the rotation of the slipstream.
3. The fact that the thrust is not uniformly distributed over the blades.
The maximun propeller efficiency is about 90 %. This is due to the combined effects
of drag from the nacelle and wings upon the propeller. This combined effect drops
propeller efficiency to about 87 %. From there the thrust horsepower provided by the
propeller is

where:
= thrust (lb)
= velocity (ft/s)
= engine brake horsepower
550 = conversion factor from ft-lbs to horsepower
= propeller efficiency
Thrust Equation For Turbojet-Type Engines
The thrust equation for a turbojet can be derived from the general form of Newton's
second law (i.e., force equals the time rate of change of momentum),

The figure below shows the inlet and exhaust flows of the turbojet. The negative
thrust due to bringing the freestream air almost to rest just ahead of the engine is
called momentum drag or ram drag. The resulting thrust is given by following
equation,

Schematic of a turbojet engine.

where:
= is weight flow rate of the air passing through the engine.
= jet stream velocity
= static pressure across propelling nozzle
= atmospheric pressure
= propelling nozzle area
= aircraft speed

The information in this section has been extracted from several sources. Those
sources have been contacted and permission to use their material on our site is
pending. However, the format in which this material has been presented is
copyrighted by the ALLSTAR network.

Aircraft Propulsion - Level 3

Gas Turbine Operation and Design Requirements
Introduction
A turbine is any kind of spinning device that uses the action of a fluid to produce
work. Typical fluids are: air, wind, water, steam and helium. Windmills and
hydroelectric dams have used turbine action for decades to turn the core of an
electrical generator to produce power for both industrial and residential consumption.
Simpler turbines are much older, with the first known appearance dating to the time of
ancient Greece.

In the history of energy conversion however, the gas turbine is relatively new. The
first practical gas turbine used to generate electricity ran at Neuchatel, Switzerland in
1939, and was developed by the Brown Boveri Company. The first gas turbine
powered airplane flight also took place in 1939 in Germany, using the gas turbine
developed by Hans P. von Ohain. In England, the 1930's invention and development
of the aircraft gas turbine by Frank Whittle resulted in a similar British flight in 1941.
The name "gas turbine'' is somewhat misleading, because to many it implies a turbine
engine that uses gas as its fuel. Actually a gas turbine (as shown schematically in Fig.
1) has a compressor to draw in and compress gas (most usually air); a combustor (or
burner) to add fuel to heat the compressed air; and a turbine to extract power from the
hot air flow. The gas turbine is an internal combustion (IC) engine employing a
continuous combustion process. This differs from the intermittent combustion
occurring in Diesel and automotive IC engines.

Figure 1. Schematic for a) an aircraft jet engine; and

b) a land-based gas turbine.
Because the 1939 origin of the gas turbine lies simultaneously in the electric power
field and in aviation, there have been a profusion of "other names" for the gas turbine.
For electrical power generation and marine applications it is generally called a gas
turbine, also a combustion turbine (CT), a turboshaft engine, and sometimes a gas
turbine engine. For aviation applications it is usually called a jet engine, and various
other names depending on the particular engine configuration or application, such as:

jet turbine engine; turbojet; turbofan; fanjet; and turboprop or prop jet (if it is used to
drive a propeller). The compressor-combustor-turbine part of the gas turbine (Fig. 1)
is commonly termed the gas generator.
The original article from which this section is extracted, Introduction to Gas Turbines
for Non-Engineers, by Lee S. Langston, University of Connecticut and George
Opdyke, Jr., Dykewood Enterprises, can be found in the ASME International Gas
Turbine Institute's "Global Gas Turbine News", Volume 37, No.2, 1997, and has been
used with permission

Aircraft Propulsion - Level 3

Gas Turbine Operation and Design Requirements
Gas Turbine Usage
In an aircraft gas turbine the output of the turbine is used to turn the compressor
(which may also have an associated fan or propeller). The hot air flow leaving the
turbine is than accelerated into the atmosphere through an exhaust nozzle (Fig. la) to
provide thrust or propulsion power:

Figure 1a. Schematic for an aircraft jet engine

Figure 1.b A land-based gas turbine.

A typical jet engine is shown in Fig. 2. Such engines can range from about 100 pounds
of thrust (lbst.) to as high as 100,000 lbst. with weights ranging from about 30 to
20,000 lbs. The smallest jets are used for devices such as the cruise missile, the largest
for future generations of commercial aircraft. The jet engine of Fig.2 is
a turbofan engine, with a large diameter compressor-mounted fan. Thrust is generated
both by air passing through the fan (bypass air) and through the gas generator itself.
With a large frontal area, the turbofan generates peak thrust at low (takeoff) speeds
making it most suitable for commercial aircraft.

Figure 2. A modern jet engine used to power Boeing 777 aircraft.

This is a Pratt & Whitney PW4084 turbofan which can produce 84,000 pounds of
thrust. It has a 112-inch diameter front-mounted fan, a length of 192 inches (4.87
m) and a weight of about 15,000 pounds (6804 kg). The nozzle has been
disconnected from this engine.
A turbojet does not have a fan and generates all of its thrust from air that passes
through the gas generator. Turbojets have smaller frontal areas and generate peak
thrusts at high speeds, making them most suitable for fighter aircraft.
In non-aviation gas turbines, part of the turbine power is used to drive the compressor.
The remainder, the "useful power", is used as output shaftpower to turn an energy
conversion device (Fig. lb) such as an electrical generator or a ship's propeller.
A typical land-based gas turbine is shown in Fig. 3. Such units can range in power
output from 0.05 MW(Megawatts) to as high as 240 MW. The unit shown in Fig. 3 is

an aeroderivative gas turbine; i.e., a lighter weight unit derived from an aircraft jet
engine. Heavier weight units designed specifically for land use are
called industrial or frame machines. Although aeroderivative gas turbines are being
increasingly used for base load electrical power generation they are most frequently
used to drive compressors for natural gas pipelines, power ships and provide peaking
and intermittent power for electric utility applications. Peaking power supplements a
utility's normal steam turbine or hydroelectric power output during high demand
periods ... such as the summer demand for air conditioning in many major cities.

Figure 3. A modern land-based gas turbine used for electrical power production
and for mechanical drives. This is a General Electric LM5000 machine with a
length of 246 inches (6.2 m) and a weight of about 27,700 pounds (12,500 kg). It
produces maximum shaft power of 55.2 MW (74,000 hp) at 3,600 rpm with steam
injection. This model shows a direct drive configuration where the l.p. turbine
drives both the l.p. compressor and the output shaft. Other models can be made
with a power turbine.
Some of the principle advantages of the gas turbine are:
1. It is capable of producing large amounts of useful power for a relatively small
size and weight.

2. Since motion of all its major components involve pure rotation (i.e. no
reciprocating motion as in a piston engine), its mechanical life is long and the
corresponding maintenance cost is relatively low.
3. Although the gas turbine must be started by some external means (a small
external motor or other source, such as another gas turbine), it can be brought
up to full-load (peak output) conditions in minutes as contrasted to a steam
turbine plant whose start up time is measured in hours.
4. A wide variety of fuels can be utilized. Natural gas is commonly used in landbased gas turbines while light distillate (kerosene-like) oils power aircraft gas
turbines. Diesel oil or specially treated residual oils can also be used, as well as
combustible gases derived from blast furnaces, refineries and the gasification of
solid fuels such as coal, wood chips and bagasse.
5. The usual working fluid is atmospheric air. As a basic power supply, the gas
turbine requires no coolant (e.g. water).
In the past, one of the major disadvantages of the gas turbine was its lower efficiency
(hence higher fuel usage) when compared to other IC engines and to steam turbine
power plants. However, during the last fifty years, continuous engineering
development work has pushed the thermal efficiency (18% for the 1939 Neuchatel gas
turbine) to present levels of about 40% for simple cycle operation, and about 55% for
combined cycle operation (see next section). Even more fuel-efficient gas turbines are
in the planning stages, with simple cycle efficiencies predicted as high as 45-47% and
combined cycle machines in the 60% range. These projected values are significantly
higher than other prime movers, such as steam power plants.

The original article from which this section is extracted, Introduction to Gas Turbines
for Non-Engineers, by Lee S. Langston, University of Connecticut and George
Opdyke, Jr., Dykewood Enterprises, can be found in the ASME International Gas
Turbine Institute's "Global Gas Turbine News", Volume 37, No.2, 1997, and has been
used with permission.

Aircraft Propulsion - Level 3

Gas Turbine Operation and Design Requirements

Gas Turbine Cycles
A cycle describes what happens to air as it passes into, through, and out of the gas
turbine. The cycle usually describes the relationship between the space occupied by
the air in the system (called volume, V) and the pressure (P) it is under. The Brayton
cycle (1876), shown in graphic form in Fig. 4a as a pressure-volume diagram, is a
representation of the properties of a fixed amount of air as it passes through a gas
turbine in operation. These same points are also shown in the engine schematic in Fig.
4b.

Air is compressed from point 1 to point 2. This increases the pressure as the volume of
space occupied by the air is reduced. The air is then heated at constant pressure from 2
to 3 in Fig. 4. This heat is added by injecting fuel into the combustor and igniting it on
a continuous basis. The hot compressed air at point 3 is then allowed to expand (from
point 3 to 4), reducing the pressure and temperature and increasing its volume. In the
engine in Fig. 4b, this represents flow through the turbine to point 3' and then flow
through the power turbine to point 4 to turn a shaft or a ship's propeller. In an aircraft
jet engine, the flow from point 3' to 4 is through the exit nozzle to produce thrust. The
"useful work" in Fig. 4a is indicated by the curve 3'- 4. This is the energy available to
cause output shaft power for a land-based gas turbine, or thrust for a jet aircraft. The
Brayton cycle is completed in Fig. 4 by a process in which the volume of the air is
decreased (temperature decrease) as heat is absorbed into the atmosphere.

Figure 4a. Brayton cycle pressure-volume diagram for a unit mass of working fluid
(e.g., air), showing work (W) and heat (Q) inputs and outputs.

Figure 4b. Gas turbine schematic showing relative points from the Brayton Cycle
diagram.

Most gas turbines operate in an open cycle mode where, for instance, air is taken in
from the atmosphere (point 1 in Figs. 4a and 4b) and discharged back into the
atmosphere (point 4), with the hot air being cooled naturally after it exits the engine.
In a closed cycle gas turbine facility, such as a land-based gas turbine facility, the
working fluid (air or other gas) is continuously recycled by cooling the exhaust air
(point 4) through a heat exchanger (shown schematically in Fig. 5) and directing it
back to the compressor inlet (point 1).

Figure 5. Closed Cycle System.

Because of its confined, fixed amount of gas, the closed cycle gas turbine is not an
internal combustion engine. In the closed cycle system, combustion cannot be
sustained and the normal combustor is replaced with a second heat exchanger to heat
the compressed air before it enters the turbine. The heat is supplied by an external
source such as a nuclear reactor, the fluidized bed of a coal combustion process, or
some other heat source. Closed cycle systems using gas turbines have been proposed
for missions to Mars and other long term space applications.
A gas turbine that is configured and operated to closely follow the Brayton cycle (Fig.
4) is called a simple cycle gas turbine. Most aircraft gas turbines operate in a simple
cycle configuration since attention must be paid to engine weight and frontal area.
However, in land or marine applications, additional equipment can be added to the

simple cycle gas turbine, leading to increases in efficiency and/or the output of a unit.
One such modification is reheating.
Reheating occurs in the turbine and is a way to increase turbine work without
changing compressor work or melting the materials from which the turbine is
constructed. Reheat in a jet engine is accomplished by adding an afterburner at the
turbine exhaust, thereby increasing thrust, at the expense of a greatly increased fuel
consumption rate.
More information on land and marine applications of the gas turbine can be found in
the original article, Introduction to Gas Turbines for Non-Engineers, by Lee
S.Langston, University of Connecticut and George Opdyke, Jr., Dykewood
Enterprises, in the ASME International Gas Turbine Institute's "Global Gas Turbine
News", Volume 37, No.2, 1997, from which this section on aircraft gas turbines has
been extracted with permission

Aircraft Propulsion - Level 3

Gas Turbine Operation and Design Requirements
Gas Turbine Components
A greater understanding of the gas turbine and its operation can be gained by
considering its three major components (Figs. 1, 2 and 3 found in the three previous
sections): the compressor, the combustor and the turbine. The features and
characteristics will be touched on here only briefly.

Compressors and Turbines: The compressor components are connected to the turbine
by a shaft in order to allow the turbine to turn the compressor. A single shaft gas
turbine (Fig. la and 1b) has only one shaft connecting the compressor and turbine
components. A twin spool gas turbine, which is found in land- and marine-based
applications, has two concentric shafts, a longer one connecting a low pressure
compressor to a low pressure turbine (the low spool) which rotates inside a shorter
larger diameter shaft. The shorter, larger diameter shaft connects the high pressure
turbine with the higher pressure compressor (the high spool) which rotates at higher
speeds than the low spool. A triple spool engine would have a third, intermediate
pressure compressor-turbine spool.

Gas turbine compressors are either centrifugal or axial, or can be a combination of

both. Centrifugal compressors (with compressed air output around the outer perimeter
of the machine) are robust, generally cost less and are limited to pressure ratios of 6 or
7 to 1. They are found in early gas turbines or in modern, smaller gas turbines.
The more efficient, higher capacity axial flow compressors (with compressed air
output directed along the center line of the machine) are used in most gas turbines
(e.g. Figs. 2 and 3). An axial compressor is made up of a relatively large number of
stages, each stage, consisting of a row of rotating blades (airfoils) and a row of
stationary blades (stators), arranged so that the air is compressed as it passes through
each stage.
Turbines are generally easier to design and operate than compressors, since the hot air
flow is expanding rather than being compressed. Axial flow turbines (e.g.
Figs. 2 and 3) will require fewer stages than an axial compressor. There are some
smaller gas turbines that utilize centrifugal turbines (radial inflow), but most utilize
axial turbines.
Turbine design and manufacture is complicated by the need to extend turbine
component life in the hot air flow. The problem of ensuring durability is especially
critical in the first turbine stage where temperatures are highest. Special materials and
elaborate cooling schemes must be used to allow turbine airfoils that melt at 18001900F to survive in air flows with temperatures as high as 3000F.
Combustors: A successful combustor design must satisfy many requirements and has
been a challenge from the earliest gas turbines of Whittle and von Ohain. The relative
importance of each requirement varies with the application of the gas turbine, and of
course, some requirements are conflicting, requiring design compromises to be made.
Most design requirements reflect concerns over engine costs, efficiency, and the
environment. The basic design requirements can be classified as follows:
1. High combustion efficiency at all operating conditions.
2. Low levels of unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide,
low oxides of nitrogen at high power and no visible smoke for
land-based systems. (Minimized pollutants and emissions.)
3. Low pressure drop. Three to four percent is common.

4. Combustion must be stable under all operating conditions.

5. Consistently reliable ignition must be attained at very low
temperatures, and at high altitudes (for aircraft).
6. Smooth combustion, with no pulsations or rough burning.
7. A low temperature variation for good turbine life requirements.
8. Useful life (thousands of hours), particularly for industrial use.
9. Multi-fuel use. Characteristically natural gas and diesel fuel are
used for industrial applications and kerosene for aircraft.
10.
Length and diameter compatible with engine envelope
(outside dimensions).
11.

Designed for minimum cost, repair and maintenance.

12.

Minimum weight (for aircraft applications).

A combustor consists of at least three basic parts: a casing, a flame tube and a fuel
injection system. The casing must withstand the cycle pressures and may be a part of
the structure of the gas turbine. It encloses a relatively thin-walled flame tube within
which combustion takes place, and a fuel injection system.
Compared to other prime movers (such as Diesel and reciprocating automobile
engines), gas turbines are considered to produce very low levels of combustion
pollution. The gas turbine emissions of major concern are unburned hydrocarbons,
carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and smoke. While the contribution of jet
aircraft to atmospheric pollution is less than 1%, jet aircraft emissions injected
directly into the upper troposphere have doubled between the latitudes of 40 to 60
degrees north, increasing ozone by about 20%. In the stratosphere, where supersonic
aircraft fly, NOx will deplete ozone. Both effects are harmful, so further NO x reduction
in gas turbine operation is a challenge for the 21st century.
The original article from which this section is extracted, Introduction to Gas Turbines for
Non-Engineers, by Lee S.Langston, University of Connecticut and George Opdyke, Jr.,
Dykewood Enterprises, can be found in the ASME International Gas Turbine

Institute's "Global Gas Turbine News", Volume 37, No.2, 1997, and has been used
with permission.