Unit-1

AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINES

Impulse and reaction blading of gas turbines Velocity triangles and power output Elementary
theory Vortex theory Choice of blade profile, pitch and chord Estimation of stage
performance Limiting factors in gas turbine design- Overall turbine performance Methods of
blade cooling Matching of turbine and compressor Numerical problems.

Axial and radial flow turbines

As with the compressor, there are two basic types of turbineradial flow and axial flow. The
vast majority of gas turbines employ the axial flow turbine. The radial turbine can handle low
mass flows more efficiently than the axial flow machine and has been widely used in the
cryogenic industry as a turbo-expander, and in turbochargers for reciprocating engines. Although
for all but the lowest powers the axial flow turbine is normally the more efficient, when mounted
back-to-back with a centrifugal compressor the radial turbine offers the benefit of a very short
and rigid rotor. This configuration is eminently suitable for gas turbines where compactness is
more important than low fuel consumption. Auxiliary power units for aircraft (APUs), generating
sets of up to 3 MW, and mobile power plants are typical applications.
The analysis of turbines is very similar to that of dynamic compressors. The turbines are
generally classified into two types; viz., impulse turbine and reaction turbine. In the impulse
turbine, the gases expand to a high velocity in the nozzle and pass over to the moving blades.
The moving blades simply divert the gas flow to the next stage or to the exit, and in the process
convert the kinetic energy into useful work. There is no expansion or pressure drop over the
moving blades. The reaction turbine is characterized by the fact that the pressure drop or
expansion takes place both in the nozzles (or stator blades) as well as in the moving blades. In
case of an impulse turbine the blade passage area remains constant while for reaction turbine the
passage area varies continuously to allow for the continued expansion of the gas stream over the
moving blades.

Simple impulse turbine principle

Impulse turbine

A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful
work. Gas, steam, and water turbines usually have a casing around the blades that contains and
controls the working fluid.

Theory of operation
A working fluid contains potential energy (pressure head) and kinetic energy (velocity head).
The fluid may be compressible or incompressible. Several physical principles are employed by
turbines to collect this energy:

Impulse turbines turbines change the direction of flow of a high velocity fluid or gas jet. The
resulting impulse spins the turbine and leaves the fluid flow with diminished kinetic energy.
There is no pressure change of the fluid or gas in the turbine blades (the moving blades), as in the
case of a steam or gas turbine, all the pressure drop takes place in the stationary blades (the
nozzles). Before reaching the turbine, the fluid's pressure head is changed to velocity head by
accelerating the fluid with a nozzle. Pelton wheels and de Laval turbines use this process

exclusively. Impulse turbines do not require a pressure casement around the rotor since the fluid
jet is created by the nozzle prior to reaching the blading on the rotor. Newton's second law
describes the transfer of energy for impulse turbines. A nozzle is a device designed to control the
direction or characteristics of a fluid flow (especially to increase velocity) as it exits (or enters)
an enclosed chamber or pipe via an orifice. A nozzle is often a pipe or tube of varying cross
sectional area, and it can be used to direct or modify the flow of a fluid (liquid or gas). Nozzles
are frequently used to control the rate of flow, speed, direction, mass, shape, and/or the pressure
of the stream that emerges from them.
The second law states that the net force on a particle is equal to the time rate of change of its
linear momentum p in an inertial reference frame: F = dP/dt = d(mV)/dt, where, since the law is
valid only for constant-mass systems, the mass can be taken outside the differentiation operator
by the constant factor rule in differentiation. Thus, F = m dv/dt = ma, where F is the net force
applied, m is the mass of the body, and a is the body's acceleration. Thus, the net force applied to
a body produces a proportional acceleration.
Any mass that is gained or lost by the system will cause a change in momentum that is not
the result of an external force. A different equation is necessary for variable-mass systems (see
below).
Consistent with the first law, the time derivative of the momentum is non-zero when the
momentum changes direction, even if there is no change in its magnitude; such is the case with
uniform circular motion. The relationship also implies the conservation of momentum: when the
net force on the body is zero, the momentum of the body is constant. Any net force is equal to
the rate of change of the momentum.

A typical axial-flow gas turbine turbojet

Gasses passing through an ideal a gas turbine undergo three thermodynamic processes. These
are isentropic compression, isobaric (constant pressure) combustion and isentropic expansion.
Together these make up the Brayton cycle.
In a practical gas turbine, gasses are first accelerated in either a centrifugal or radial
compressor. These gasses are then slowed using a diverging nozzle known as a diffuser, these
process increase the pressure and temperature of the flow. In an ideal system this is isentropic.
However, in practice energy is lost to heat, due to friction and turbulence. Gasses then pass from
the diffuser to a combustion chamber, or similar device, where heat is added. In an ideal system
this occurs at constant pressure (isobaric heat addition).
As there is no change in pressure the specific volume of the gasses increases. In practical
situations this process is usually accompanied by a slight loss in pressure, due to friction.
Finally, this larger volume of gasses is expanded and accelerated by nozzle guide vanes
before energy is extracted by a turbine. In an ideal system these are gasses expanded
isentropicly and leave the turbine at their original pressure. In practice this process is not
isentropic as energy is once again lost to friction and turbulence.
If the device has been designed to power to a shaft as with an industrial generator or a
turboprop, the exit pressure will be as close to the entry pressure as possible. In practice it is
necessary that some pressure remains at the outlet in order to fully expel the exhaust gasses. In
the case of a jet engine only enough pressure and energy is extracted from the flow to drive the
compressor and other components. The remaining high pressure gasses are accelerated to
provide a jet that can, for example, be used to propel an aircraft.
As with all cyclic heat engines, higher combustion temperatures can allow for greater
efficiencies. However, temperatures are limited by ability of the steel, nickel, ceramic, or other
materials that make up the engine to withstand high temperatures and stresses. To combat this
many turbines feature complex blade cooling systems.
As a general rule, the smaller the engine the higher the rotation rate of the shaft(s) needs to
be to maintain tip speed. Blade tip speed determines the maximum pressure ratios that can be
obtained by the turbine and the compressor. This in turn limits the maximum power and
efficiency that can be obtained by the engine. In order for tip speed to remain constant, if the
diameter of a rotor is reduced by half, the rotational speed must double. For example large Jet
engines operate around 10,000 rpm, while micro turbines spin as fast as 500,000 rpm.
Mechanically, gas turbines can be considerably less complex than internal combustion piston
engines. Simple turbines might have one moving part: the shaft/compressor/turbine/alternativerotor assembly (see image above), not counting the fuel system. However, the required precision
manufacturing for components and temperature resistant alloys necessary for high efficiency
often make the construction of a simple turbine more complicated than piston engines.
More sophisticated turbines (such as those found in modern jet engines) may have multiple
shafts (spools), hundreds of turbine blades, movable stator blades, and a vast system of complex
piping, combustors and heat exchangers.
Thrust bearings and journal bearings are a critical part of design. Traditionally, they have
been hydrodynamic oil bearings, or oil-cooled ball bearings. These bearings are being surpassed
by foil bearings, which have been successfully used in micro turbines and auxiliary power units.
Newton's second law requires modification if the effects of special relativity are to be
taken into account, because at high speeds the approximation that momentum is the
product of rest mass and velocity is not accurate.

Reaction turbines develop torque by reacting to the gas or fluid's pressure or mass. The
pressure of the gas or fluid changes as it passes through the turbine rotor blades. A pressure
casement is needed to contain the working fluid as it acts on the turbine stage(s) or the turbine
must be fully immersed in the fluid flow (such as with wind turbines). The casing contains and
directs the working fluid and, for water turbines, maintains the suction imparted by the draft
tube. Francis turbines and most steam turbines use this concept. For compressible working fluids,
multiple turbine stages are usually used to harness the expanding gas efficiently. Newton's third
law describes the transfer of energy for reaction turbines.

Velocity triangles
Velocity triangles can be used to calculate the basic performance of a turbine stage. The velocity
triangles are constructed using various velocity vectors. Velocity triangles can be constructed at
any section through the blading (for example: hub , tip, midsection and so on) but are usually
shown at the mean stage radius. Mean performance for the stage can be calculated from the
velocity triangles, at this radius, using the Euler equation:

Schematic of an Axial flow Turbine

Velocity Triangles for an Axial Flow Turbine Stage

Typical representations of velocity triangles

Problem (Home Work):

READING ASSIGNMENT
Aircraft Performance
In this chapter we will make the connections between aircraft performance and propulsion
system performance. For a vehicle in steady, level flight, as in Figure 1, the thrust force is equal
to the drag force, and lift is equal to weight. Any thrust available in excess of that required to
overcome the drag can be applied to accelerate the vehicle (increasing kinetic energy) or to cause
the vehicle to climb (increasing potential energy).

Figure 1: A schematic of the forces on an aircraft in steady level flight

Aircraft Range: the Breguet Range Equation

Consider an aircraft in steady, level flight, with weight
, as shown in Figure 13.1. The rate of
change of the gross weight of the vehicle is equal to the fuel weight flow:

For steady, level flight,

, or

The rate of change of aircraft gross weight is thus

Suppose L/D and ISP remain constant along the flight path:

We can integrate this equation for the change in aircraft weight to yield a relation between the
weight change and the time of flight:

Where Wi is the initial weight. If Wf is the final weight of vehicle and tinitial = 0, the relation
between vehicle parameters and flight time, tf, is

The range is the flight time multiplied by the flight speed, or,

The above equation is known as the Breguet range equation. It shows the influence of
aircraft, propulsion system, and structural design parameters.

Relation of overall efficiency, Isp , and thermal efficiency

Suppose hfuel is the heating value (``heat of combustion'') of the fuel (i.e., the energy per unit of
fuel mass), in J/kg. The rate of energy release is

so

and

Thus

and

or

Keep in mind that, in general,

The Propulsion Energy Conversion Chain

The above concepts are depicted in Figure 2 as parts of the propulsion energy conversion train
mentioned in Part I, which shows the process from chemical energy contained in the fuel to
energy useful to the vehicle.

Figure 2: The propulsion energy conversion chain from Part I

The combustion efficiency is near unity unless conditions are far off design. We can therefore
regard the two main drivers as the thermal and propulsive efficiencies. The evolution of the
overall efficiency of aircraft engines in terms of these quantities was shown in the below
Figure 3.

Figure 3. Trend in aircraft engine efficiency (after Pratt and Whitney)

Trends in thermal efficiency are shown in Figure 3. The trends are driven by increasing
compression ratios and corresponding increases in turbine inlet temperature

Muddiest points

What exactly is the specific impulse, Isp, a measure of?

The specific impulse is a measure of how well the fuel is used in creating thrust. For a rocket
engine, the specific impulse is the effective exit velocity divided by the acceleration of gravity, g,
In terms of relating the specific impulse to some characteristic time, we can write the definition
of Isp as

From this, one can regard the specific impulse as the time that it would take to flow a quantity of
fuel that has a weight equal to the thrust force.

How is Isp found for rockets in space where

The impulse

given to a rocket is the thrust force integrated over the burn time. Traditionally,

for the case of constant exhaust velocity

, where

, the specific impulse has been used

is the propellant mass and

is the Earth's surface

gravity. Thus
is measured in seconds and is a force per weight flow. Often today, however,
specific impulse is measured in units meters/second [m/s], recognizing that force per mass flow
is more logical. The specific impulse is then simply equal to the exhaust velocity

Why does industry use

rather than

? Is there an advantage to this?

I am not sure why Thrust Specific Fuel Consumption was originally used. The gas turbine
industry uses
; the rocket propulsion industry uses essentially its inverse, Specific
Impulse. Perhaps an advantage is that
is a number of magnitude unity, whereas specific
impulse is not.

Why isn't mechanical efficiency an issue with ramjets?

As defined, the mechanical efficiency represents bearing friction, and other parasitic torques on
the rotating shaft in a gas turbine. The work associated with this needs to be provided by the
turbine, but does not go into driving the compressor. The ramjet has no shaft, and hence does not
encounter this.

How is thrust created in a ramjet?

You can look at thrust in several ways. One is through the integral form of the momentum
equation, which relates thrust to the difference between exit and inlet velocities, multiplied by the
mass flow. Another way, however, is to look at the forces on the ramjet structure, basically the
summation of pressure forces on all the surfaces. I attempted to do this in class using the turbojet
with an afterburner. For the ramjet, from the same considerations, we would have an exit nozzle
that was larger in diameter than the inlet so that the structural area on which there is a force in
the retarding direction is smaller than the area on which there is a force in the thrust direction.

and the existence of the maximum value of

What is the relation between

?

The two are very different physical statements. The first is the SFEE (steady flow energy
equation) plus the approximation that inlet and exit mass flows to the control volume are the
same. The heat received within the volume is represented by the quantity
, where
is
the heat liberated per kilogram of fuel. The second statement is a representation of the fact that
the degree of completion of the reaction in the combustor depends on temperature, so that even
though the inlet temperature increases strongly as the Mach number increases, the combustor
exit temperature does not change greatly. This is an attempt to represent a complex physical
process (or set of processes) in an approximate manner, not a law of nature.

Why didn't we have a 2s point for the Brayton cycle with non-ideal components?

If we didn't, we should have, or I should at least have marked the point at which the compressor
exit would be if the compression process was isentropic.

What is the variable

is the fuel-to-air ratio for stoichiometric combustion, or in other words the fuel-to-oxygen
ratio for a chemically correct combustion process during which all fuel is burnt and all oxygen is
consumed doing it.

Isn't it possible for the mixing of two gases to go from the final state to the initial state? If
you have two gases in a box, they should eventually separate by density, right?

Let us assume that gas

is oxygen and gas
is nitrogen. When the membrane breaks the
entire volume will be filled with a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen. This may be considered as a
special case of an unrestrained expansion, for each gas undergoes an unrestrained expansion as
it fills the entire volume. It is impossible for these two uniformly mixed gases to separate without

help from the surroundings or environment. A certain amount of work is necessary to separate
the gases and to bring them back into the left and right chambers.

How can

be the maximum turbine inlet temperature?

I agree that the

is a temperature ratio. If we assume constant ambient temperature then
this ratio reflects the maximum cycle temperature. The main point was to emphasize that the
higher your turbine inlet temperature the higher your power and efficiency levels.

When there are losses in the turbine that shift the expansion in - diagram to the right,
does this mean there is more work than ideal since the area is greater?

We have to be careful when looking at the area enclosed by a cycle or underneath a path in the
- diagram. Only for a reversible cycle, the area enclosed is the work done by the cycle (see
notes Section 6.3). Looking at the Brayton cycle with losses in compressor and turbine the net
work is the difference between the heat absorbed and the heat rejected (from the 1st law). The
along the heat addition process. The
heat absorbed can be found by integrating
heat rejected during the cycle with losses in compressor and turbine is larger than in the ideal
cycle (look at the area underneath the path where heat is rejected, this area is larger than when
there are no losses (when
). See also muddy point 6.1. So we get less
net work if irreversibilities are present. It is sometimes easier to look at work and heat
(especially shaft work for turbines and compressors) in the - diagram because the enthalpy
difference between two states directly reflects the shaft work (remember, enthalpy includes the
flow work!) and / or heat transfer.

For an afterburning engine, why must the nozzle throat area increase if the temperature of
the fluid is increased?

The Mach number of the flow is unity at the throat with and without the afterburner lit. The ratio
of static pressure to stagnation pressure at the throat is thus the same with and without the
afterburner lit. The ratio of static temperature to stagnation temperature at the throat is thus the
same with and without the afterburner lit.

The flow through the throat is

The flow through the throat thus scales as

From what we have said, however, the pressure at the throat is the same in both cases. Also, we
wish to have the mass flow the same in both cases in order to have the engine operate at near
design conditions. Putting these all together, plus use of the idea that the ratio of stagnation to
static temperature at the throat is the same for both cases gives the relation

The necessary area to pass the flow is proportional to the square root of the stagnation
temperature. If too much fuel is put into the afterburner, the increase in area cannot be met and
the flow will decrease. This can stall the engine, a serious consequence for a single engine
fighter.

Why doesn't the pressure in the afterburner go up if heat is added?

From discussions after lecture, the main point here seems to be that the process of heat addition
in the afterburner, or the combustor, is not the same as heat addition to a gas in a box. In that
case the density (mass/volume) would be constant and, from
, increasing the
temperature would increase the pressure. In a combustor, the geometry is such that the pressure
is approximately constant; this happens because the fluid has the freedom to expand so the
density decreases. From the equation
down.

if the temperature goes up, the density must go

Why is the flow in the nozzle choked?

As seen in Unified, choking occurs when the stagnation to static pressure ratio

gets to a

certain value,
for gas with of 1.4. Almost all jet aircraft aircraft operate at flight
conditions such that this is achieved. If you are not comfortable with the way in which the
concepts of choking are laid out in the test books / Unified notes, please see me and I can help
you!

What's the point of having a throat if it creates a retarding force?

As shown in Unified, to accelerate the flow from subsonic to supersonic, i.e., to create the high
velocities associated with high thrust, one must have a converging-diverging nozzle, and hence a
throat.

Why isn't the stagnation temperature conserved in this steady flow?

Heat is added in the afterburner, so the stagnation temperature increases.