PROPULSION-I

UNIT – 1
PRINCIPLES OF AIR BREATHING
PROPULSION
OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF
AIRCRAFT PISTON ENGINE
 OTTO CYCLE
Aircraft piston/reciprocating engines operate on
an air standard cycle known as the Otto Cycle.
The four strokes of Otto cycle are:
1. intake/suction stroke
2. compression stroke
3. power/expansion stroke
4. exhaust stroke
THE FOUR STROKES
THE FOUR STROKES
p-V and T-S DIAGRAMS
ACTUAL p-V DIAGRAM OF GASOLINE/PETROL
ENGINE
 AVIATION GASOLINE
• Aircraft reciprocating (piston) engines are typically
designed to run on aviation gasoline(petrol), which has a
higher octane rating as compared to automotive
gasoline(petrol)
• This allows the use of higher compression ratios,
increasing power output and efficiency at higher
altitudes.
• The most common fuel for aircraft engines has a octane
rating of 100 octane and low lead content.
• Aviation fuel is blended with tetra-ethyl lead(TEL) to
achieve these high octane ratings
• Currently available aviation gasoline:100LL avgas
CLASSIFICATION OF PISTON ENGINES
Opposed
Cylinder
Inline
Arrangement
Radial
Cooling Air cooled

Piston Operating Liquid cooled

Engines Cycle
Four Stroke

Two Stroke
Ignition
SI

CI
 OPPOSED TYPE
e.g.:
1. Teledyne Continental
GTSIO-520
2. Lycoming IO-540
 INLINE TYPE
• M-337b, a 6 cylinder inline engine made by LOM
PRAHA
 RADIAL TYPE
• Pratt and Whitney R-4360
 POWER DEFINITIONS
Indicated Horsepower (IHP)
• The actual power developed in the engine cylinders.
• This is calculated based on the cylinder pressure, RPM,
and the displacement volume.
Brake Horsepower (BHP)
• The power output of the engine. Brake Horsepower
is also sometimes called Shaft Horsepower.
2
=
60
 POWER DEFINITIONS
Friction Horsepower (FHP)
• The power loss due to friction, accessories, and
superchargers. It is indicated horsepower minus brake
horsepower.
Thrust Horsepower (THP)
• The power delivered by the propeller. THP is calculated
by BHP x Propeller efficiency.
• Also, THP = (T × V∞)
• For a steady state flight, propeller thrust equals aircraft
drag (T = D); therefore, if aircraft drag is known, we can
solve for THP from THP = (V∞ × D)
ENGINE POWER
 MEAN EFFECTIVE PRESSURE
Mean Effective Pressure, MEP, is defined as the constant
pressure which would have to act upon the piston for
one stroke to equal the actual work output of one
complete cycle.
× × × ×
=
60
− !
− " # $ %
− &# ' % ' (
−
2
− " " &# '
 EFFICIENCIES
) × × × ×
) =
60
PROBLEM
160 psi = 11.03 bar
5 in = 0.127 m
15 in3 = 2.46x10-4 m3
GAS TURBINE ENGINES
 WORKING OF GAS TURBINE ENGINES
Gas generator
• At the heart of an aircraft gas turbine engine is a gas
generator.
• It is composed of three major components, a compressor,
a burner (sometimes referred to as combustor or
combustion chamber), followed by a turbine.
 TURBOJET ENGINE
• An aircraft turbojet engine is basically a gas generator
fitted with an inlet and exhaust system.
• The station numbers in a turbojet engine are defined as
• a - intake - 1 - compressor - 2 - burner - 3 – turbine - 4 -
nozzle - 5
 COMPONENT FUNCTIONS
Intake
• The basic function of intake is to deliver the air to the
compressor at the right Mach number and the right quality,
that is, with low distortion.
• The subsonic compressors are designed for an inlet Mach
number of 0.5–0.6. Therefore, if the flight Mach number is
greater than 0.5 or 0.6, which includes all commercial (fixed
wing) transports and military (fixed wing) aircraft, then the
intake is required to decelerate the air efficiently
• Therefore, the main function of an inlet is to diffuse or decelerate
the flow, and hence it is also called a diffuser. Flow
deceleration is accompanied by the static pressure rise or
what is known as the adverse pressure gradient in fluid
dynamics
 COMPONENT FUNCTIONS
Compressor
• It requires external power to operate. The power comes
from the turbine via a shaft
• The compressor discharge contains higher energy gas,
that is, the compressed air
• The energy transfer to the air in a compressor is
achieved by one or more rows of rotating blades (called
rotors) attached to one or more rotating shafts (typically
referred to as spools).
 COMPONENT FUNCTIONS
Burner
• In the combustor, the air is mixed with fuel and a
chemical reaction occurs which is exothermic, that is, it
results in a heat release
• The high pressure and temperature gas that leaves the
combustor is directed into a turbine.
• Deceleration of the compressor discharge flow
• Mixing improvement and ignition
• Stabilizing the primary combustion zone
• Cooling flow
 COMPONENT FUNCTIONS
Turbine
• The flow process in a turbine (and exhaust nozzle) involves
significant (static) pressure drop and (static) temperature drop,
which is called flow expansion
• The flow expansion produces the necessary power for the
compressor
• The turbine is connected to the compressor via a common shaft,
which provides the shaft power to the compressor
 COMPONENT FUNCTIONS
Nozzle
• The primary function of an aircraft engine exhaust system is to
accelerate the gas efficiently
• As the fluid accelerates in a nozzle, the static pressure drops and
hence a favorable pressure gradient environment is produced in the
nozzle.
• This is in contrast to diffuser flows where an adverse pressure gradient
environment prevails.
• Perfect nozzle expansion means that the nozzle exit
(static) pressure and the ambient pressure are equal
• Underexpansion: p5 > pa
• Overexpansion: p5 < pa
• Perfectly expanded nozzle results in Fg,max

convergent–
divergent
supersonic
nozzle