Aircraft

Propulsion
Course code : 15AE43
By

N.TAMILSELVAM
Senior Asst Prof/AERO
For comments pls reach me [email protected]
Course objectives:
This course will enable students to
• Understand the basic principle and theory of aircraft propulsion.
• Understand the purpose of a centrifugal, axial compressors , axial
and radial turbines
• Acquire knowledge of importance of nozzles & inlets and
combustion chamber
Course outcomes:
After studying this course, students will be able to:

• Apply the basic principle and theory of aircraft propulsion

• Explain the functions of centrifugal, axial compressors , axial
and radial turbines
• Analyse the performance of nozzles & inlets and combustion
chamber
 Module -1
Introduction
SYLLABUS:
• Review of thermodynamic principles,
• Principles of aircraft propulsion,
• Types of power plants,
• Working principles of internal combustion engine,
• Two – stroke and four – stroke piston engines,
• Gas- turbine engines,
• Cycle analysis of reciprocating engines and jet engines ,
• advantages and disadvantages.
Types of power plants
 Spark Ignition (Carburettor Type) SI Engine
In this engine liquid fuel is atomised, vaporized and mixed with
air in correct proportion before being taken to the engine cylinder
through the intake manifolds. The ignition of the mixture is
caused by an electric spark and is known as spark ignition.

Compression Ignition (Diesel Type) IC Engine

In this only the liquid fuel is injected in the cylinder under high
pressure.
FOUR STROKE CI ENGINE CYCLE
FOUR STROKE CI ENGINE CYCLE
 Important videos
• Operation of FOUR STROKE SI engine (petrol engine)
• Operation of TWO STROKE SI engine (petrol engine)

• Operation of FOUR STROKE CI engine (Diesel Engine)

• Operation of TWO STROKE CI engine (Diesel Engine)

• Valve timing diagram FOUR STROKE SI engine

• Port timing diagram of TWO STROKE SI engine
Numerical Problems:
 Module 2

Propeller Theories & Jet

propulsion
By

N.TAMILSELVAM
SAP/AERO
 SYLLABUS
Module -2 Propeller Theories & Jet propulsion
Propeller Theories: Types of propeller, Propeller thrust: momentum
theory, Blade element theories, propeller blade design, and propeller
selection.
Jet Propulsion: Illustration of working of gas turbine engine – The
thrust equation – Factors affecting thrust – Effect of pressure, velocity
and temperature changes of air entering compressor – Methods of
thrust augmentation – Characteristics of turboprop, turbofan and
turbojet – Performance characteristics.

COURSE OUTCOME 2:
Understand the generation of thrust and overall performance of
turbojets, turbofans and turboprops.
 Introduction
• Propeller is an interface between an aircraft
engine and an aircraft. A typical propeller blade
would have a leading edge and a trailing edge.
Propeller blades are essentially made up of air
foils, which invariably then participate in the
creation of thrust. The root of the propeller is
shaped in such a manner that it blends with the
hub.
• The root is almost a circular section,
sacrificing all the airfoil shapes, essentially
to provide good structural strength to the
blade. Propeller blade, when in rotation, is
actually a like a cantilever beam.
• The tip of the propeller quite often is very thin, often may not
make a very large contribution to the thrust creation. The tip is
rounded essentially for reducing the losses related to the tip flow,
the flow around the tip.
• The propellers are finally rotating around central shaft, which is
the hub of the engine and this shaft is getting power from the
engine as necessitated by the actual propeller rotation.
• The common feature in aerofoils of propellers is that they have flat
under surface. There is a rounding around the leading edge of a
typical airfoil. The cambered side is the main lift producing
surface of this propeller. The airfoil always ends with a trailing
edge, with a small rounding to reduce various frictional loss.
Blade Shaping:
• Typically when a blade is operational, the lift creation depends on
the way the flow is locally incident on the airfoil. It depends on
the airfoil characteristic, which is often decided by the local angle
of attack.
• The root section of the blade, it is subtending a very high angle of
blade setting On the other hand, near the tip of the blade section, it
is set at a low angle.
• For efficient operation of each of these blade elements, which are
airfoil, there is a need to create an appropriate angle of attack.
There is maximum angle of attack, where this airfoil is likely to
stall;
Propeller blade local flow details:
• Consider a typical propeller blade,
which is a airfoil section. When a
propeller is rotating. The rotation
provides a certain rotational speed of
the particular blade section, so each
blade section is now rotating at a
particular rotational speed called a
tangential velocity(ωr). Where ω is
angular velocity, 2πn being the rpm
of the blade, r is the radius of the
particular section from the axis of
rotation of the propeller.
• If the aircraft is moving forward, it has a forward velocity, V∞, it
creates an angle of ɸ between the two velocities – (ie)rotational
velocity and the forward velocity, then it creates a resultant
velocity VR, which is now the relative incident flow on to this airfoil
section. This incident flow now creates an angle of attack of alpha
with reference to airfoil section.
• If angle of attack has a maximum - beyond which this airfoil will
refuse to do any aerodynamic action and a very low angles of
attack or negative angles of attack also could start creating no
aerodynamic effects of the propeller.
Mechanism of Creation of Thrust by
Propellers:
Consider a particular blade section which is creating a lift
and experiencing a drag. This lift and drag, which are
perpendicular and parallel to the chord, can be
decomposed into axial force and the tangential force (dQ /
r). dT is the elemental thrust of this particular blade
section, dQ by r is the elemental tangential force, which has
to be met by the supply of the torque from the engine. So,
this is the component that the engine needs to supply for
creation of this thrust, through the shape of this propeller
blade section, which is an airfoil section. This is the
aerodynamic mechanism by which the thrust is created by
the propellers, where airfoil shape is the fundamental
element in the creation of thrust.
Different types of Pitch setting
arrangements.
A fixed pitch propeller, in which the geometric pitch cannot be
varied, must be matched to the various operating conditions of the
engine and of the aircraft.
A variable pitch propeller, either variable manually, or through
hydro-mechanical control system, usually offer at least two or more
blade settings, one fine and the other coarse, to maximize the
propeller efficiency, during take-off and during cruise respectively.
A constant speed propeller---automatically changes propeller
pitch according to a built in control law (floating pitch) so as to
maintain proper torque such that the speed of the propeller shaft is
maintained constant with the help of a governor and a electro hydro-
mechanical control system. Most modern propellers are constant
speed propellers
Propeller performance parameters:
Advance ratio: J the advance ratio is the ratio of the free stream
fluid speed to the propeller cyclorotor tip speed. When a propeller-
driven vehicle is moving at high speed relative to the fluid, or the
propeller is rotating slowly, the advance ratio of its propeller(s) is a
high number; and when it is moving at low speed, or the propeller
is rotating at high speed, the advance ratio. The advance ratio J is a
non-dimensional term given by
Propeller Theories
There are two classical approaches to propeller theory
• 1) Momentum Theory
• 2) Blade Element Theory
Types of Propellers

• Fixed-Pitch Propeller
• Test Club Propeller
• Ground-Adjustable Propeller
• Controllable-Pitch Propeller
• Constant-Speed Propellers
• Feathering Propellers
• Reverse-Pitch Propellers
Fixed-Pitch Propeller
• Fixed-pitch propeller has the blade pitch, or blade angle, built
into the propeller.
• Blade angle cannot be changed after the propeller is built.
• One piece and is constructed of wood or aluminium alloy.
• designed for best efficiency at one rotational and
forward speed.
• Any change in conditions(both airplane and engine
speeds ) reduces the efficiency of both propeller and
engine.
• airplanes of low power, speed, range, or altitude.
• Advantage- less expense and their simple operation
• Application - single-engine aircraft
• propeller does not require any control inputs from the
pilot in flight
Test Club Propeller
• Used to test and break in reciprocating engines.
• Made to provide the correct amount of load on the engine during the
test break-in period.
• Multi-blade design also provides extra cooling air flow during testing.
Ground-Adjustable Propeller

• Operates as a fixed-pitch propeller.

• The pitch, or blade angle, can be changed only when the propeller
is not turning
• Not often used on present-day airplanes.
 Controllable-Pitch Propeller
• permits a change of blade pitch, or angle, while the propeller is
rotating.
• allows the propeller to assume a blade angle that gives the best
performance for particular flight conditions.
• pitch may be adjusted to any angle between the minimum and
maximum pitch settings
• use of controllable-pitch propellers makes possible to attain
the desired engine rpm for a particular flight condition.
• With the controllable-pitch type, the blade angle can be
changed in flight, but the pilot must change the propeller blade
angle directly.
• The blade angle will not change again until the pilot changes it
Constant-Speed Propellers

• The propeller has a natural tendency to slow down as the aircraft

climbs and to speed up as the aircraft dives because the load on
the engine varies.
• To provide an efficient propeller, the speed is kept as constant as
possible.
• When the airplane goes into a climb, the blade angle of the
propeller decreases just enough to prevent the engine speed from
decreasing.
Feathering Propellers
• must be used on multi-engine aircraft to reduce propeller drag to a
minimum under one or more engine failure conditions
• A feathering propeller is a constant-speed propeller used on multi-
engine aircraft that has a mechanism to change the pitch to an angle of
approximately 90°.
• A propeller is usually feathered when the engine fails to develop power
to turn the propeller.
• By rotating the propeller blade angle parallel to the line of flight, the
drag on the aircraft is greatly reduced.
• With the blades parallel to the airstream, the propeller stops turning
and minimum wind milling, if any, occurs. The blades are held in
feather by aerodynamic forces.
Reverse-Pitch Propellers
• improve their operational characteristics.
• Almost all reverse-pitch propellers are of the feathering type
• A reverse pitch propeller is a controllable propeller in which the
blade angles can be changed to a negative value during operation.
• A reverse pitch propeller is a controllable propeller in which the
blade angles can be changed to a negative value during operation.
• Normally, when the landing gear is in contact with the runway
after landing, the propellers blades can be moved to negative pitch
(reversed), which creates thrust opposite of the aircraft direction
and slows the aircraft
Performance characteristics
Conclusion:
• Thrust is reasonably constant with increase in Forward velocity
• Thrust decreases with increase in altitude
• TSFC is reasonably constant with increase in forward velocity
• TSFC reasonably constant with increase in altitude
Turbojet (supersonic)
Turbofan (High Bypass)

• Thrust decreases with increase in Forward

velocity, but remains reasonably constant at
0.7<M<0.85
• Thrust decreases with increase in altitude
• TSFC increases increase in forward velocity
Module -3
3.1.Inlets
Syllabus
Inlets & Nozzles:
• Internal flow and Stall in Subsonic inlets,
• Boundary layer separation.
• Major features of external flow near a subsonic inlet.
• Relation between minimum area ratio and eternal deceleration
ratio.
• Diffuser performance.
primary purpose
• The primary purpose of the inlet is to bring the air
required by the engine from free stream conditions to
the conditions required at the entrance of the fan or
compressor with minimum total pressure loss. The fan
or compressor works best with a uniform flow of air
at a Mach number of about 0.5.
The Requirements of the inlets:

• high total pressure ratio,

• controllable flow matching of requirements,
• good uniformity of flow,
• Low installation drag,
• Good starting and stability,
• Low signatures (acoustic, radar, etc.),
• Minimum weight and cost while meeting life and reliability goals.
 Design considerations:
• The airflow entering the compressor or fan must have low Mach
number, in the range 0.4 to 0.7, Part of this deceleration occurs
upstream of the inlet entrance plane.
• The inlet must be designed to prevent boundary layer separation,
even when the axis of the intake is not perfectly aligned with the
streamline direction far upstream of the inlet.
• It is important that the stagnation pressure loss in the inlet be
small.
• It is even more important that the flow velocity and direction
leaving the inlet be uniform, since distortions in the velocity
profile at the compressor inlet can severely upset the compressor
aerodynamics and may lead to failure of the blades due to vibrations.
 Subsonic Inlets
Internal flow and Stall in subsonic inlets
• Depending on the flight speed and the mass flow demanded by the
engine, the inlet may have to operate with a wide range of incident
stream conditions
• During level cruise the streamline pattern may include some
deceleration of the entering fluid External to the inlet plane and
hence low mass flow rate[Fig. a].
• During low-speed high-thrust operation (e.g., during take-off and
climb), the same engine will demand more mass flow and the
streamline pattern may resemble Fig. b, which illustrates external
acceleration of the stream near the inlet.
 Stall in subsonic inlet
• For given air velocities external acceleration raises the inlet
velocity and lowers the inlet pressure, thereby increasing the
internal pressure rise across the diffuser. If this pressure increase
is too large, the diffuser may stall because of boundary layer
separation; stalling usually reduces the stagnation pressure of
the stream as a whole.
• Conversely, external deceleration requires less internal
pressure rise and hence a less severe loading of the boundary
layer.
• Therefore the inlet area is often chosen so as to minimize
external acceleration during take-off, with the result that
external deceleration occurs during level-cruise operation.
Under these conditions the “upstream capture area” Aa is less
than the inlet area A1, and some flow is “spilled over” the inlet,
accelerating as it passes over the outer surface.
Boundary layer Separation
• In the actual engine inlet, separation can take place in any of the three
zones shown in Fig.
• Separation of the external flow in zone 1 may result from local high
velocities and subsequent deceleration over the outer surface.
• Separation on the internal surfaces may take place in either zone 2 or
zone 3, depending on the geometry of the duct and the operating
conditions.
• Zone 3 may be the scene of quite large adverse pressure
gradients since the f low accelerate around the nose of the center
body, then decelerates as the curvature decreases
Relation for minimum area ratio (Amax/Ai)
in terms of external deceleration (Ui/Ua)
The main point here is
• the larger the external deceleration (i.e., the smaller the
value of Uj/Ua), the larger must be the size of the nacelle
if one is to prevent excessive drag.
• Even in the absence of separation, the larger the nacelle,
the larger the aerodynamic drag on it.
• But if the external deceleration is modest (e.g., U/ISa >
0.8), its effect on minimum nacelle size is quite small.
• the performance of an inlet
depends on the pressure
gradient on both internal and
external surfaces.
• The external pressure rise is
fixed by the external
compression and the ratio,
Amax /Ai of maximum area to
inlet area.
Diffuser
• A diffuser is "a device for reducing the velocity and
increasing the static pressure of a fluid passing through a
system”. Diffusers are used to slow the fluid's velocity
while increasing its static pressure. The fluid's static
pressure rise as it passes though a duct is commonly
referred to as pressure recovery.
• A typical, subsonic diffuser is a duct that increases in size
in the direction of flow. As the duct increases in size, fluid
velocity decreases, and static pressure rises. Both mass
flow rate and Bernoulli's principle are responsible for
these changes in pressure, and velocity.
• A supersonic diffuser is a duct that decreases in size in the direction
of flow. As the duct decreases in size, fluid temperature, pressure,
and density increase, while velocity decreases. Compressible flow is
responsible for these changes in pressure, velocity, density, and
temperature. Shock waves may also play an important role in a
supersonic diffuser.
Supersonic Inlets
• The supersonic inlet is required to provide the proper
quantity and uniformity of air to the engine over a
wider range of flight conditions than the subsonic inlet.
• In addition, the nature of supersonic flow makes this
inlet more difficult to design and integrate into the
airframe.
• In supersonic flight, the flow is decelerated by shock
waves that can produce a total pressure loss much
greater than, and in addition to, the boundary-layer
losses.
Working Principle of Supersonic Inlets:
• A supersonic inlet is made up of two distinct parts. First the flow is
compressed supersonically from the velocity of the flight vehicle or,
in other words, the free stream Mach number.
• This is done by reducing the flow area as the flow proceed
downstream. In this region the flow velocity is reduced through a
series compression waves and/or oblique shocks.
• Flow velocity is reduced to a minimum speed at the duct minimum
area, called the throat of the inlet, where the flow approaches sonic
velocity or a Mach number of one.
• At this point the flow Mach number will be reduced from supersonic,
above one to subsonic, below one, through a normalshock.
• This begins the second part of the inlet, the subsonic diffuser. In this
region the velocity is reduced as the flow area is increased. The result
of this process is conditioned air, smooth, subsonic air at high
pressure, which is then delivered to the engine.
Supersonic Inlet Types:
Internal compression inlet:
• The internal compression inlet shown in Figure achieves
compression through a series of internal oblique shock
waves followed by a terminal normal shock positioned
downstream of the throat (its stable location).
• This type of inlet requires variable throat area to allow the
inlet to swallow the normal shock (during starting). Fast
reaction bypass doors are also required downstream of the
throat to permit proper positioning of the normal shock under
varying flight and engine conditions.
External compression inlet:
• The compression of the external compression inlet is achieved
through either one or a series of oblique shocks followed by a
normal shock, or simply through one normal shock.
Mixed compression inlet:
• At flight Mach numbers above 2.5, the mixed compression inlet is
used to obtain an acceptable total pressure ratio (by utilizing the
required number of oblique shocks) while obtaining acceptable cowl
drag.
• The mixed compression inlet is more complex, heavier, and
costlier than the external compression inlet.
• The typical mixed compression inlet achieves compression through
the external oblique shocks, the internal reflected oblique
shocks, and the terminal normal shock.
• Similar to the internal compression inlet, the mixed compression
inlet requires both fast-reacting bypass doors (to maintain the
normal shock in a stable location) and variable throat area.
 Successive steps in the acceleration and over
speeding of a one-dimensional supersonic inlet.
• Condition (a) illustrates low subsonic speed operation, for which the
inlet is not choked.
• In Condition (b)&(c), though the flight velocity is still subsonic, the flow
is assumed to be accelerated to sonic velocity at the minimum area At
and the inlet mass flow rate is limited by the choking condition at At.
• Once the shock is established, the flow entering the inlet is no longer
isentropic. Hence when the design Mach number of the aircraft is first
reached, as at condition (d), the “reversed isentropic” mass flow cannot
pass through the throat area At.
• At the Design Mach number , the inlet is capable of ingesting the entire
incident mass flow without spillage.
• The shock position will be just on the lip of the inlet, as in condition (e),
and a slight increment in speed, as to condition (e’), will cause the shock
to enter the convergence.
• Since a shock cannot attain a stable position within the
convergence it will move quickly downstream to come to
rest within the divergence, at a position determined by
downstream conditions. Having thus attained isentropic
flow in the inlet, the Mach number may be reduced from
M0 to MD, as at condition (f).
• At exactly the design speed, the throat Mach number
would be just unity and isentropic deceleration from
supersonic to sub sonic flow would exist. Even for this
simplified model, however, this condition.
• At exactly the design speed, the throat Mach number
would be just unity and isentropic deceleration from
supersonic to sub sonic flow would exist. Even for this
simplified model, however, this condition.
The Starting Problem / Shock
swallowing by area variation
• Internal supersonic deceleration in a converging passage
is not easy to establish. In fact design conditions cannot be
achieved without momentarily over speeding the inlet air
or varying the diffuser geometry.
• This difficulty is due to shocks that arise during the
deceleration process, while we examine the starting
behaviour of a converging-diverging diffuser.
• An inlet having Ai/At, greater than 1 ( Ai>At ) will always
require spillage upon reaching supersonic flight velocities, since
Aa/At, will always pass through a minimum of 1 just as sonic flight
velocity is attained.
• It is necessary to perform some operation other than simply
accelerating to the design speed in order to “swallow” the starting
shock and establish isentropic flow. Over speeding is one such
operation, but there are others.
Axial Compressors
TAMILSELVAM NALLUSAMY
Sr.Asst Professor
Construction and working:
 A axial Compressor consists of
stator and rotor blades placed
alternatively from the Inlet end
to the exit end It has a moving
inner core called rotor and static
outer portion called stator or
casing.
 The rotor has a set of blades
mounted on it which rotate with
the rotor.
 The casing or stator has static
blades mounted on it.
• The working of axial flow compressors is based upon the
addition of kinetic energy to the flowing fluid by the rotor
blades and its subsequent conversion into the pressure
rise
• Here the fluid enters axially through the inlet guide
Vanes, to the rotor blades at a suitable angle to ensure
smooth flow.
• Then the fluid is rotated by the rotor blades and its
kinetic energy gets increased. During this process, there
occurs a very small rise in the pressure too.
• The rotor blades then discharge the fluid to the stator
blades where the maximum rise in the pressure occurs
due to the diffusion in the stator section.
• The fluid subsequently enters into the rotor blades
which are followed by the stator blades and the
process continues so on till the exit end.
• The change in the total values of the pressure and
temperature, and enthalpy occurs only in the rotor
section
• In an axial flow compressor, the fluid successively passes
through the compressor stages causing slight rise in the
pressure and temperature.
• This low pressure ratio of the order of 1.1 to 1.4 offers
high efficiency and the high pressure ratio up to 40 may
be obtained.
Velocity Triangles
• the peripheral velocity,
(u), of the rotor blades,
• the absolute velocity,
(c), of the fluid, and
• the relative Velocity,
(w), of the fluid.

These velocities are related

by the following well-
known vector equation:
Degree of Reaction
A degree of Reaction for axial compressors can
also be defined a ratio of actual change of the
enthalpy in the rotor to actual change of enthalpy
in the stage.
Centrifugal compressor
Working principle
Centrifugal Compressor
Velocity Triangle
 Example : rain approaching
moving person

U1 – Tangential velocity of inducer

Ca – Air Velocity
Cr – Resultant Velocity when inducer
move in clockwise direction
 Jet leaving the cart

Radial arrangement of impeller vane

Top view of the cart Condition 1 # Stationery Cart

cart
U-Horizontal velocity equations to the cart velocity
Centrifugal compressor
In the case of compressor , the energy transfer always from
impeller(Rotor) to the fluid. Therefore the Euler Energy equation
• Since the velocity of the air increases as it approaches the eye its static pressure will
decrease accordingly (0-1).
Combustion chambers and
Turbines
Module 5
 Syllabus

Combustion chambers
• Classification of combustion chambers, important factors affecting
combustion chamber design, Combustion process, Combustion
chamber performance Effect of operating variables on performance
– Flame tube cooling – Flame stabilization – Use of flame holders

• Axial Flow Turbines: Introduction, Turbine stage, Multi-staging of

turbine, Exit flow conditions, Turbine cooling, Heat transfer in
turbine cooling.

• Radial turbine: Introduction, Thermodynamics of radial turbines,

Losses and efficiency.
The combustion process
• The process of combustion begins with spraying of fuel into the
combustion zone through the injector.
• The fuel which is released from the injector breaks up into small
droplets of different sizes.
• Also at the same time air enters the combustor chamber through
swirlers.
• The fuel droplets get evaporated and this evaporated fuel mixes
with the incoming swirling air. Ignition takes place at the location
where fuel and air mixes
• A chemical reaction resulting combustion flame is generated. The
flame moves in the direction of the motion of air moving inside
the combustion chamber
• In the combustion zone fuel air mixture results in partial combustion.
It is because all the fuel droplets may not evaporate and mix.
• Also incomplete combustion results combustion products like CO
This non burnt fuel droplets mix with the air coming from the
secondary holes which results in complete combustion.
• The combustion products like CO are suppressed by reducing the
gas temperature to an intermediate level and mix with secondary air
which result complete combustion
• This exhaust gas moves out of through the combustor exit. To
maintain the good pattern factor air is introduced through the
dilution holes.
The Three Different regions of Combustor are
Primary Zone:
• The function of the primary zone is to ignite the flame
and provide sufficient, temperature, time and
turbulence to achieve complete combustion to the
incoming fuel air mixture.
• In other words combustion takes place in this region.
• The efficiency of the fuel burnt depends on the type of flow
pattern in the region.
• The common type of flow pattern is the toroidal flow
reversal pattern which entrains and recirculates a part of
the hot combustion gases portion to provide continuous
ignition to the incoming fuel and air. Air swirlers are
commonly used to generate the toroidal flow pattern.
Toroidal Flow Reversal Pattern
Intermediate Zone:
• When primary-zone temperature is higher than 2000 K,
dissociation reactions will take place that will result in the
appearance of higher carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen
(H2) concentrations in the exhaust gases.
• CO is both a pollutant and a primary source of
combustion inefficiency.
• Hence in the intermediate zone, the temperature of the hot
gases is reduced to an intermediate level by adding small
amounts of air which burns the soot and helps in the
combustion of CO and other unburned hydrocarbons (UHC)
which makes a complete combustion. Almost 20% of the air
is used for intermediate zone.
Dilution Zone:
• The function of the dilution zone is to intake the air,
which remained after the combustion and to
provide an outlet stream with a temperature
distribution that is acceptable to the turbine.
• 20-50% of the total combustor airflow is used for
dilution zone. Cold air mixes with the hot gas
stream through one or more rows of holes provided
in the liner walls.
• The shape and size of the dilution holes are selected
to optimize the penetration of air and their
subsequent mixing with the main stream.
Different types of Combustor arrangement
There are three basic types of combustor,
• Tubular(can type)
• Annular and
• Tubo annular
• Excessive length and weight.
 Combustor Requirements:
• High-combustion
• Reliable and smooth ignition, both on the ground
and, in the case of aircraft engines, after a flameout at
high altitude
• Wide stability limits
• Low pressure loss
• An outlet temperature distribution (pattern factor)
that is tailored to maximize the lives of the turbine
blades and nozzle guide vanes.
• Low emissions of smoke and gaseous pollutant
species
• Freedom from pressure pulsations and other
manifestations of combustion-induced instability.
• Size and shape compatible with engine envelope
• Design for minimum cost and ease of manufacturing
• Maintainability-
• Durability
• Petroleum, synthetic, and biomass-based multi fuel
capability.
Important factors affecting combustor design
• The temperature of the combustion product- local over
heating
• Combustion must be maintained in a stream of air moving
with a high velocity in the region of 30—60 m/s and stable
operation is required over a wide range of air/fuel ratio
from full load to idling conditions.
• The formation of carbon deposits must be avoided,
particularly the hard brittle variety. Small particles carried
into the turbine in the high-velocity gas stream can
erode the blades and block cooling air passages;
• Aerodynamically excited vibration in the combustion
chamber might cause sizeable pieces of carbon to break free
resulting in even worse damage to the turbine.
• In aircraft gas turbines, combustion must also be stable
over a wide range of chamber pressure because of the
substantial change in this parameter with altitude and
forward speed.
• Capability of relighting at high altitude in the event of
an engine flame-out.
• Avoidance of smoke in the exhaust is of major
importance for all types of gas turbine; Although gas
turbine combustion systems operate at extremely high
efficiencies, they produce pollutants such as oxides of
nitrogen (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned
hydrocarbons (UHC) and these must be controlled to
very low levels.
 Factors Affecting Combustion chamber
Performance

The Factors Affecting Combustor Performance

a. Pressure Loss
b. Combustion Efficiency
c. Combustion intensity
d. Stability Limits
 a. Pressure loss
• Turbulence is necessary for rapid combustion- this will cause
some pressure drop in the combustor chamber.
• Parasitic Loss - should be minimised for better performance.
• overall pressure loss in a gas turbine combustion system arises
due to
(1)Cold Loss or Cold pressure Loss
(2)Hot Loss or Hot pressure Loss
• Both these losses are caused by friction and accelerations
accompanying heat addition.
• Pressure looses should be minimised.
b. Combustion efficiency
The efficiency of a combustion process may be found from a
chemical analysis of the combustion products. Knowing the
air/fuel ratio used and the proportion of incompletely burnt
constituents, it is possible to calculate the ratio of the actual
energy released to the theoretical quantity available.
• This can be measured experimentally. Generally it is
of the order of 98 – 99 % at sea level.
• At high altitude as the operating pressure falls the
combustion may not be as efficient.
• As a very fast burning process high pressure and
temperature provides the necessary condition for
combustion. As the incoming pressure and
temperature falls the combustion may become
less efficient.
c. Combustion Intensity
• The size of combustion chamber is determined
primarily by the rate of heat release required.

• In aircraft systems the combustion intensity is of the

order of 2 – 5 x104kW/m3-kPa
• The dimensions of the combustion chamber i.e. the length and
diameter are chosen on the basis of combustion intensity and
volume flow rate.
• Combustion intensity is chosen on the basis of engine power
needed.
• Air velocity in the combustion chamber gives some idea of the
length required.
• Weight and overall diameter of the engine are other
parameters are that have to be kept in mind in choosing the
type of combustor e.g. cannular or annular.
• Overall layout of the engine dictates the combustion chamber
type, size and shape.
The reaction rate of a combustion process may be given as :

• Where, n depends on the number of molecules involved and is 1.8 for

hydrocarbon fuels.
• E is the activation energy and
• f(T) relates to the various forms of molecular energy (rotational,
translational and vibration).
• The reaction time is inversely proportional to the reaction rate :
d. Stability limits
• For any particular combustion chamber there is both a rich and a
weak limit to the air/fuel ratio beyond which the flame is unstable.
Usually the limit is taken as the air/fuel ratio at which the flame
blows out, although instability often occurs before this limit is
reached.
Practical Problems in Combustion
• (i) Flame tube cooling,
• (ii) fuel injection,
• (iii) starting and ignition
• (iv) use of cheaper fuels.
• (v) Pollution.
Flame Tube Cooling
 Why ?
• Permissible Turbine Inlet Temperatures (TIT)
• The tube receives energy by convection from the hot
gases and by radiation from the flame.
• It loses energy by convection to the cooler air
flowing along the outside surface and by radiation
to the outer casing, but this loss is not sufficient to
maintain the tube wall at a safe temperature.
 How ?
• A common practice is to leave narrow annular gaps
between overlapping sections of the flame tube so that a
film of cooling air is swept along the inner surface; corrugated
‘wigglestrip’, spot welded to successive lengths of flame-tube,
provides adequate stiffness with annular gaps which do not vary
too much with thermal expansion, as shown in (a).
• Another method is to use a ring of small holes with an
internal splash ring to deflect the jets along the inner
surface, as shown in Fig. (b).
 Flame Stabilization
• The velocities encountered in modern propulsion
engines and power plant burners are so high that the
flame has to be stabilized by some artificial means.

Considering blow-off as a situation arising to

allow the residence time of the reactions to proceed to
ignition, one may devise various possible flame
stabilizers. Velocity is slowed down, flow remains high.
There are 3 types of flame stabilizers are
extensively known. They are:

Stabilization by Pilot Flames

by Bluff Bodies and
by Recirculation
By Pilot Flames
• Suppose a pilot flame (as hot inert gas in Fig) is held
adjacent to the cold reactant mixture flow issuing in the
form of a high velocity jet.
• Heat and mass are transferred across the boundary of the
two streams by diffusion and mixing.
• The reaction rate in the cold reactant mixture is thus
enhanced shown in Figure 8.28 (Marble and Adamson).
• Blow-off would occur if the flow rate > the reaction rate in
reactant mixture.
By Bluff Bodies
• When a blunt body is placed in a high velocity
reactant stream, the flow is greatly slowed down at
the forward stagnation point (see Figure ) to give
ample opportunity for reactions to proceed to
ignition.
• One major disadvantage of solid bluff bodies is the
drag they exert on the flow and the resultant loss of
thrust.
• Campbell overcomes this
drawback by employing an
opposing gaseous jet in the
reactant stream.
• It evolves as the opposing jet. The
stream is slowed down and the
flame is anchored as schematically
shown in Figure 8.30.
• The blow-off velocity is increased
by increasing the injection
pressure of the opposing jet and
by increasing the temperature of
the opposing jet gas.
By Recirculation
• When the solid bluff body discussed above is of finite length in the
direction of flow, the pressure distribution prevents the high
velocity flow from keeping attached to the solid surface.
• Increasing pressure separates the boundary layer and causes eddy
shedding in the "wake."
• Under sufficiently fast flow conditions a (symmetric) recirculation
pattern of flow is established behind the blunt body as shown in
Figure.
• The recirculation zone provides a station where reactions can take
place.
 Module 5
Unit 2
Axial Flow Turbines and Radial
Turbine
 Syllabus
• Axial Flow Turbines: Introduction, Turbine
stage, Multi-staging of turbine, Exit flow
conditions, Turbine cooling, Heat transfer in
turbine cooling.

• Radial turbine: Introduction, Thermodynamics

of radial turbines, Losses and efficiency.
 Turbine
• A turbine is a rotary mechanical device that
extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it
into useful work.

• A turbine is turbomachine with at least one

moving part called a rotor assembly, which is a
shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid
acts on the blades so that they move and impart
rotational energy to the rotor.
 Gas Turbines
Work can be extracted from a gas at higher inlet
pressure to the lower back pressure by allowing it
to flow through the turbine.
The work done by the gas is equivalent to the
change of its enthalpy.
 General Classification of Turbines
According to the energy used
Impulse turbine
Reaction turbine
Direction of fluid flow
Axial flow - Radial in axial out
Inward flow - Outward flow
According to the head available to the inlet of turbine
High Head Turbine (250-1800m), Pelton Wheel
Medium Head Turbine (50-250m), Francis Turbine
Low Head Turbine ( <50m), Kaplan Turbine
According to the specific speed
Low specific speed ( <50) Pelton wheel
Medium specific speed (50 < Ns< 250) Francis
High Specific speed ( >250) Kaplan
According to the fluid used
Water Turbine (Pelton Wheel, Francis, Kaplan)
Gas Turbine
Classification of turbines based on fluid
flow
• Radial flow turbines- fluid motion is mostly radial
• Axial flow turbines -fluid moves in axial direction through the rotor
• Mixed flow turbines- combination of radial and axial motion of the
fluid relative to the rotor
Axial Flow Turbine
• An axial turbine is a turbine in which the flow of the
working fluid is parallel to the shaft.
• An axial turbine has similar construction as an axial
compressor, but it operates in the reverse, converting flow of
the fluid into rotating mechanical energy.
• A set of static guide vanes or nozzle vanes accelerates and
adds swirl to the fluid and directs it to the next row of turbine
blades mounted on a turbine rotor.
Axial flow turbines
• Axial turbines like axial compressors usually consists
of one or more stages.
• The flow is accelerated in a Nozzle/Stator and then
passes through a rotor.
• In the rotor, the working fluid imparts its
momentum on to the rotor, that converts the
kinetic energy to power output.
• Depending upon the power requirement, this
process is repeated in multiple stages.
• Due to motion of the rotor blades  two distinct
velocity components: absolute and relative
velocities in the rotor.
• Since turbines operate with a favourable pressure
gradient, it is possible to have much higher
pressure drop per stage as compared with
compressors.
• Therefore, a single turbine stage can drive several
stages of an axial compressor.
• Axial turbines can handle
large mass flow rates and
are more efficient.
• Axial turbine have same
frontal area as that of the
compressor.
• They can also be used with
a centrifugal compressor.
• Efficiency of turbines
higher than that of
compressors.
• Turbines are in general
aerodynamically “easier”
to design.
.N Impulse
Impulse Turbine
and Reaction Turbine
Reaction Turbine
o

In impulse turbine all hydraulic energy is In reaction turbine only some amount of
converted into kinetic energy by a nozzle the available energy is converted into
1
and it is the jet produced which strikes kinetic energy before the fluid enters the
the runner blades. runner.

The velocity of jet which changes, the Both pressure and velocity changes as
2 pressure throughout remaining fluid passes through a runner. Pressure at
atmosphere. inlet is much higher than at outlet.

Water-tight casing is not necessary.

Casing has no hydraulic function to
The runner must be enclosed within a
3 perform. It only serves to prevent
watertight casing.
splashing and guide water to the tail
race.
 Velocity triangles of a single stage machine
The flow geometry at the entry and exit of a turbo machine
stage is described by the velocity triangles at these stations. The
velocity triangles for a turbo machine contain the following
three components

(i) The peripheral velocity, (u), of the rotor blades,

(ii) The absolute velocity, (c), of the fluid, and

(iii) The relative velocity, (w), of the fluid.

• The notation used here to draw velocity triangles
correspond to the x-y coordinates;
• the suffix (a) identifies components in the axial
direction and the suffix (t) refers to the tangential
direction.
• Air angles in the absolute system are denoted by
alpha (α), where as those in the relative system are
represented by beta (ß).
TURBINE COOLING
• The modern trends of gas turbine engines focus on
increased turbine inlet temperatures in order to
reduce the specific fuel consumption and increase
the overall performance of the engine.
• However, operation at very high temperatures
reduces the life time of turbine vanes and blades
while the allowable temperature level of the cycle is
limited by the melting point of the materials.
TURBINE COOLING
• turbine blade cooling is necessary to reduce
the blade metal temperature to acceptable
levels for the materials increasing the thermal
capability of the engine.
• Due to the contribution and the development of
turbine cooling systems, the turbine entry
temperature (TET) has been over doubled over
the last 60 years.
TURBINE COOLING
Turbine blade
 TURBINE BLADE MATERIAL
• U-500 This material was used as a first stage (the most demanding stage)
material in the 1960s, and is now used in later, less demanding, stages
• Rene 77
• Rene N5
• Rene N6
• PWA1484
• CMSX-4
• CMSX-10
• Inconel
• IN-738 - GE used IN-738 as a first stage blade material from 1971 until
1984, when it was replaced by GTD-111. It is now used as a second stage
material. It was specifically designed for land-based turbines rather than
• GTD-111 Blades made from directionally solidified GTD-111 are
being used in many GE Energy gas turbines in the first stage. Blades
made from equiaxed GTD-111 are being used in later stages.
• EPM-102 (MX4 (GE), PWA 1497 (P&W)) is a single crystal superalloy
jointly developed by NASA, GE Aviation, and Pratt & Whitney for
the High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT). While the HSCT program was
cancelled, the alloy is still being considered for use by GE and P&W
• Nimonic 80a was used for the turbine blades on the Rolls-Royce
Nene and de Havilland Ghos
• Nimonic 90 was used on the Bristol Proteus
• Nimonic 105 was used on the Rolls-Royce Spey.
• Nimonic 263 was used in the combustion chamber of the Bristol
Olympus used on the Concorde supersonic airliner
The following methods are used in
turbine cooling:
1. Convection
2. Impingement
3. Film cooling
4. Full coverage film cooling
5. Transpiration
Convection cooling
Convection cooling with a single internal passage was the only available
cooling technique in the 1960s. Cooling air was injected through the
airfoil attachment and to the inside of airfoil. The cold air was
discharged at the blade tip. Development has led to multipass internal
cooling. The blades are either cast, using cores to from the cooling
passages, or forged with holes of any size and shape that are produced by
electrochemical drilling.
The effectiveness of convection cooling is limited by
• Size of the internal passages
• Quantity of cooling air available
The main disadvantage of early convection technique
• Failure to cool the thin trailing edges of blades
• Failure to cool the leading edge which is subjected to the
highest temperature.
Impingement cooling
In this high-intensity form of convection cooling, the
cooling air is blasted on the inner surface of the
aerofoil by high-velocity air jets, permitting an
increased amount of heat to be transferred to the
cooling air from the metal surface .This cooling method
can be restricted to desired sections of the aerofoil to
maintain even temperatures over the entire surface .For
instance, the leading edge of a blade needs to be cooled
more than the mid-chord section or trailing edge.
Film cooling
It involves the injection of a secondary fluid (cold
air) into the boundary layer of the primary fluid
(hot gases). This is an effective method to protect the
surface from the hot gases as the cooling air acts as
an insulating layer to maintain a lower blade
material temperature.
Disadvantages

• Causes turbine losses due to injection into the boundary layer.

• If too much air is used or if ejected at high speeds it could
penetrate the boundary layer.
• If close holes are used, they cause stress concentration.
• However, it is more effective than normal convection or
impingement methods. The cooling air absorbs energy as it passes
inside the blade and through the holes, then it further reduces the
blade temperature by reducing the amount of energy transferred
from the hot gases to the blade
Full-coverage film cooling:
It involves the injection of cold air from an array of
discrete holes. Thus it represents an attempt to draw on
some advantages of transpiration cooling without
paying its penalties
 Transpiration cooling
Transpiration cooling of a porous blade wall is the most
efficient cooling technique and requires the least cooling air in
comparison with the other techniques. It involves the use of a
porous material through which the cooling air is forced into
boundary layer to form a relatively cooling, insulating film or
layer.
Disadvantages
• For efficient transpiration cooling, the pores should be small,
which leads to problems of blockage due to oxidation and
foreign contaminate.
Disadvantages of Cooling Turbine
Blades
• Added cost of producing turbine blades
• Turbine blade reliability
• Loss of turbine work due to the cooling air
bypassing one or two of the turbine stages
• Loss due to the cooling air being mixed with hot
gas steam
Internal cooling
 INTERNAL COOLING
Convection cooling
• It works by passing cooling air through passages internal to the
blade.
• Heat is transferred by conduction through the blade, and then by
convection into the air flowing inside of the blade.
• A large internal surface area is desirable for this method, so the
cooling paths tend to be serpentine and full of small fins.
• The internal passages in the blade may be circular or elliptical in
shape.
• Cooling is achieved by passing the air through these passages
from hub towards the blade tip.
• This cooling air comes from an air compressor. In case of gas
turbine the fluid outside is relatively hot which passes through
the cooling passage and mixes with the main stream at the blade
tip.
CONVECTION COOLING
INTERNAL COOLING
• Impingement cooling
A variation of convection cooling, impingement cooling, works by hitting the
inner surface of the blade with high velocity air. This allows more heat to be
transferred by convection than regular convection cooling does. Impingement
cooling is used in the regions of greatest heat loads. In case of turbine blades,
the leading edge has maximum temperature and thus heat load. Impingement
cooling is also used in mid chord of the vane. Blades are hollow with a
core. There are internal cooling passages. Cooling air enters from the leading
edge region and turns towards the trailing edge.
Impingement cooling
FILM COOLING
 Film cooling
• Film cooling (also called thin film cooling), a widely used type, allows for higher heat
transfer rates than either convection and impingement cooling.
• This technique consists of pumping the cooling air out of the blade through multiple
small holes in the structure. A thin layer (the film) of cooling air is then created on the
external surface of the blade, reducing the heat transfer from main flow, whose
temperature (1300-1800 K) can exceed the melting point of the blade material (1300-
1400 Kelvin).
• The air holes can be in many different blade locations, but they are most often along
the leading edge.
• A United States Air Force program in the early 1970s funded the development of a
turbine blade that was both film and convection cooled, and that method has become
common in modern turbine blades.
• Injecting the cooler bleed into the flow reduces turbine isentropic efficiency; the
compression of the cooling air (which does not contribute power to the engine) incurs
an energetic penalty; and the cooling circuit adds considerable complexity to the
engine.
Film cooling
Cooling by effusion
• Blade surface is made of porous material
which means having a large number of small
orifices on the surface. Cooling air is forced
through these porous holes which forms a film
or cooler boundary layer. Besides this uniform
cooling is caused by effusion of the coolant
over the entire blade surface
Pin fin cooling
• In the narrow trailing edge film cooling is used to
enhance heat transfer from the blade. There is an
array of pin fins on the blade surface. Heat transfer
takes place from this array and through the side
walls.
• As the coolant flows across the fins with high velocity,
the flow separates and wakes are formed.
• Many factors contribute towards heat transfer rate
among which the type of pin fin and the spacing
between fins are the most significant.
Transpiration cooling
• It is similar to film cooling in that it creates a thin film of cooling air on
the blade, but it is different in that air is "leaked" through a porous
shell rather than injected through holes.
• This type of cooling is effective at high temperatures as it uniformly
covers the entire blade with cool air.
• Transpiration-cooled blades generally consist of a rigid strut with a
porous shell.
• Air flows through internal channels of the strut and then passes
through the porous shell to cool the blade.
• As with film cooling, increased cooling air decreases turbine
efficiency, therefore that decrease has to be balanced with improved
temperature performance.
 Losses in Turbines
Tip Clearance Loss (Yk)
Tip clearance loss occurs in the rotors. Some fluid leaks in the gap
between the blade tip and the shroud, and therefore contributes little
or no expansion work.
secondary Flow Loss:
Secondary flows are contra rotating vortices that occur due to
curvature of the passage and boundary layers. Secondary flows tend
to scrub both the end wall and blade boundary layers and
redistribute low momentum fluid through the passage. Secondary
flow losses represent the major source of losses. Both annulus loss
and secondary flow loss cannot be separated and they are accounted
for by a secondary loss coefficient
Profile Loss (Yp)
The profile loss is the loss due to skin friction on the area of the
blade surface. It depends on several factors including the area
of blade in contact with fluid, the surface finish, and the
Reynolds and Mach numbers of the flow through the passage.

Annulus Loss
Annulus losses are similar to profile losses as both are caused
by friction. However, a fresh boundary layer grows from the
leading edge of blade whereas the annulus boundary layer may
have its origin some way upstream of the leading edge
depending on the details of the annulus itself.
 Radial Flow Turbines
A radial turbine is a turbine in which the flow of
the working fluid is radial to the shaft.
The difference between axial and radial turbines consists in
the way the fluid flows through the components
(compressor and turbine). Whereas for an axial turbine the
rotor is 'impacted' by the fluid flow, for a radial turbine, the
flow is smoothly orientated perpendicular to the rotation
axis, and it drives the turbine in the same way water drives
a watermill.
• A radial flow turbine refers to a turbine in which the fluid
enters the turbine with high tangential velocity inwards
and comes out of the turbine rotor with small whirl
velocity at a smaller diameter close to the axis of rotor.
• In appearance, a radial flow inward turbine looks like a
centrifugal compressor with a ring of nozzle vanes instead
of diffuser vanes.
• Generally, radial flow turbines have blades perpendicular
to the tangent at the outer circumference of the rotor
inlet. These turbines run at high speed ranging from
40000 to 180000 rpm
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