Aircraft Propulsion Introduction

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.

1.1 Review of thermodynamic principles

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 Aircraft Propulsion Introduction

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 Aircraft Propulsion Introduction

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 Aircraft Propulsion Introduction

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 Aircraft Propulsion Introduction

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 Aircraft Propulsion Introduction

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 Aircraft Propulsion Introduction

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1.2 Principles of Aircraft Propulsion

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1.3 Gas Turbine Engines

Turbojet engine:
Working principle:
 The turbojet engine is a reaction engine. In a reaction engine, expanding gases push
hard against the front of the engine.
 Turbojet engine derives its thrust by accelerating a mass of air through the core
engine.
 The air taken in from an opening in the front of the engine is compressed to about
3-12 times its original pressure in a centrifugal or axial compressor.
 Fuel is added to the air and burned in a combustion chamber to raise the temperature
of the mixer to about 11000C. The resulting hot air is passed through a turbine,
which drives the compressor.

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 If the turbine and compressor are efficient, the pressure at the turbine discharge will
be nearly twice the atmospheric pressure.
 This excess pressure is sent to the nozzle to produce a high velocity stream of gas
which produces the thrust. Thus all the propulsive force produced by a jet engine is
derived from exhaust gases.
 An afterburner (or a reheat) is an additional component added to some jet engines.
Primarily those on military supersonic aircrafts.
 Its purpose is to provide a temporary increase in thrust at the time of supersonic
flight as well as takeoff.
 On military aircraft, the extra thrust is also useful for combat situations. This is
achieved by injecting additional fuel into the jet pipe downstream of (after) the
turbine.

Characteristics:
 Low thrust at low forward speed.
 Relatively high, thrust specific fuel consumption (TSFC) at low altitude and
airspeeds, a disadvantage that decreases as altitude and airspeed increase.
 Long takeoff roll.
 Small frontal area, resulting in low drag and reduced ground clearance problems.
 Lightest specific weight.
 Ability to take advantage of high ram pressure ratios.

Advantages:
 The power to weight ratio of a turbojet engine is about 4 times that of a propeller
system having reciprocating engines.
 It is simple, easy to maintain and requires lower lubricating oil consumption.
Furthermore, complete absence of liquid cooling results in reduced frontal area.
 There is no limit to the power output which can obtained from a turbojet while the
piston engines have reached almost their peak power and further increase will be at
the cost of complexity and greater engine weight and frontal area of the aircraft.
 The speed of the turbojet engine is not limited by the propeller and it can attain
higher flight speeds than engine propeller aircrafts.

Disadvantages:
 The fuel economy at low operational speeds is extremely poor.

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 It has low takeoff thrust and hence poor starting characteristics.

Turboprop engine:

Working principle:
 A turboprop engine is a jet engine attached to a propeller. The turbine at the back is
turned by the hot gases and this turns a shaft that drives the propeller.
 Like the turbojet engine, the turboprop engine consists of a compressor, combustion
chamber and turbine, which than creates the power to drive the compressor.
 Compared to a turbojet engine, the turboprop engine has better propulsion
efficiency. Modern turboprop engines are equipped with propellers that have a
smaller diameter but a larger number of blades for efficient operation at much
higher flight speeds.
 Turboprop engine drives its propulsion by conversion of gas stream energy into
mechanical power to drive the compressor, accessories, etc.
 A free turbine is incorporated in the turboprop engine. The shaft in which the free
turbine is mounted drives the propeller through the propeller reduction gear system.
 Approximately 90% of thrust comes from propeller and about only 10% comes
from the exhaust gases.

Fig: Turboprop engine

Characteristics:
 High propulsive efficiency at low airspeeds, which results in shorter takeoff rolls
but fall rapidly as airspeed increases.
 More complicated design and heavier weight than a turbojet.
 Lowest TSFC.

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 Large frontal area of propeller and engine combination that necessitates longer
landing gears for low wing air planes but does not necessarily increase parasitic
drag .
 Possibility of efficient reverse thrust.

Advantages:
 Turboprop engines have a higher thrust at takeoff and better fuel economy.
 The frontal area is less than propeller engines so that drag is reduced.
 The turboprop can operate economically over a wide range of speeds ranging from
low speeds where pure jet engine is uneconomical to high speeds of about 800 km/h
where the propeller engine efficiency is low.
 It is easy to maintain and has lower vibrations and noise.
 The power output is not limited as in the case of propeller engines.
 The multishaft arrangement allows a great flexibility of operation over a wide range
of speeds.

Disadvantages:
 The main disadvantage is that at high speeds, due to shocks and flow separation.
The propeller efficiency decreases rapidly, thereby, putting up a maximum speed
limit on the engine.
 It requires a reduction gear which increases the cost and also consumes certain
amount of energy developed by the turbine in addition to requiring more space.

Turbofan engine:

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Working principle:
 A turbofan engine has a large fan at the front, which sucks in air. Most of the air
flows around outside of core engine, making it quieter and giving more thrust at
low speeds.
 In a turbojet engine, all the air entering the intake passes through the gas generator,
which is composed of the compressor, the combustion chamber and the turbine.
However, in a turbofan engine only a portion of the incoming air goes into the
combustion chamber.
 The remaining air or fan air (or secondary air) either leaves separately from the
primary engine air, or ducted back to mix with the primary air through the engine
core at the rear.
 The objective of bypass system is to increase thrust without increasing fuel
consumption. This is achieved by increasing the total air mass flow and reducing
the velocity within the same total energy supply.
 The increased efficiency of a turbofan engine is combined with a substantial noise
reduction, typically 10-20%, which is a very important consideration.
 Turbofan engines are generally classified based on the bypass ratio i.e, low bypass
(1:1), medium bypass (2-3:1) and high bypass (4:1 or greater).
 In a low bypass engine, the fan and compressor sections handle approximately the
same mass of air flow.
 A medium bypass engine produces thrust ratio which is approximately the same as
its bypass ratio. The fan of medium bypass ratio engine has a larger diameter
compared to that on a low bypass engine of comparable power.
 A high bypass turbofan engine utilizes even wider diameter fan in order to push
more air. In this type of engine about 80% of the thrust is provided by the fan and
remaining only 20% by the core engine.

Characteristics:
 Increased thrust at forward speeds similar to turboprop results in a relatively short
takeoff. However, unlike the turboprop, the turbofan thrust is not penalized with
increasing airspeed, up to approximately Mach 1 with current fan designs.
 Weight falls between turbojet and turboprop.
 Ground clearances are less than turboprop but not as good as turbojet.

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 TSFC and specific weight falls between turbojet and turboprop, resulting in
increased operating economy and aircraft range over the turbojet.
 Considerable noise level reduction of 10 to 20 percent over the turbojet reduces
acoustic fatigue in surrounding aircraft parts and is less objectionable to the people
on the ground.

Advantages:
 Higher thrust at lower airspeeds.
 Lower TSFC.
 Shorter takeoff distance.
 Considerable noise reduction.

Disadvantages:
 Higher specific weight.
 Larger frontal area.
 Inefficient at high altitudes.

Turboshaft engine:

Working principle:
 This is another form of gas turbine engine that operates similar to a turboprop
engine.

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 This type of engine is used to power helicopters. It does not drive a propeller.
 A gas turbine engine that delivers power through a shaft to operate something other
than a propeller is referred to as a turboshaft engine.
 The turboshaft engine is designed so that the speed of the helicopter rotor is
independent of the rotating speed of the gas generator. This permits the rotor speed
to be kept constant even when the speed of the generator is varied to modulate the
amount of power produced.
 Turboshaft engine derives its propulsion by conversion of gas stream energy into
mechanical power to drive the compressor, accessories, etc. like that of a turboprop
engine.
 The shaft, on which the free turbine is mounted, drives the rotor of a helicopter
through the reduction gearbox.

Advantages:

 Freedom from vibration-permits lighter propeller sections and mounting structure.

 Available supply of compressed air.
 Decreased fire hazard – less volatile fuels are used.
 Lower specific weight.
 Lower oil consumption.

Disadvantages:

 High specific fuel consumption at low air speeds – applies chiefly to pure jet engines
have performance comparable to reciprocating engines.
 Inefficient operation at low power levels.
 Slow acceleration from minimum to maximum power level – this condition applies
chiefly to turbojet engines. Turboprop and turbofan engines are able to accelerate
quite rapidly.
 High starting power requirements.
 High cost manufacture.
 Susceptibility to damage by foreign material – such material is readily drawn into
the air inlet.

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Ramjet engine:

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Pulse jet engine:

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1.4 Gas Turbine Engine Cycle Analysis

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1.5 Heat Engines

Heat engine is a machine for converting heat, developed by burning fuel into
useful work. It can be said that heat engine is equipment which generates thermal energy
and transforms it into mechanical energy.

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Classification of Heat Engines

1. Based on combustion of fuel:

 External combustion engine

 Internal combustion engine.

2. Based on fuel used

• Diesel engine – Diesel is used as fuel

• Petrol engine – Petrol is used as fuel
• Gas engines – propane, butane or methane gases are used

3. Based ignition of fuel

• Spark ignition engine (Carburetor type engines)

• Compression ignition engine ( injector type engines)

4. Based on working cycle

• Four stroke cycle engine - When the cycle is completed in two revolutions of the
crankshaft, it is called four stroke cycle engine.
• Two stroke cycle engine. - When the cycle is completed in one revolution of the
crankshaft, it is called two stroke cycle engine

1.6 Working Principle of Internal Combustion Engine

• A mixture of fuel with correct amount of air is exploded in an engine cylinder
which is closed at one end.
• As a result of this explosion, heat is released and this heat causes the pressure of
the burning gases to increase.
• This pressure forces a close fitting piston to move down the cylinder.
• The movement of piston is transmitted to a crankshaft by a connecting rod so that
the crankshaft rotates and turns a flywheel connected to it.
• Power is taken from the rotating crank shaft to do mechanical work.
• To obtain continuous rotation of the crankshaft the explosion has to be repeated
continuously.
• Before the explosion to take place, the used gases are expelled from the cylinder,
fresh charge of fuel and air are admitted in to the cylinder and the piston moved
back to its starting position.

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The sequences of events taking place in an engine is called the working cycle of the
engine. The sequence of events taking place inside the engine are as follows:

• Admission of air or air-fuel mixture inside the engine cylinder ( suction )

• Compression of the air or air fuel mixture inside the engine (compression)
• Injection of fuel in compressed air for ignition of the fuel or ignition of air-fuel
mixture by an electric spark using a spark plug to produce thermal power inside
the cylinder (power )
• Removal of all the burnt gases from the cylinder to receive fresh charge (exhaust)

1.7 Four Stroke Cycle Engine (Diesel/ Petrol Engine)

The events taking place in I.C. engine are as follows:
• Suction stroke
• Compression stroke
• Power stroke
• Exhaust stroke

Suction stroke:

• During suction stroke inlet valve opens and the piston moves downward.
• Only air or a mixture of air and fuel are drawn inside the cylinder.
• The exhaust valve remains in closed position during this stroke.
• The pressure in the engine cylinder is less than atmospheric pressure during this
stroke.

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Compression stroke:

• During this stroke the piston moves upward. Both valves are in closed position.
• The charge taken in the cylinder is compressed by the upward movement of
piston.
• If only air is compressed, as in case of diesel engine, diesel is injected at the end
of the compression stroke and ignition of fuel takes place due to high pressure and
temperature of the compressed air.
• If a mixture of air and fuel is compressed in the cylinder, as in case of petrol
engine, the mixture is ignited by a spark plug.

Power stroke:

• After ignition of fuel, tremendous amount of heat is generated, causing very high
pressure in the cylinder which pushes the piston downward.
• The downward movement of the piston at this instant is called power stroke.
• The connecting rod transmits the power from piston to the crank shaft and crank
shaft rotates.
• Mechanical work can be taped at the rotating crank shaft.
• Both valves remain closed during power stroke.

Exhaust stroke

• During this stroke piston moves upward.

• Exhaust valve opens and exhaust gases go out through exhaust valves opening.
• All the burnt gases go out of the engine and the cylinder becomes ready to receive
the fresh charge.
• During this stroke inlet valve remains closed.

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1.8 Two Stroke Cycle Engine (Petrol Engine)

• In two stroke cycle engines, the whole sequence of events i.e., suction,
compression, power and exhaust are completed in two strokes of the piston i.e.
one revolution of the crankshaft.
• There is no valve in this type of engine. Gas movement takes place through holes
called ports in the cylinder.
• The crankcase of the engine is air tight in which the crankshaft rotates.

Upward stroke of the piston (Suction + Compression):

• When the piston moves upward it covers two of the ports, the exhaust port and
transfer port, which are normally almost opposite to each other.
• This traps the charge of air- fuel mixture drawn already in to the cylinder.

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• Further upward movement of the piston compresses the charge and also uncovers
the suction port.
• Now fresh mixture is drawn through this port into the crankcase.
• Just before the end of this stroke, the mixture in the cylinder is ignited by a spark
plug.
• Thus, during this stroke both suction and compression events are completed.

Downward stroke (Power + Exhaust):

• Burning of the fuel rises the temperature and pressure of the gases which forces
the piston to move down the cylinder.
• When the piston moves down, it closes the suction port, trapping the fresh charge
drawn into the crankcase during the previous upward stroke.
• Further downward movement of the piston uncovers first the exhaust port and
then the transfer port.
• Now fresh charge in the crankcase moves in to the cylinder through the transfer
port driving out the burnt gases through the exhaust port.
• Special shaped piston crown deflect the incoming mixture up around the cylinder
so that it can help in driving out the exhaust gases.
• During the downward stroke of the piston power and exhaust events are
completed.

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1.9 Comparison between Two Stroke and Four Stroke

1.10 Otto Cycle (modern petrol engines)

Otto cycle is a gas power cycle that is used in spark ignition internal combustion
engines (modern petrol engines). This cycle was introduced by Dr. Nikolaus August Otto,
a German Engineer. An Otto cycle consists of four processes:

1. Two isentropic (reversible adiabatic) processes

2. Two isochoric (constant volume) processes

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Processes in Otto Cycle:

As stated earlier, Otto cycle consists of four processes. They are as follows:

Process 1-2: Isentropic compression

In this process, the piston moves from bottom dead centre (BDC) to top dead centre
(TDC) position. Air undergoes reversible adiabatic (isentropic) compression. We know that
compression is a process in which volume decreases and pressure increases. Hence, in this
process, volume of air decreases from V1 to V2 and pressure increases from p1 to p2.
Temperature increases from T1 to T2. As this an isentropic process, entropy remains
constant (i.e., s1 =s2).

Process 2-3: Constant Volume Heat Addition

Process 2-3 is isochoric (constant volume) heat addition process. Here, piston
remains at top dead centre for a moment. Heat is added at constant volume (V2 = V3) from
an external heat source. Temperature increases from T2 to T3, pressure increases from p2 to
p3 and entropy increases from s2 to s3.

In this process,

Heat Supplied = mCv (T3 – T2)

Process 3-4: Isentropic expansion

In this process, air undergoes isentropic (reversible adiabatic) expansion. The piston
is pushed from top dead centre (TDC) to bottom dead centre (BDC) position. Here, pressure
decreases from p3 to p4, volume rises from V3 to V4, temperature falls from T3 to T4 and
entropy remains constant (s3 = s4).

Process 4-1: Constant Volume Heat Rejection

The piston rests at BDC for a moment and heat is rejected at constant volume (V4
=V5). In this process, pressure falls from p4 to p1, temperature decreases from T4 to T1 and
entropy falls from s4 to s1.

In process 4-1,

Heat Rejected = mCv (T4 – T1)

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Thermal efficiency (air-standard efficiency) of Otto Cycle,

1.11 Diesel Cycle (Diesel engines)

Diesel cycle is a gas power cycle invented by Rudolph Diesel in the year 1897. It
is widely used in diesel engines.

Diesel cycle is similar to Otto cycle except in the fact that it has one constant
pressure process instead of a constant volume process (in Otto cycle).

Processes in Diesel Cycle:

Diesel cycle has four processes. They are:

1. Process 1-2: Isentropic (Reversible adiabatic) Compression

2. Process 2-3: Constant Pressure (Isobaric) Heat Addition
3. Process 3-4: Isentropic Expansion
4. Process 4-1: Constant Volume (Isochoric) Heat Rejection

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Process 1-2: Isentropic Compression

In this process, the piston moves from Bottom Dead Centre (BDC) to Top Dead
Centre (TDC) position. Air is compressed isentropically inside the cylinder. Pressure of
air increases from p1 to p2, temperature increases from T1 to T2, and volume decreases
from V1 to V2. Entropy remains constant (i.e., s1 = s2).

Process 2-3: Constant Pressure Heat Addition

In this process, heat is added at constant pressure from an external heat source.
Volume increases from V2 to V3, temperature increases from T2 to T3 and entropy
increases from s1 to s3.

Heat added in process 2-3 is given by

Q = mCv(T3 – T2)

Process 3-4: Isentropic Expansion

Here the compressed and heated air is expanded isentropically inside the cylinder.
The piston is forced from TDC to BDC in the cylinder. Pressure of air decreases from p3
to p4, temperature decreases from T3 to T4, and volume increases from V3 to V4. Entropy
remains constant (i.e., s3 = s4).

Process 4-1: Constant Volume Heat Rejection

In this process, heat is rejected at constant volume (V4 = V1). Pressure decreases
from P4 to P1, temperature decreases from T3 to T4 and entropy decreases from s4 to s1.

Heat rejected in process 4-1 is given by

Q = mCv(T4 – T1)

Air-standard efficiency (or thermal efficiency) of diesel cycle is given by:

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1.12 Advantages of Reciprocating Engines over Gas Turbines

1.13 Advantages of Gas Turbines over Reciprocating Engines

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