MIT School of Engineering, Pune.

Department of Aerospace Engineering

Course Code: 21BTAE503
Name of the Subject: Air Breathing Propulsion
Name of the Subject Teacher: Prof. Pandi Siddharth
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UNIT-1 Fundamentals of Gas Turbine Engines
Introduction to Propulsion,

Types of Aircraft Engines,

Working Principle of Gas Turbine Engine,

Thrust Equation,

Factors Affecting Thrust,

Methods of Thrust Augmentation,

Performance Parameters and Efficiencies,

Performance Characteristics of Turboprop, Turbofan and Turbojet Engines.

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Introduction to Propulsion:

The term (or) The fundamental principle of Propulsion is to create a force to propel any

device (or) to drive.

Propulsion basically involves one (or) more components which are known as propellants,

that burn to create a propulsive force.

The propulsion system is classified into two types:

1. Air Breathing Propulsion

2. Rocket Propulsion

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Air Breathing Propulsion:

In air breathing propulsion, the air from the surroundings is fed into various components of

the engine to generate the thrust.

Steps Involved:

1) Draw the air inside (Intake),

2) Compress it (Process of Compression),
3) Add fuel and burn (converting chemical energy into thermal energy) – (Process of
Combustion) and
4) Expand through a turbine to drive the compressor and nozzle (extract work) – (Process of
generation of Thrust or Jet).
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Rocket Propulsion:

The chemical energy of the propellant is converted into thermal energy and then finally

obtains desired kinetic energy and momentum which results in the Thrust Force to move

forward.

Expand Through
Propellant Burn Nozzle
(Chemical Energy) (Thermal Energy) (Kinetic Energy &
Momentum)

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Any device that pushes the air is called as a jet.

A jet engine pushes the air to generate the thrust.

The aero engines can be broadly classified into two types i.e.,

1) Air Breathing Engines:

These type of engines carries fuel and atmospheric air is used as oxidizer.
Example: Jet Engines
2) Rocket Engines:
These type of engines carries both fuel and oxidizer and has no interaction with the
atmospheric air.
Example: Rockets
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Components of Jet Engine

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Basic Thermodynamics:
The figure shows a basic open gas turbine cycle &
Its working principle is as follows:
1) Fresh air enters the compressor at the ambient
temperature where its pressure and temperature are
increased.
2) The high pressure air enters the combustion
chamber where the fuel is burnt at constant pressure
3) The high temperature and pressure gas enters the
Open Gas Turbine Cycle
turbine where it expands to ambient pressure and
produces the work.

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Features:

Gas-turbine is used in aircraft propulsion and electric power generation.

High thermal efficiencies can be achieved.

Suitable for combined cycles (with steam power plant)

High power to weight ratio, high reliability and long life.

Quick start up time, about 2 minutes when compared to a steam propulsion systems as they

take 4 hours.

High back work ratio (ratio of compressor work to the turbine work), upto 50% when

compared to steam power plants.

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Brayton Cycle:
Brayton cycle is the ideal cycle for gas-turbine engines in which the working fluid
undergoes a closed or open loop. That is the combustion and exhaust processes are
modelled by constant-pressure heat addition and rejection, respectively.
Brayton cycle is used for gas turbines only where both the compression and expansion
processes take place in rotating machinery.
The two major application areas of gas-turbine engines are aircraft propulsion and electric
power generation.
The Brayton Cycle is also known as Joule Cycle.
It is also known as Constant – Pressure Cycle.
This cycle is used as a basis for Gas Turbines which can be used in aircrafts.

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 Brayton Cycle

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Process of Brayton Cycle:
The following are the steps involved in the process of Brayton cycle:
1) In the stage 1-2, reversible adiabatic (or) isentropic compression takes place (PVγ =
Constant).
2) In stage 2-3, constant pressure heat – addition takes place.
3) In the stage 3-4, reversible adiabatic (or) isentropic expansion takes place (PVγ =
Constant).
4) In stage 4-1, constant pressure heat – rejection takes place (QR).
5) In the stage 1-2, the work is input to the system and is demoted as WC
6) Where as in the stage 3-4, we obtain the work output and is denoted as WE

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P-V Diagram of Brayton Cycle:
1) In stage 1-2, The volume decreases from V1 -V2 and Pressure increases from P1 - P2
2) In stage 2-3, Keeping pressure constant P2 = P3, volume increases from V2 –V3 as
continues heat addition takes place (QA).
3) In stage 3-4, The expansion takes place, volume increases from V3 –V4 and Pressure
decreases from P3 – P4.
4) The stage 4-1 is a heat rejection process (QR)
T-S Diagram of Brayton Cycle:
1) In stage 1-2, The entropy is constant i.e., S1 = S2 and Temperature raises from T1 - T2
2) In stage 2-3, Keeping pressure constant, temperature raises from T2 – T3
3) In stage 3-4, Isentropic Expansion, entropy remains constant i.e., S3 = S4 and temperature

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Thermal Efficiency for a Brayton cycle can also be written as:

T4/T1=T3/T2

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Numerical 1:
Air enters the compressor of an ideal air-standard Brayton cycle at 100 kPa, 300 K, with a
mass flow rate of 50 kg/s. The compressor pressure ratio is 14. The turbine inlet temperature
is 1400 K. Determine
(a) The thermal efficiency of the cycle, (b) work ratio (wc/wt).
Numerical 2:
A gas turbine power plant operates on a simple Brayton cycle with air as the working fluid.
Air enters the turbine at 800 KPa and 1200 K; it leaves the turbine at 100 kPa and 750 K. Heat
is rejected to the surroundings at a rate of 6800 kW, and air flows through the cycle at a rate of
20 kg/s. Determine
(a) Net power output of the plant, (b) Thermal effeciency
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Fundamental Equations:

Four basic laws must be satisfied for the continuous medium (or continuum) inside aero

engines and rocket motors, namely:

1. Conservation of matter (Continuity Equation) => ρ1V1A1 = ρ2V2A2

2. Newton’s second law => F = ma

3. Conservation of energy (First Law of Thermodynamics)

4. Second law of thermodynamics

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Classification of Aircraft Engines:

Non-air Breathing Engines

Air Breathing Engines
1) Gas Turbine Engines
Rocket Engines
Turbojet
Turboprop Solid Rocket
Turbofan
Liquid Rocket
2) Ramjet
3) Scramjet
Hybrid Rocket
4) Pulsejet
5) Reciprocating (or) Piston Engine

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Turbojet Engine:

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Advantages:
Low frontal area and hence it processes less drag.
Suitable for long distance flight at higher altitude and higher speeds.
Reheat is possible to increase the thrust.
Low weight per unit thrust at designed speed and altitude.
Disadvantages:
Propulsive efficiency and thrust are lower at lower speed.
Specific fuel consumption is high at low speed and low altitude.
It is not economical for short distance flight.
Long runway is required due to slower acceleration.
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Turboprop Engine:

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 A large amount of air is drawn by the propeller and is passed through the ducts around the
engine and the remainder is compressed in the diffuser by ram compression and further in
the compressor.
The power generated in the gas turbine is used for driving the compressor and the propeller
The gas turbine drives the propeller through the
reduction gear unit and it draws a large amount of air.
The total thrust developed is the sum of thrust
developed by the propeller and the nozzle.
The turboprop engines are widely used for both the
commercial and military aircrafts, due to their low specific
fuel consumption and high flexibility of operation at reasonably high speed.

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Advantages:

On account of high thrust at low speeds, take-off roll is short and required short runway.

Propulsive efficiency is high.

Thrust reversal is easily achieved with the variable pitch propeller blade.

Disadvantages:

It is suitable for lower speed and lower altitude.

A large speed reduction box is required to drive the propeller at optimum speed.

It posses large frontal area and hence large drag.

It posses high weight per unit thrust.

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Turbofan Engine:

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Advantages:

It posses Shorter take-off roll due to high thrust at low speeds.

Comparatively silent engine (produce less noise).

A high bypass ratio engine will reduce air pollution, since for given thrust; engine burn less

fuel.

Disadvantages:

The engine is heavier and more complicate as compared to Turbojet engine.

Separate thrust reversal is required for hot and cold jet.

It posses large frontal area and hence more drag.

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Ramjet Engine:
Ramjet Engine is a form of air-breathing jet engine that uses the engine's forward motion to
compress incoming air without an axial compressor (or) a centrifugal compressor. Because
ramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed, they cannot move an aircraft from a standstill

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 A ramjet requires an assisted take-off like a rocket to accelerate it to a speed where it begins
to produce thrust.
Ramjets work most efficiently at supersonic speeds around Mach 3 (2,300 mph; 3,700
km/h). This type of engine can operate up to speeds of Mach 6 (4,600 mph; 7,400 km/h).
Ramjets can be particularly useful in applications requiring a small and simple mechanism
for high-speed use, such as missiles.
Advantages:
Simple design. It uses the engine's forward motion to compress incoming air. A compressor
is not needed. Neither does it need a turbine. The only moving parts are the inlet cone and
the fuel pump.
More fuel efficient than rockets and useful for speeds between Mach 3 and Mach 6.

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Disadvantages:
Does not produce thrust at standstill. So the aircraft will need another propulsion to
accelerate to supersonic speed.
Inefficient at speeds below Mach 2.
Scramjet Engine:
A scramjet is a variant of a ramjet air-breathing jet engine in which combustion takes place
in supersonic airflow.
As in ramjets, a scramjet relies on high vehicle speed to compress the incoming air
forcefully before combustion, but whereas a ramjet decelerates the air to subsonic
velocities before combustion, the airflow in a scramjet is supersonic throughout the entire
engine. This allows the scramjet to operate efficiently at extremely high speeds.
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A scramjet engine is an improvement over the ramjet engine as it efficiently operates at
hypersonic speeds and allows supersonic combustion.
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Advantages:
Does not have to carry oxygen.
No rotating parts makes it easier to manufacture than a turbojet.
Has a higher specific impulse (change in momentum per unit of propellant) than a rocket
engine; could provide between 1000 and 4000 seconds, while a rocket typically provides
around 450 seconds or less.
Higher speed could mean cheaper access to outer space in the future
Disadvantages:
Difficult/expensive testing and development.
Very high initial propulsion requirements.
A Scramjet cannot produce efficient thrust unless boosted to high speed, around Mach 5.
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Pulsejet Engine:
A pulsejet engine or pulse jet is a typical type of jet engine in which combustion occurs in
pulses.
A pulsejet engine can be made with few or no moving parts, and is capable of running
statically (i.e. it does not need to have air forced into its inlet, typically by forward motion).
Pulsejet engines are a lightweight form of jet propulsion, but usually have a poor
compression ratio and hence give a low specific impulse.
Types of Pulsejet Engine:
1) Valved Pulse Jet Engine and

2) Valveless Pulse Jet Engine.

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Advantages:
Extremely low tech; they can be made with few or no moving parts
The fuel is very efficiently burned
High power-to-weight ratio can be achieved
It can operate at high altitude. Propeller aircraft is generally limited to remain under a
specific altitude, since the air at high altitude becomes very thin.
Disadvantages:
Extremely noisy (up to 140 dB)

The pulse jet engine is difficult to start although valveless pulse jets don't even need a spark

plug while in operation, it does need one for starting it.

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 Ae
Ai

Ps

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Q3) Consider the turbojet aircraft at a standard sea level with inlet velocity of 0.5 mach. The
inlet and exit areas are the same, both equal to 0.45m2. The velocity, pressure and temperature
of the exhaust gas are 400 m/s, 1.0 atm and 600 K, respectively. Calculate the thrust of the
engine
Solution:

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Variation of Pressure Temperature and Velocity across the Turbojet Engine:
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Step 2: Diffuser: By drawing a control volume around the compressor-diffuser combination,
and using the flow properties at the exit of the diffuser, Equation gives the thrust obtained
from the compressor-diffuser combination.

where the exit properties are those at the exit of the diffuser and T compressor has already been
obtained in Step 1. Hence

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Step 3: Combustion Chamber: By drawing a control volume around the
compressor-diffuser-combustion chamber combination, and using the flow properties at the
exit of the combustion chamber, Equation gives the thrust obtained from the
compressor-diffuser-combustion chamber combination.

Step 4: Turbine: Drawing a control volume around the compressor-diffuser-combustion

chamber-turbine combination, and applying equation we have

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Step 5: Exhaust Unit and Jet Pipe: Drawing a control volume around the
compressor-diffuser-combustion chamber–turbine–exhaust unit and jet pipe combination, and
applying Equation, we have

Step 6: Propelling Nozzle: Finally, drawing a control volume around the

compressor-diffuser-combustion chamber–turbine–exhaust unit and jet pipe–propelling nozzle
combination, and applying equation we have

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© MIT-ADT University, Pune 2020
Methods to improve efficiency and work output of Gas Turbine:
Increase the turbine inlet temperature provided the turbine materials can stand the

temperature or one has access to replacement parts that can withstand the temperatures.

Increase the pressure ratio. There is a limit to the efficiency increase depending upon the

turbine inlet temperature.

Power augmentation through steam injection.

On turbines with HP and LP turbine separated, apply reheat.

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Factors Affecting Thrust:
Gas turbine engine operates under varying condition that affect the amount of thrust the
engine produces. These conditions affect either the momentum of air fuel flows through the
jet nozzle.
a) Jet Nozzle Velocity

b) Airspeed

c) Mass Airflow

d) Altitude effect

e) Ram effect

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Jet Nozzle Velocity:
During most normal high speed operations, the exhaust nozzle operates in a chocked
condition. This means that the gases flowing out of the engine have been accelerated to the
speed of sound and they cannot be accelerated any further.
If the nozzle is not chocked, varied atmospheric condition will cause some changes in jet
nozzle velocity.
Airspeed:
As per thrust formula, airspeed increases the net thrust goes decreases.
When a turbojet or turbo fan engine operating at high power and the aircraft in which it is
mounted is not moving the value of V1 in thrust energy is zero and thrust is maximum.

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Mass Airflow:
The most significant variable in the thrust equation is mass air flow. Many factors affect the
mass airflow, the most important being air temperature, pressure, because these factors
determine the density of the air entering the engine.
As the temperature of the air increases its density decreases. Therefore the thrust produced
by the engine decreases.
As the air pressure increases, its density increases, causing thrust produced by the engine to
increase.
Altitude Effect:
If increase in altitude causes decrease in pressure, thus a decrease in density and
corresponding decrease in thrust.
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Ram Effect:
The compression of air in an inlet duct arising from forward motion is called ram pressure
or ram effect.
Because of ram effect, decreasing air speed also increases the pressure of the air & airflow
into engine (Wa).
Engine Performance Parameters:
The engine performance parameters are identified as
1) Propulsive efficiency, 2) Thermal efficiency,
3) Propeller efficiency, 4) Overall efficiency,
5) Takeoff thrust, 6) Specific fuel consumption and
7) Aircraft range
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Propulsive Efficiency:
Propulsive efficiency is the efficiency of the conversion of the kinetic energy of air when it
passes through the engine into a propulsive power.
It is influenced by the amount of the energy wasted in the propelling nozzle(s) and is
denoted by (ηp).
The kinetic energy wrapped up in this exhaust jet is totally wasted it contributes nothing to
the engine thrust or performance.
Consider an airplane moving through the air with velocity V∞ being driven by a propulsive
device with thrust available TA. The power available provided by the propulsive device is
defined as follows:

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Propulsive Efficiency of Turboprop and Turbofan Engine:
For bypass engines (turbofan and propfan), the air coming into the engine is spitted into
two streams, the first passes through the fan/propfan, and is known as the cold stream,
while the other passes through the engine core, compressor, combustion chamber and
subsequent modules, and is known as the hot stream.
Applying the same principle and employing the first expression we get the following form:

where Th and Tc are the thrust force generated by the hot and cold streams respectively,
while Wh and Wc are the wake losses of the hot and cold streams respectively. The thrust
force and wake losses for both hot and cold streams are expressed as

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Propulsive Efficiencies of Jet Engines

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This is the first expression for the propulsive efficiency in turbofan engine.
The second expression can be also written using the two hot and cold streams

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When the two nozzles of the hot and cold streams are unchoked and the fuel to air ratio (f)
is negligible, both expressions yield the following expression:

where (β) is the bypass ratio, which is the ratio between the mass flow rates of the cold air
and hot air,
The propulsive efficiency for a turboprop engine can be written as

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(b) The propulsive efficiency is calculated as follows:

(or)

Though this expression is simple but gives a very rough estimate of the propulsive efficiency.

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Q2) A comparison between turbojet, turbofan, and turboprop engines is considered here. The
three engines have the same gas generator (compressor, combustion chamber, and turbine). It
is required to calculate both the thrust and propulsive efficiency of them provided the
following data and all nozzles are unchoked.

Solution: From the given data

(A) Turbojet engine
The thrust force is given by Equation: T
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(B) Turbofan engine:

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Propeller Efficiency (ηpr):
Propellers are used in both of piston and turboprop. Shaft power is converted to thrust
power.
Propeller efficiency (ηpr) is defined as the ratio between the thrust power generated by the
propeller (TP = uTpr) to the shaft power (SP)

If the required amount of thrust is obtained from the exhaust gases Te in a turboprop
engine, an Equivalent Thrust Power, ETP is expressed in terms of the shaft power, propeller
efficiency, and exhaust thrust power, thus

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Similarly, an equivalent shaft power (ESP) is used instead of the equivalent thrust power.

Then they are related as:

Further, the exhaust thrust is expressed as:

The total thrust force is given by the relation:

Therefore, the propeller efficiency is then expressed as:

For the specific engines the propulsive efficiency is replaced by the propeller efficiency to

obtain much more accurate values.

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Overall Efficiency (ηO):
Overall Efficiency is defined as “the product of the propulsive and thermal efficiencies (η p

x ηth) or (ηpr x ηth) as appropriate”.

In all cases

Since the overall efficiency depends on speed (u) and the thrust (T) balances the aircraft

drag, overall efficiency is actually not a parameter of the engine alone, but characterizes the

engine/aircraft combination and its state of operations.

For a turbojet with unchoked nozzle and negligible fuel to air ratio ( f ), then

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Q1) Boeing 747-400 aircraft is powered by four PW4062 turbofan engines manufactured by
Pratt & Whiney Aircraft Engine Company. Each engine has the following data:

If the thrust generated from the fan is 75 % of the total thrust, determine:
(a) Jet velocities of the cold air and hot gases, (b) Specific thrust, (c) Propulsive efficiency,
(d) Thermal efficiency and (e) Overall efficiency
Assume that the exit pressures of the cold and hot streams are equal to the ambient pressure

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(C) The Propulsive Efficiency: Since both cold (fan) and hot (core) nozzles are
unchoked, then the propulsive efficiency can be expressed as

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© MIT-ADT University, Pune 2020
Takeoff Thrust:
Takeoff Thrust is a key parameter that defines the ability of an aero engine to provide a
static and low speed thrust which enables the aircraft to take off under its own power.
Both ramjet and scramjet engines doesn’t fall under this category.
The static thrust of a turbojet engine with an unchoked nozzle is expressed by the relation:
---------------- (1)
From the thermal efficiency equation, when u = 0, then
- --------------- (2)
From equations 1 & 2, then the static or takeoff thrust is given by the relation:

For constant values flow rate and thermal efficiency, then

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Specific Fuel Consumption:
This performance parameter of the engine has a direct influence on the costs of aircraft trip
and flight economics.
Fuel consumption is either defined per unit thrust force for ramjet, turbojet, and turbofan
engines (or) per horsepower for turboprop and piston-propeller engines.
(A) Ramjet, Turbojet and Turbofan engines:
The Thrust Specific Fuel Consumption (TSFC) can be defined as:

(B) Turboprop engines:

For engines which produce shaft power, fuel consumption is identified by Brake Specific
Fuel Consumption (BSFC), or simply SFC, and defined as

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 When appreciable thrust is produced by the hot gases, the fuel consumption is identified by
the Equivalent Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (EBSFC), or simply ESFC, and defined
by
Aircraft Range: Aircraft range is a design parameter of the aircraft and based on which the
number, location, and capacity of fuel tanks in the aircraft is determined.
Now consider the cruise phase in a flight trip T = D = mg(D/L), where (m) is the
instantaneous aircraft mass and (g) is the gravitational acceleration, Thus T/D = L/mg =1.
Since the rate of fuel consumption is equal to the rate of decrease of the mass of aircraft,
then ,where (s) is the distance along the flight path.

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Integration of the above equation yields the range of aircraft (S) as follows

Where (m1) and (m2) are the initial and final mass of aircraft.
The above equation is reformulated as

Another expression for the range is obtained from the overall efficiency

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