MECH 1906 Mechanical Engineering for Modern Life

Introduction to Gas Turbines

 Introduction
TURBINES:
• Machines to extract fluid power from flowing
fluids
Steam Water Wind Gas
Turbine Turbines Turbines Turbines

• High Pressure, High Temperature gas

• Aircraft Engines
• Generated inside the engine
• Power Generation
• Expands through a specially designed TURBINE
 Gas Turbines
• Invented in 1930 by Frank Whittle
• Patented in 1934
• First used for aircraft propulsion in 1942 on
Me262 by Germans during second world war
• Currently most of the aircrafts and ships use
Gas Turbine engines
• Used for power generation
• Manufacturers: General Electric, Pratt &Whitney,
SNECMA, Rolls Royce, Honeywell, Siemens –
Westinghouse, Alstom
 Applications of Gas Turbines
• Aircrafts
• Rockets
• Power Generation
• Cars
• Ships
• Tanks
Chrysler Turbine Car
 How Gas Turbines Work
• Energy is added to the
gas stream
• Combustion increases
the temperature, velocity,
and volume of the gas
flow
• Turbine rotates, powering
the compressor
• Energy is then extracted
in the form of shaft power,
compressed air and
thrust
 Principle of Operations

• Intake: Slow down incoming air and Remove distortions

• Compressor: Dynamically compress air
• Combustor: Heat addition through chemical reaction
• Turbine: Run the compressor
• Exhaust nozzle: Generation of thrust power/shaft power
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjiUUJdPGX0
 Advantages of Gas Turbines
• Great power-to-weight ratio compared to
reciprocating engines.
• More size efficient
• Moves in one direction only, with fewer moving
parts
• Low operating pressures
• High operation speeds
• Low lubricating oil cost and consumption
• Smaller than their reciprocating counterparts of
the same power.
• Lower emission levels
 Disadvantages of Gas Turbines
• Expensive:
。high speeds and high operating temperatures
。designing and manufacturing gas turbines is a tough
problem from both the engineering and materials
standpoints
• More complex machining operations
• Usually less efficient than reciprocating engines,
especially at idle
• Tend to use more fuel when they are idling
• They prefer a constant rather than a fluctuating
load.
That makes gas turbines great for things like transcontinental jet aircraft and
power plants, but explains why we don't have one under the hood of our car.
 Emission in Gas Turbines

• Lower emission compared to all conventional methods

(except nuclear)
• Regulations require further reduction in emission levels
 Needs for Future Gas Turbines
• Power Generation
。 Fuel Economy
。 Low Emissions
。 Alternative fuels
• Military Aircrafts
。 High Thrust
Half the size and twice the thrust
。 Low Weight
• Commercial Aircrafts
。 Low emissions
。 High Thrust Double the size of the Aircraft
。 Low Weight and double the distance traveled
。 Fuel Economy with 50% NOx
 Turbojet Thrust

Drag Force

Va Vj

Assume ideal case where Pa = Pj &

assume that Areaa = Areaj
 Turbojet Thrust
• Conservation of momentum

∂
∫ ρV dV + ∫ ρV (V • n) dA = ∑ Forces
∂t CV CS

• Apply in x-direction
•
Drag = m(V j − Va ) = Thrust
 Propulsion Efficiency
• Propulsion efficiency in this idealized case is
then
•
Thrust Power m(V j − Va )Va
ηp = = •
" Jet Power" m(V 2 − V 2 ) / 2
j a

• 1 as VjVa.
The propulsion efficiency goes to __
。 This is why turbofans were created, which provide
thrust with a low velocity jet to get high efficiency!
6 Different Types of Jet Engines
 Turbojet
 Turbofan
 Turboshaft
 Turboprop
 Pulsejet
 Ramjet  Turbojet
 Turboshaft

 Turboprop
 Turbofan
 Turbojet Engine (1)
• The first of the family to be produced historically
and the simplest concept as described above.
• Compress the air, ignite fuel and use the
expanding hot gasses to drive the turbine and
the rest for thrust.
 Turbojet Engine (2)
• Thrust produced by gasses expelled from the
exhaust nozzle
• Very noisy
• Used on high speed aircraft due to its small size
 Turbofan (1)
• Adds a large set of fan
blades at the front of the
inlet
• Some of the thrust is
produced by gasses
expelled from the exhaust
nozzle just like a turbojet
engine
• Most of the thrust is
produced from the large
inlet fan
• The Bypass ratio of a
turbofan is typically 8:1
(eight times more air is
bypassed than passes
through the compressor
and combustion chamber)
 Turbofan (2)
• To increase thrust, we should increase either the speed
or the mass of air being moved
(Thrust = Mass x Acceleration) ... However…
• It is more efficient to accelerate a larger mass of air to a
lower velocity
• Due to this principle, the turbofan is more efficient than
the turbojet
• Due to the lower velocity the turbofan is also significantly
quieter than a turbojet
• Almost all modern commercial aircraft use turbofan
engines (excluding the Concord)
 Turboshaft (1)
• Exhaust gas is used to turn turbine shaft which
is then used to propel the vehicle
• Exhausted gas produces little thrust because
most of the energy is used up by the turbine
 Turboshaft (2)
• Because of the high speed (RPM) of a
turboshaft engine, gear reduction must be used
to obtain a usable shaft speed – much like the
transmission in your car
• This gear reduction also produces torque
multiplication
 Turboprop
• A turboprop is essentially a turboshaft engine that is
attached to a propeller
• The fan from turbofan is replaced with a propeller
• A propeller is more efficient at low speeds than a
turbofan or turbojet
 Pulsejet (1)
• Does not Use a
compressor or
turbine
• Does not have the
ability to produce
thrust at low speed
(<100 mph)
• Germans used this
design during WWII
in their V-1 “Flying
Bomb” V-1 Flying Bomb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro4ApX7EhJw
 Pulsejet (2)
• Uses one-way reed valves in the front of the
engine to force exhaust gasses out the rear of
the engine and allow fresh air in the front
 Ramjet
• Used for extremely high speeds (minimum
400 mph)
• Does not contain any moving parts
(i.e. compressor, turbine, reed valves)
• Relies on the inertia of the incoming air for
compression
• Used in the SR-71 Blackbird at supersonic
speeds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N31eEXjNAUU
 Selection Criteria
• When selecting an engine for a particular
vehicle the following criteria must be
evaluated
。Price
。Designed speed of vehicle operation
。Designed altitude of vehicle operation
。Range – Fuel efficiency
。Maintenance and Durability
 Selection of Turbojet

• No reciprocating parts
• Thrust is not greatly affected by altitude
• Relatively small frontal area is desirable for high speed
(supersonic) use
• Relatively high-speed, low-mass of exhaust gasses
make the turbojet somewhat inefficient
• High speed exhaust is extremely noisy
 Selection of Turbofan
• Because the large inlet fan moves a larger volume
of air at a lower velocity, the turbofan is more
efficient than the turbojet
• Because of the lower exhaust speeds, the noise
level is greatly reduced
• The large inlet fan creates a large frontal area which
negatively affects drag at high speeds (especially
supersonic)
• Most effective at speeds below supersonic
(Mach .5 – Mach .9)
• However modern fighters are now using the state of
the art turbofans for supersonic flight
 Selection of Turboshaft

M-1 Abrams tank named

Boeing AH-64 Apache
after General Creighton Abrams
• Used in turboprop, helicopter and land based
applications
• Must use a gearbox to reduce rpm’s
• M-1 Abrams tank – 1500 hp turboshaft engine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffEV1bvMRRA
 Selection of Turboprop
• Propellers are most efficient
at low speeds
• Produce greater power than
a comparable piston engine
with less weight, noise, and
maintenance
• More expensive than a
piston engine
• Must use a gearbox to
reduce the high turboshaft
rpm’s down to prop rpm’s
 Selection of Pulsejet
• Relatively inexpensive
• Does not have the ability to produce thrust at low
speeds
• Simple construction
 Selection of Ramjet
• Only used in extremely high speed applications
(mostly military / NASA)
• Only produces thrust at high speeds
• No moving parts
X-15 SR-71
 Components of
a Turbine Jet Engine

Turbine Blade
 Why Are There Different
Types of Engines?
Newton’s 1st Law
Objects in motion tend to stay in motion and
objects at rest tend to stay at rest unless
something pushes or pulls on the object.
Therefore:
1. Thrust from the propulsion system must
balance the drag when the airplane is cruising.
2. Thrust from the propulsion system must
exceed the drag for the airplane to accelerate.
 Airliners and Cargo Planes
• Spend most of the time in a cruise state
• High engine efficiency and low fuel usage
more important than excess thrust
• Turboprop and turbofan propulsion are
used on airliners and cargo planes
Fighter Planes & Hypersonic Aircraft
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOMo66NroW8
Top 10 fastest planes in the world

• Require high excess thrust to accelerate

quickly and overcome high drag
associated with high speeds
• High thrust is more important than engine
efficiency

Hypersonic: Mach 5 or above

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzadlK1-3Is
 Gas Turbine Technologies
for Electric Generation (1)
Simple Cycle Power Plant Combined Cycle Power Plant

Gas turbine most frequently In combined cycle power plants

used in the power generation, (CCPPs) a gas turbine generator
aviation without provision for generates electricity while the waste
waste heat recovery heat from the gas turbine is used to
make steam to generate additional
electricity via a steam turbine.
 Gas Turbine Technologies
for Electric Generation (2)
• Open (Simple) Cycle
。Operate when demand is high – peak demand
。Operate for short / variable times
。Designed for quick start-up
。Not designed to be efficient but reliable
• not cost effective to build
• Combined Cycle: gas & steam turbine
。Operate for peak and economic dispatch
。Designed for quick start-up
。Designed for efficient and cost-effective operations
。Typically has ability to operate in Simple Cycle Mode
Steam turbine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPg7hOxFItI
 Principles of Operation
Open (Simple) Cycle
• The energy contained
in a flowing ideal gas
is the sum of enthalpy
and kinetic energy.
• Pressurized gas can
store or release
energy. As it expands
the pressure is
converted to kinetic
energy.
 Principles of Operation
Compressor
• As air flows into the compressor, energy is transferred
from its rotating blades to the air. Pressure and
temperature of the air increase.
• Most compressors operate in the range of 75% to 85%
efficiency.
Combustor
• The purpose of the combustor is to increase the energy
stored in the compressor exhaust by raising its
temperature.
Turbine
• The turbine acts like the compressor in reverse with
respect to energy transformation.
• Most turbines operate in the range of 80% to 90%
efficiency
 Gas Turbine Components
Compressor – Combustor - Turbine
How Does a Combined Cycle Plant Work?

HRSG = Heat recovery

steam generator

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVjtFXWe9Eo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeiu-wcyEbs