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Basic Concepts: Propulsion and Power

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DOI: 10.1002/9780470686652.eae079

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 EAE079

Chapter eae079
Basic Concepts: Propulsion and Power
Arvind G. Rao and Jos van Buijtenen
Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

order to create thrust, the momentum of the air needs to be

1 Introduction 1 changed.
2 History 1 In the above example, the balloon has only a finite quantity
of air, which escapes in a few seconds and the balloon soon
3 The Gas Turbine Engine 4
comes to a halt. However, if this process has to be sustained
4 Future Challenges 6
continuously (e.g., as in an aircraft) then the balloon has to
5 New Engine Concepts 9 be pumped with compressed air continuously by an external
6 Closure 10 compressor, as shown in Figure 2a. But since it is not possi-
References 10 ble for a flying object, like an aircraft, to be connected to an
external compressor with a pipe for long distances, an alter-
nate solution would be to install a compressor driven by an
1 INTRODUCTION electric motor inside the balloon itself, as shown in Figure 2b.
However, the balloon should then be connected with an elec-
At some point in our life we all have played with balloons and tric power source, just like an electric locomotive connected
we all have experienced the fact that when air from the balloon with a high-voltage transmission like above the tracks. But
is released, the air rushes out and pushes the balloon forward. such a solution is also not feasible for an aircraft for practical
This very basic phenomenon is the foundation of propulsion reasons.
that is used in aircraft and rockets. Let us look at the same pro- If the electrical power is not easily available, an attractive
cess again with a new perspective, as shown in Figures 1–4. alternative would be to drive the compressor by a turbine
The air pressure inside the balloon is more than the ambi- and the power for driving the turbine could be created by
ent pressure; therefore, when the end of the balloon is open, burning fuel inside a combustor (in between the compressor
the ambient air exerts a pressure on the walls of the bal- and the turbine) depicted in Figure 3a. However, the fuel
loon and the air within the balloon comes out of the opening for combustion has to be carried within the balloon. This is
with a high velocity. According to the Newton’s third law of the principle on which most of the aircraft engines operate.
motion, the escaping air jet exerts an equal and opposite force Alternatively, instead of using the turbine power to drive the
(called as thrust) on the ballooon, which pushes the balloon compressor, the power can be used to drive a big fan (also
foward. A similar thing can also be observed in a propellor toy called as propeller) to push the air and to create the required
shown in Figure 1b. The air is pushed down by the movement thrust.
(rotation) of the blades, the air exerts a force on the blades
which causes the propeller to lift. Thus, it can be seen that in
2 HISTORY
Encyclopedia of Aerospace Engineering.
Edited by Richard Blockley and Wei Shyy The knowledge that an escaping jet creates a force in the

c 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN: 978-0-470-75440-5 opposite direction was known even to early civilizations.
2 Basic Concepts

Force

Air
Air Air
Force

(a) (b)

Figure 1. (a) Air coming out of a balloon; (b) a propeller toy.

Compressor +-
E

(a) (b)

Figure 2. (a) Supply of compressed air for propulsion; (b) compressor driven by electric motor.

Turbine
Jet

Thrust
Fuel

Fuel
Thrust

(a) (b) Propeller

Figure 3. (a) Principle of a jet engine; (b) principle of a turboprop.

In 150 BCE, a Greek philosopher and mathematician, Hero, propulsion, flight controls and pilot cabin, more than a cen-
invented a device called “Aeolipile” (also known as “Hero’s tury before the first successful flight test by the Wright
turbine”) which rotated due to steam jets coming out of a brothers in 1903. He also predicted that the powered flight
boiling pot of water (Figure 4a). The steam jets ejecting from would be possible if an engine/prime mover would be able
the nozzle produced a force in the opposite direction of the to produce “more power in a given time, proportion to its
jets which caused the device to rotate. However, this novel weight, than the animal system of muscles.”
device was used just for amusement and never exploited for Approximately half a century later steam engines were
useful work. Many centuries later in 1629, an Italian named invented for being used in aviation. Even though the steam
Giovanni Branca actually developed a device which used to engines, in accordance with their time, were the state of the
operate machinery (Figure 4b). art engines, they were too bulky and were just not powerful
Sir George Cayley in the eighteenth century envisioned a enough to be used in heavier than air aircraft. A few years
fixed wing aircraft with separate elements for lift generation, later in 1859 a Belgian engineer invented the first internal
 Basic Concepts: Propulsion and Power 3

Figure 4. (a) Hero’s turbine; (b) a Giovanni de Branca Turbine.

combustion (IC) engine, a single cylinder 2-stroke recip- (dead mass) is attached to the crankshaft to store some of the
rocating engine that used coal gas as fuel. Although there energy in the form of inertia for the subsequent strokes of
were several “issues” with this engine, it paved the way for the piston which are used for pushing the exhaust out of the
a totally radically different kind of engines that were more engine, for sucking in fresh air/fuel and for compression of
efficient and compact than the steam engines. The IC engine the air before ignition. The valves in the cylinder open and
was further developed by the Germans, namely by Nikolaus close appropriately to create boundary conditions for differ-
Otto, the inventor of the 4-stroke engine, and Karl Benz, who ent operations within the stroke as depicted in Figure 5a. A
designed and built 4-stroke engines to be used for the first piston engine therefore has only one power stroke in 2 or
time in automobiles. By the end of the century, reciprocating 4 strokes (depending on whether it is a 2-stroke or a 4-stroke
IC engines proved their ability and hence became the choice engine).
of propulsion for aircraft. The power-to-weight ratio has always been the most
Generically, IC can refer to all kinds of engines where the critical criterion in selecting powerplant for aircraft. There-
fuel is burnt inside the engines like reciprocating engine, gas fore, the Wright brothers naturally used the reciprocating IC
turbines, ramjets, scramjets, and so on, generally reciprocat- engines to power their Wright Flyer in 1903. The Wright
ing piston engines are known as IC engines. Unlike a steam brothers built their own engine with the help of their mechanic
engine where the fuel is burnt outside the engine to create Charlie Taylor. The 4-stroke engine weighed around 90 kg
steam pressure, an IC engine burns the fuel inside the cylin- and produced around 12 hp of power, shown in Figure 5b
der, forcing the piston to move within the cylinder. The piston (Spenser, 2008). A sprocket chain drive with a gear system
is connected to a crankshaft that converts the reciprocating powered the twin propellers that rotated in opposite direc-
motion of the piston to rotational motion. A large flywheel tions. The basic gear system allowed them to change the

Figure 5. (a) Working of a 4-stroke engine; (b) The Wright Flyer Engine (www.wright-brothers.org).
4 Basic Concepts

propeller speed in spite of the engine rotating at a fixed speed.

In absence of any theory on propellers, they designed their
own propeller and were among the first to understand that the
propeller works similar to a wing. In fact, their propeller was
three-dimensional, quite similar to the propellers used even
decades later.
The need for more power, higher power-to-weight ratio
and reliability were the key drivers in the design and devel-
opment of aircraft engines. It did not take much time for the
military planner and strategists to see the potential of aircraft Figure 6. Gas turbine engine (jet engine).
being used as a potent weapon in warfare. The World War-I
saw many new developments in aircraft and aircraft engines.
Many of the WW-I fighters were powered by rotary engine. 3 THE GAS TURBINE ENGINE
These engines rotate with propeller and had the advantage
of being air cooled and could dispense with the heavy and The gas turbine engine is a machine delivering mechanical
complicated liquid cooling systems required in other types power (or thrust in case of a jet engine) using a gaseous
of engines. However, after the war, the rotary engines were working fluid. It is an internal combustion engine like the
pushed back by the more powerful and advanced non-rotary reciprocating Otto- and Diesel piston engines with the major
engines (inline, V type, and radial) that revolved at high rpms difference being that the working fluid flows through the gas
and did not have the smoke inhaling problems for the pilot turbine continuously and not intermittently. The continuous
as in the rotary engines. flow of the working fluid requires compression, heat input,
After the WW-I, civil aviation emerged. The KLM, Royal and the expansion to take place in separate components and
Dutch Airlines, is the oldest airline today which started in therefore a gas turbine consists of at least a compressor, a
May 1920. In a few years KLM offered scheduled flights to combustion chamber and a turbine (Figure 6). Even though
many places in Europe. The historical first non-stop flight a gas turbine engine consists of more components than just
across the Atlantic in May 1927 by Charles Lindburg in his a turbine, it is named after that single component due to the
“Sprit of St. Louis” ushered a new era in aviation and radial historical reasons as the gas turbine was developed as an
engines. It also marked a beginning for civil aviation because alternative to the steam turbine. The compressing component
in the years after his Trans Atlantic flight, Charles Lindburg of a steam cycle, the water pump does not consume much
used his reputation to promote the development of civil avi- power and thus receives far less attention than the expansion
ation. The radial engines continued to be in the forefront of component (i.e., the turbine).
the propulsion systems. The Pratt & Whitney radial engines
were used to power Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-3, the two
most successful commercial aircraft of the 1930s. 3.1 History of gas turbines
The World War-II again saw remarkable developments in
aircraft and related systems and pushed the developments in The history of the gas turbine when compared to steam tur-
these areas to their limits. Since to achieve higher speeds or bines and the Otto and Diesel engines is relatively young.
higher thrust levels, the propeller run at a higher speed, soon The first (usable) steam turbines were already built during
they were limited by the formation of shock waves at the the second half of the nineteenth century by De Laval, Par-
propeller blades that reduced the efficiency drastically. Also, sons, Curtis and others. The first practically useful gas turbine
flying higher was not possible with reciprocating engines engines emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century but
because as the density of air reduced at higher altitudes, the large scale application only started after WWII. The reason
engine power reduced dramatically. The adjustable pitch sys- for this late beginning was due to the specific nature of the gas
tem in propeller and superchargers did help a lot in enlarging turbine thermodynamic process. All gas or steam cycle pro-
the flight envelope. However, by the end of the war, design- cesses, produce useful power only if the power required for
ers started to realize the fundamental limitations of the IC compression is less than the power delivered by expansion. In
engine-propeller type of propulsion system. However, in the contrary to a steam turbine cycle, the power required for the
mean time (around 1939), a British Engineer, Sir Frank Whit- compression process in the gas turbine cycle is very high. For
tle and a German scientist, Hans von Ohain, independently the gas turbine to perform, it is necessary that surplus power
developed a totally different kind of propulsion system based is left in the gas after expansion in the turbine. Typically
on the Brayton cycle called as the “Gas Turbine Engine.” two-third of the power within the gases coming out of the
 Basic Concepts: Propulsion and Power 5

combustor is used for driving the compressor and therefore higher turbine inlet temperatures. Extensive developments in
losses in the compression and/or expansion processes have a aerodynamics improved the compressor and turbine efficien-
significant effect on the overall efficiency. cies. New combustor material and designs enabled more fuel
The first experimental gas turbine engines were not able to be burnt in the engine. Better manufacturing techniques
to run in a self-sustained manner due to the huge power resulted in reliable and efficient engines. Also new engine
required in the compression process. Only in the year 1905, a configurations (e.g., twin spool, triple spool, turbofan aircraft
Frenchman Rateau, built a gas turbine that actually deliv- engines) further improved performance and efficiency.
ered shaft power with 25 centrifugal compressor stages
delivering a pressure ratio of 3. This pressure ratio would
normally not suffice for a gas turbine to deliver power, but 3.3 Performance
with an extremely high combustion temperature combined
with water-cooled turbine blades, Rateau managed to gen- Aircraft gas turbines are manufactured in a wide thrust range.
erate some useful power. However, the thermal efficiency From small gas turbines for remotely piloted aircraft with
of this gas turbine was only 3.5%. Further development 40–100 N of thrust up to about 400 kN (Rolls-Royce Trent,
of the gas turbine continued, especially in Switzerland by GE90). Industrial gas turbines range from 30 kW (Capstone)
Prof. Stodola from the University of Zurich and manufac- up to 240 MW (ABB). Several aircraft gas turbine designs
turer Brown Boveri (currently named ABB). Brown Boveri have derivatives for stationary applications on the ground.
pioneered in the development of gas turbines for electrical These usually are referred to as “aeroderived” industrial gas
power generation and other industrial applications. The first turbines. Examples are the aeroderived versions of the Rolls-
gas turbine for power generation became operational in 1939 Royce Avon, Spey, Olympus, RB211 and Trent engines.
in Neufchateau, Switzerland. The GE LM2500 and LM6000 industrial gas turbines
During the same period Sir Frank Whittle in England are “aeroderivatives” of the CF6-50 and CF6-80 engines,
and Hans von Ohain in German, independently started the respectively.
development of a gas turbine-based jet engine for aircraft
propulsion. Sir Frank Whittle, who was a flying officer in the
Royal Air Force conceived the concept of gas turbine as a jet 3.4 Design challenges
engine in 1929 and was the first to claim a patent on the con-
cept in the year 1930. Sir Frank Whittle set a target to design An aircraft engine is a very high-performance gas turbine
an aircraft engine capable of operating at high altitudes and engine. It is a very complicated machine consisting of hun-
speeds up to 900 km h−1 , which were far beyond the operating dreds of parts operating in a severe environment. In general
limits of the piston engines and propellers. The British gov- the engine development cycle is more than the aircraft devel-
ernment as well as the British aircraft engine manufacturers opment cycle. The Boeing 747 aircraft has four engines and
did not share Whittle’s enthusiasm and did not support him. every single engine produces more power than 100 Ferrari’s
In 1936, Sir Frank Whittle and some friends and investors put together. This high-power output makes gas turbine
established a company called “Power Jets Limited.” In spite engines as a natural choice for high-performance aircraft.
of many technological problems and a lack of funds they The thermal efficiency (the ability of the engine to con-
eventually built the first gas turbine engine for aircraft appli- vert chemical energy in the fuel to useful work output) of a
cations. In 1937, Hans Von Ohain designed a similar gas gas turbine increases with pressure ratio and the operating
turbine with hydrogen as fuel. After a number of successful temperature. The turbine operates in a very high tempera-
tests, Von Ohain received substantial support from an aircraft ture and pressure environment. The temperature inside the
manufacturer (Heinkel), which enabled him to demonstrate combustion chambers of modern gas turbine engine is well
the first jet engine powered flight, the Heinkel He-178 aircraft over 2200 K, much higher than the melting temperature of
in 1939. the material. Even after dilution, the temperature of gases
coming out of the combustor is well over 1600 K. Elaborate
cooling techniques are required in order to keep the material
3.2 Early gas turbine development temperature within safe operating limits. The turbine, which
drives the compressor, extracts huge amount of power from
After the WWII, the potential of gas turbine as a powerful new the combustion gases and is therefore the most highly loaded
alternative aircraft propulsion system was well recognized. component within the engine. Generally the turbine operates
The development of high-temperature materials and elabo- under chocked condition (the velocity of fluid is equal to
rate cooling techniques enabled the gas turbine to operate at the velocity of sound). To keep the turbine blades operating
6 Basic Concepts

under such severe conditions, very sophisticated material, Turbomeca), MTU (Germany), FiatAvio (Italy), Japanese
manufacturing and cooling techniques are used. Some of the Aero Engine Corporation (JAEC), and some other small
challenging areas in gas turbines are manufacturers. The costs and also the risks of R&D for
new advanced gas turbines are very high and have forced
r Aerodynamics: since most of the engines operate at a high many manufacturers to collaborate with other manufacturers.
overall pressure ratio (OPR), a large number of stages are Sometimes a manufacturer develops a new engine, and other
required to achieve the compression ratio. Aerodynami- companies develop one or more modules. Many a times joint
cists strive to achieve the given operating pressure with ventures are established with several partners and engines are
higher compressor efficiency and with minimum number designed and produced under the new joint venture name.
of stages. Most of the modern compressor designs rely Examples of collaborations are:
heavily on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to arrive
at the final design. The advancements in turbomachinery
r CFM (GE and Snecma, CFM-56 engine).
has enabled reduction in the number of stages required to
r GE with Snecma, IHI, and FiatAvio (GE90 turbofan
achieved the desired performance. engine for the B777).
r Materials: aircraft engines rely heavily on material tech-
r IAE (International Aero Engines, Rolls-Royce, Pratt &
nologies, especially high-temperature alloys, coatings, Whitney (USA), JAEC, FiatAvio, and MTU united in
composites, and ceramics, for improvement in efficiencies 1983 to develop the IAE-V2500 engine).
as well as for reduction in weight. Due to the innovation
r Turbo-Union (Rolls-Royce, FiatAvio, and MTU).
in high-temperature materials combine with advanced
r BWM-RR (BMW and Rolls Royce) for regional and busi-
cooling techniques, the peak temperature in the gas tur- ness jet BR700 series engines.
bine cycle (turbine entry temperature) has increased from
500 ◦ C in the early gas turbines to over 1500 ◦ C in modern The gas turbine industry in former Soviet Union was sig-
high performance aero engines. nificant in size, but after its breakup, the gas turbine industry
r Manufacturing: new manufacturing techniques like sin- in Russia is still struggling to become competitive.
gle crystal turbine blades, composite fan blades, blisks In the industrial gas turbines sector, General Electric –
(bladed disks), and so on, have increased the performance USA (GE) is the market leader with market share close to
of the gas turbine engine substantially. 70%. Other manufacturers share the remaining part of the
r Combustion: a gas turbine engine used on big aircraft market; among them are Alstom (several European coun-
burns more fuel in 2 s as compared to a car in 1 h. There- tries, includes former Asea Brown Boveri ABB, Alsthom,
fore, the heat densities encountered in such engines is European Gas Turbines), Siemens from Germany (includes
enormous. Apart from heat, combustion also produces KWU and Westinghouse from USA), Mitsubishi Heavy
noise and emission. New combustion techniques such as Industries in Japan and several other small manufacturers.
RQL (Rich burn Quick quench Lean burn), TAPS (Twin World wide, about 1000 industrial gas turbines are sold
Annular Premixed Swirler, used in GENX engines), are annually.
being used in modern engines to reduce NOx, CO, unburnt
hydrocarbons, and so on.
r System performance and monitoring: improvements in 4 FUTURE CHALLENGES
sensors and electronics have made it possible to oper-
ate the engine in an optimum manner without increasing As far as the civil aviation is concerned, the main challenges
the pilot load. Further, the data gathered from vari- for aviation can be classified into four categories as shown
ous sensors in combination with predictive models can in Figure 7a: emissions, noise, efficiency, and reliability. All
be used for diagnostics and health monitoring of these of these challenges are directly or indirectly related to the
engines. engines. These challenges are also the main bottlenecks for
the growth of aviation in the future. It is anticipated that
emission standard will become more stringent in the coming
3.5 Gas turbine manufacturers years. Many committees around the world have proposed dif-
ferent regulations for aviation. The Advisory Committee for
GE is the largest manufacturer of aircraft gas turbines, Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) predicts a drastic
followed by Rolls Royce (UK, includes Allison), Pratt & reduction in aircraft emissions, especially to reduce the NOx
Whitney (USA/Canada), Honeywell (USA, includes Allied emission by more than 70%. The ACAREs vision for aviation
Signal Gas turbines and Garret), Snecma (France, includes in the future is shown in Figure 7b.
 Basic Concepts: Propulsion and Power 7

Figure 7. (a) Main challenges faced by commercial aviation; (b) ACARE Vision 2020.

4.1 Emissions cessed in a chemical reaction that is called transesterification

in order to achieve properties that allow it to compete with
With global warming and ozone depletion becoming one of fuel from petroleum. In this process glycerine is removed
the major problems of our times, and because of the ever- from the vegetable oil using an alcohol and so producing
increasing air traffic, emissions from aircraft can no longer an ester (biodiesel). When the alcohol used is methanol the
be ignored. Because aircraft emit their pollutants in the upper product is a methyl ester, when ethanol is used the product
troposphere or lower layers of the stratosphere, the impact of is an ethyl ester. Recent studies have shown that fuels pro-
these pollutants in deteriorating the environment is more as duced from biomass are uneconomical as they use much more
compared to those by the land-based pollutants. Since the energy in their creation than the resulting biodiesel generates.
emission takes place at high altitudes, the global warming In future aviation will see a significant use of non-
potential of these emissons is much higher as compared to conventional and may be even non-carbon based fuels, like
the land-based emissions. For example, it has been proved hydrogen. The anticipated evolution of fuels in aviation
that the CO2 emitted by aircraft takes more than 100 years is shown in Figure 8a. The comparison of hydrogen with
before it can enter the earth’s carbon cycle. Hence, there is kerosene in terms of weight and volume for a given energy
an urgent need to reduce CO2 , NOx, CO, UHC, and other content is shown in Figure 8b. It is clear that the energy den-
pollutants emitted from aircraft. The NOx predominates both sity of hydrogen is much higher than kerosene, thus allowing
in the vicinity of the airport and also during altitude cruise. much less fuel to be taken onboard. However, the volume
required by hydrogen is much higher than kerosene, thus
calling for new storage schemes and techniques. Storing
4.2 Fuels hydrogen in the liquid form is challenging and hence calls
for innovative storage technologies. However, future aircraft
The extensive use of fossil fuel has already increased the configurations like the blended wing body (BWB) aircraft are
CO2 levels in atmosphere to alarming levels; also the scarce more suitable for storing cylindrical liquid hydrogen (LH2 )
and rapidly depleting conventional petroleum resources have storage tanks depicted in Figure 9.
promoted research for alternative fuels. The different fuels Water vapor is the main emission from burning hydro-
investigated are: biodiesel, ethanol, dimethyl ether (DME), gen. A hydrogen aircraft would release about twice the water
hydrogen, syngas and Fisher Tropsch fuels such as gas to vapor as an equivalent kerosene aircraft. At lower altitudes,
liquid (GTL) and coal to liquid (CTL). Availability and eco- below about 28 000 ft, high levels of water vapor are natu-
nomics play an important role in the search for new fuels. rally present in the atmosphere and so water vapor emissions
Biodiesel is a renewable fuel made up fatty acid methyl are not a primary concern. However, for optimal efficiency
esters (FAME) derived from either vegetable/animal oil or commercial transport aircraft typically cruise above 33 000 ft,
fat from crops such as corn, peanut, sun flower, soybean, where water vapor can form contrails under certain atmo-
rapeseed, palm, and so on. Biodiesel is not the oil or the spheric conditions. These contrails are known to form cirrus
fat produced directly from the crops, but it has to be pro- clouds that can enhance the green house effect.
8 Basic Concepts

Figure 8. (a) Anticipated trends in aviation fuels; (b) anticipated trends in aviation fuels.

Figure 9. Possible solution for LH2 storage in blended wing body type aircraft. (a) Front view; (b) top view.

4.3 Noise Aircraft noise arises from engines and from the movement
of turbulent air over the physical structures (airframe) of an
Aircraft noise significantly affects millions of people around aircraft (Figure 10a). The main sources of noise in an engine
the world in a direct or indirect way. It is also estimated that are the fan, the exhaust jet, the combustor, compressor, and
millions of EU citizens are living with noise levels that cause turbine. The relative comparison of the various sources of
“serious annoyance” during the daytime (Commission of the noise in a modern turbofan engine is shown in Figure 10b.
European Communities, 1996). Aircraft noise can produce Since the dawn of the jet age the noise generated by civil
effects on electroencephalogram sleep patterns and can cause aircraft has decreased by more than 20 dB at a given thrust
wakefulness and difficulty in sleeping. level (Grant, 2007). To the listener this is heard as a fourfold

Figure 10. (a) Noise sources in an aircraft; (b) aircraft engine noise sources and their directionality.
 Basic Concepts: Propulsion and Power 9

allows the fan to operate at a slower, optimum speed while let-

ting the booster and the LPT to operate at their higher speeds.
However, the additional weight and complexity of the gear
system can reduce some of the benefits. The GTF concept has
following advantages over a direct drive high BPR engines
(Dewanji, Rao and van Buijtenen, 2010).
r Slow fan speed and hence lower fan noise.
r Improvement in booster efficiency.
r Higher LPT loading and hence reduction in the number
of LPT stages.
r Increased propulsive efficiency and hence reduction in
Figure 11. Aircraft noise reduction over the years. specific fuel consumption.

Pratt and Whitney first demonstrated GTF engine for com-

reduction in noise and it represents a fall of a factor of more
mercial aircraft known as Pure Power PW1000G (shown in
than 100 in terms of the acoustic power generated (Rolls-
Figure 12a) and is expected to be incorporated in service for
Royce, 2005). The reduction in the engine noise levels over
Airbus A340-600 by 2013.
the years is shown in Figure 11.

5.2 Open rotor turbofan engine

5 NEW ENGINE CONCEPTS
An unducted fan or open rotor engine is a modified turbofan
5.1 Geared turbofan (GTF) engine engine, with the fan placed outside of the engine nacelle on
the same axis as the compressor. Open rotor engines are also
Modern turbofan engines are aimed at high bypass ratio known as ultra-high bypass (UHB) engines or unducted fan
(BPR) with reduced fan tip speeds. This results in a reduction (UDF) engines. The design is intended to offer the speed
in the low pressure (LP) shaft speed and subsequent increase and performance of a turbofan with the fuel economy of a
in the number of stages for the LP compressor and LP tur- turboprop.
bine in order to retain satisfactory efficiencies and pressure This concept is not new and was investigated by GE and
ratios for these components. In addition, reduced speed also NASA in the late 1970s. However, this concept has been
imposes higher torque requirement of the LP shaft which revived again by CFM® . This open rotor vision of CFM with
results in bigger shaft diameters. The GTF engine concept two set of counter-rotating blades (as shown in Figure 12b),
addresses the present problems by introducing a reduction is slated to have a bypass ratio of 35:1. To ensure maximum
gear system to de-couple the fan from rest of the LP Systems efficiency in every stage of the flight, each blade will have its
namely booster, shaft, and LPT. As a result, the GTF system own pitch change mechanism.

Figure 12. (a) The Geared Turbofan Engine by Pratt and Whitney® ; (b) the open rotor engine by CFM® .
10 Basic Concepts

ventional liquid fuels. The BWB class of aircraft also presents

unique aircraft-engine integration challenges which demand
the engines to be buried within the nacelle so that the engines
are capable of ingesting the boundary layer. In order to meet
such unique set of demands for future aircraft, researchers are
proposing novel engine configurations as shown in Figure 13
(Tang, Rao and van Buijtenen, 2010) which are capable of
using multiple fuels.

6 CLOSURE

Figure 13. Conceptual layout of a hybrid engine. Aviation has always been at the forefront of technology in the
past and always will be in the future. Most of the major break-
However, the main concern with this concept is the high throughs in aviation have come because of the advancements
intensity of noise, especially during take-off. In addition, in the propulsion. With the world becoming a smaller place
installing these large diameter engines on conventional air- than ever before, propulsion technologies will play even a
craft can be a problem. Also, due to the unshielded blades, greater role in shaping the future of aviation.
blade containment is a major safety issue.

REFERENCES
5.3 Hybrid engines
Commission of the European Communities (1996) Future Noise
In order to make aviation more sustainable, both in terms Policy, European Commission Green Paper, (http://ec.europa.
of reducing the fuel consumption as well as emitting less eu/environment/noise/pdf/com 96 540.pdf)
CO2 at higher altitudes, new engine configurations are being Dewanji, D., Rao, G.A. and van Buijtenen, J.P. (2010) Conceptual Q1
proposed which are quite different than the conventional study of future aero-engine concepts. Int. J. Turbo Jet Engines,
26(4). in press.
high bypass turbofan engines. The current generation tur-
Grant, R.G. (2007) Flight, the Complete History, Dorling Kinders-
bofan engines have reached a technological plateau and it is
ley Ltd., ISBN: 978-1-4053-1768-9.
often claimed that complying with future regulations will not
Rolls-Royce, (2005) The Jet Engine, 5th edn, Rolls-Royce Technical
require evolution but, rather, revolution. As described earlier, Publications, ISBN: 978-0902121232.
future aircraft configurations like the BWB class of aircraft
Spenser, J. (2008) The Airplane, HarperCollins Books, ISBN: 978-
are suitable for carrying LH2 or liquefied natural gas (LNG) 0-06-125919-7.
as their fuel, thus making them potentially carbon neutral to a Tang, K.-G., Rao, G.A. and van Buijtenen, J.P. (2010) Conceptual
large extent. However, for optimum space utilization within study of a hybrid engine with inter turbine burner. ASME Turbo
the aircraft, it is also beneficial to carry some amount of con- Expo 2010, June 14–18, Glasgow, GT2010-22719.
Abstract:
The propulsion system provides the required force/power to propel forward an aircraft/rocket or any other object moving in air
or space. The propelling force is the most important aspect in the design and operation of aircraft/spacecraft mission. Every
major technological breakthrough in propulsion and associated system has redefined the frontiers of aerospace sciences. The
urge to improve propulsion systems keeps engineers and scientist busy alike till this day and will continue to do so in the
future.
When the atmospheric air is used as a working medium in a propulsion system, it is often known as air-breathing propulsion.
This section explains the basics of air-breathing propulsion through simple analogies. The evolution of various types of
propulsion systems in the history of aviation is traced, with special emphasis on the jet engines. The developments and
advancements in jet engines over the years, and the main challenges which aircraft propulsion will be facing in the future are
also discussed. Finally, new engine concepts and their viability are presented.
Keywords: aircraft emission, air-breathing propulsion, aircraft noise, alternative fuels, gas turbine, hybrid engine, jet engine,
piston engine, turbofan
 Author Query

[Q1] As you have replied that the paper is in press. Kindly make sure that only published journal will be included in the
Reference list. So kindly update the status of publishing. As per style if the Journal is unpublished while copy editing
is completed then it will be included in Reference list indicating that it is still in press. If it is not possible to provide
page range then kindly provide DOI No. if this journal is going to be published online also.

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