Prepared under

QIP-CD Cell Project

Lecture-2

Jet Propulsion

Ujjwal K Saha, Ph.D.

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

1

Simple Gas Turbine Cycle

A gas turbine that is configured and
operated to closely follow the Brayton cycle
is called a simple cycle gas turbine. Most
aircraft gas turbines operate in a simple
configuration since attention must be paid to
engine weight and frontal area. However, in
land or marine applications, additional
equipment can be added to the simple
cycle gas turbine, leading to increases in
efficiency and/or the output of a unit. Three
such
modifications
are
regeneration,
intercooling and reheating.

An Open-Cycle Gas-Turbine Engine

A Closed-Cycle Gas-Turbine Engine

The Ideal Brayton Cycle

Thermal Efficiency of the Ideal Brayton Cycle as a

Function of the Pressure Ratio

The Net Work of the Brayton Cycle

For fixed values of Tmin and Tmax, the net work of the Brayton cycle first
increases with the pressure ratio, then reaches a maximum at
rp=(Tmax/Tmin)k/[2(k-1)], and finally decreases

The Back-Work Ratio is the Fraction of Turbine Work

Used to Drive the Compressor

Deviation of Actual Gas-Turbine Cycle From

Brayton cycle

The deviation of an
actual
gas-turbine
cycle from the ideal
Brayton cycle as a
result
of
irreversibilities

Regeneration
Regeneration involves the installation of a heat
exchanger (recuperator) through which the
turbine exhaust gases pass. The compressed air is
then heated in the exhaust gas heat exchanger,
before the flow enters the combustor.

If the regenerator is well designed (i.e., the heat

exchanger effectiveness is high and the pressure
drops are small) the efficiency will be increased
over the simple cycle value. However, the
relatively high cost of such a regenerator must
also be taken into account. Regenerated gas
turbines increase efficiency 5-6% and are even
more
effective
in
improved
part-load
applications.

10

Intercooling
Intercooling also involves the use of a heat
exchanger. An intercooler is a heat exchanger
that
cools
compressor
gas
during
the
compression process. For instance, if the
compressor consists of a high and a low pressure
unit, the intercooler could be mounted between
them to cool the flow and decrease the work
necessary for compression in the high pressure
compressor. The cooling fluid could be
atmospheric air or water (e.g., sea water in the
case of a marine gas turbine). It can be shown
that the output of a gas turbine is increased with a
well-designed intercooler.

11

Reheat
Reheating occurs in the turbine and is a way to
increase
turbine
work
without
changing
compressor work or melting the materials from
which the turbine is constructed. If a gas turbine
has a high pressure and a low pressure turbine at
the back end of the machine, a reheater (usually
another combustor) can be used to "reheat" the
flow between the two turbines. This can increase
efficiency by 1-3%. Reheat in a jet engine is
accomplished by adding an afterburner at the
turbine exhaust, thereby increasing thrust, at the
expense of a greatly increased fuel consumption
rate.

12

A Gas-Turbine Engine With Regenerator

13

T-s Diagram of a Brayton Cycle with

Regeneration

14

Thermal Efficiency of the ideal Brayton cycle

with and without regeneration

15

A Gas-Turbine Engine
A gas-turbine engine with two-stage compression with intercooling,
two-stage expansion with reheating, and regeneration

16

T-s Diagram of Ideal Gas-Turbine Cycle with

Intercooling, Reheating, and Regeneration

17

Turbojet Engine Basic Components and

T-s Diagram for Ideal Turbojet Cycle

18

Schematic of A Turbofan Engine

19

Schematic of a Turboprop Engine

20

Schematic of a Ramjet Engine

21

Summary
The actual gas cycles are rather complex. The
approximations used to simplify the analysis are
known as the air-standard assumptions. Under
these assumptions, all the processes are
assumed to be internally reversible; the working
fluid is assumed to be air, which behaves as an
ideal gas; and the combustion and exhaust
processes are replaced by heat-addition and
heat-rejection processes, respectively.
The air-standard assumptions are called coldair-standard assumptions if, in addition, air is
assumed to have constant specific heats at
room temperature.
22

Summary
The ideal cycle for modern gas-turbine
engines is the Brayton cycle, which is
made up of four internally reversible
processes:
isentropic
compression,
constant
pressure
heat
addition,
isentropic expansion, and constant
pressure heat rejection.

23

Summary
Under
cold-air-standard
assumptions,
Brayton cycle thermal efficiency is

the

where rp = Pmax/Pmin is the pressure ratio and k is

the specific heat ratio. The thermal efficiency of
the simple Brayton cycle increases with the
pressure ratio.

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8-43

Summary
The deviation of the actual compressor and the turbine
from the idealized isentropic ones can be accurately
accounted for by utilizing their adiabatic efficiencies,
defined as

and

where states 1 and 3 are the inlet states, 2a and 4a are

the actual exit states, and 2s and 4s are the isentropic
exit states.
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8-44

Summary
In gas-turbine engines, the temperature of the
exhaust gas leaving the turbine is often
considerably higher than the temperature of the
air leaving the compressor. Therefore, the highpressure air leaving the compressor can be
heated by transferring heat to it from the hot
exhaust gases in a counter-flow heat exchanger,
which is also known as a regenerator.
The extent to which a regenerator approaches an
ideal regenerator is called the effectiveness e
and is defined as

26

Summary
Under cold-air-standard assumptions, the
thermal efficiency of an ideal Brayton
cycle
with
regeneration
becomes

where T1 and T3 are the minimum and

maximum temperatures, respectively, in
the cycle.
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Summary
The thermal efficiency of the Brayton cycle can
also be increased by utilizing multistage
compression with intercooling, regeneration, and
multistage expansion with reheating. The work
input to the compressor is minimized when equal
pressure ratios are maintained across each
stage. This procedure also maximizes the turbine
work output.

28

8-48

Summary
Gas-turbine engines are widely used to power
aircraft because they are light and compact
and have a high power-to-weight ratio. The
ideal jet-propulsion cycle differs from the
simple ideal Brayton cycle in that the gases are
partially expanded in the turbine. The gases
that exit the turbine at a relatively high pressure
are subsequently accelerated in a nozzle to
provide the thrust needed to propel the aircraft.

29

8-49

Summary
The net thrust developed by the turbojet
engine is

where m is the mass flow rate of gases, Vexit

is the exit velocity of the exhaust gases, and
Vinlet is the inlet velocity of the air, both
relative to the aircraft

30

References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Hill, P.G., and Peterson, C.R., (1992), Mechanics and

Thermodynamics of Propulsion, Addison Wesley.
Saravanamuttoo, H.I.H, Rogers, G.F.C, and. Cohen, H,
(2001), Gas Turbine Theory, Pearson Education.
Oates, G.C., (1988), Aerothermodynamics of Gas Turbine
and Rocket Propulsion, AIAA, New York.
Mattingly, J.D.,
(1996), Elements of Gas Turbine
Propulsion, McGraw Hill.
Cumpsty, N.A., (2000), Jet Propulsion, Cambridge
University Press.
Bathie, W.W., (1996), Fundamentals of Gas Turbines, John
Wiley.
Cengel, Y. A., and Boles, M. A., (2003), ThermodynamicsAn Engineering Approach, Tata McGraw Hill
Treager, I.E., (1997), Aircraft Gas Turbine Engine
Technology, Tata McGraw Hill.
Zucrow, M.J., (1958), Aircraft and Missile Propulsion, Vol.
II, John Wiley.
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