The History of the Gas Turbine Engine Page 1 of 3 ‘The History of the Gas Turbine Engine ‘The basic ides of various impulse and reaction ai-tube drives was First conceived inthe 19® century. OF course, these had litle in common with modem gas turbines, but the first patent to approximate such a system was issued to John Barber of England in 1791. Barber's cesign called for separate reciprocating compressors whose output air was directed through afuc-ired combustion chamber. The bot jet was then Played through nozzles onto an impulse wheel. The power produced was to be sulicient to drive both the compressor and an external However, no working model was ever built, and his sketches prove tat if one had ever been built it would not have worked, but the device however clearly incorporated the essential components of today's gas-turbine engine ‘The first successful gas turbine, bul in 1903, consisted of a three-cylinder, multistage reciprocating compressor, a combustion chamber, and an impulse turbine. Ait was supplied by the compressor and was burnt in combustion chamber using liquid fucl. The hot gases were then cooled by an injection of water and then fed to an impulse turbine, This was the fits system to demonstrate the feasibility of & gas- turbine engine In 1905 Hans Holewarth of Germany started experiments involving what was later known to be asthe explosion’ turbine, In such model the compressor introduced air and fut into a constant-volume combustion chamber. The air-fuel mix was ignited and the hot high-pressure tas escaped through valves into nozzles directed against the lading of the turbine. Holzwarth worked on this model for over 30 years after Which twas substitued by the modern gas-turbine engine. Further developments in the field suggested that fr a gas-turbine engine to be successful, not only an approximately 80% efficiency must be achieve for both the rotating compressor and the rurbine, but also the possibilty of having high rurbine-inlt temperatures, as suggested by he ideas proposed by Stolze. Aegidus Elling of Norway built the frst succesful gs turbine using both rotary compressors and turbines in 1903. In tis system, part of the air leaving a centrifugal compressor was bled off for extemal power use. The remainder, which was, requited to deve the turbine, passed through a combustion chamber and then through & steam generator where the gas was partially cooled ‘This gas was further cooled to a temperature of 400°C. the maximum temperature that Eling’ turbine could handle. Eling continued developments reaching efficiencies of 82% and an inlet temperature of $50°C. However, duc to a lack of support and financial help, developments stopped and no commercial unis were ever built ‘The Swiss firm Brown Boyer built the frst industial succes, in 1936, independently developing a gas turbine. During the 1930s a group headed by Sir Frank White atthe Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) undertook efforts to design an efficent 1s turbine for jt propulsion of aierat. White's first functional jt-powered plane took off on the 1S of May, 1941. White had joined the RAF in 1923, and by 1926 he had writen his thesis, Funwre Developments in Aircraft Design, in which he first mentioned the possibility of using a gas turbine to produce et propulsion. He however was not supported by the Air Ministry who felt it was impractical, {In 1932 the patnt for such idea was granted, and in 1936, with te help of two ex-RAF olficers and an engineer, he formed the company of Power Jets Lud. The first run ofthe While Unit (WU) was made in 1937, but the Air Ministry sil rejected the idea. The unit produced by White's group worked successfully during tests: it was determined that a pressure raio of about 4 could be realised with a single centrifugal compressor running at roughly 17,000 revolutions per minute. With the outbreak of war in 1939 the Air Ministry started following Whites work with inerest and Power Jets was then given a contract to produce an engine for use on an aeroplane built by Gloster Aircraft. Such plane was known as the E.28/99 (often refered to asthe Pioneer) It flew forthe first time in 1941. After the proven sucooss, the Air Ministry plans for a new fighter were made, which would be the Meteor. White then stated working withthe United States of America. His ideas were widely used and famous jet fighters were developed, such asthe Russian MiG-15. In 1081 Whittle then ‘wrote what is to be considered the bible in the field, a book tiled Gas turbine aero-thermodynarnics. Shortly after White's achievement, another RAE group, led by A.A. Griffith and H. Constant, began development work on an axial-flow compressor. Axial-flow compressors though much more complex and expensive, were better suited for detailed blade-dsign analysis and ‘ould reach higher pressures and flow rates and, eventually, higher efficiencies than their centifugal counterparts. Dr Hans P. von Ohain was involved in parallel developments in Germany, working withthe manufacturing firm of Emst Heinkel. Such progress resulted in a fully operational jet aircraft engine that featured a single centifugal compressor and a radial-inflow turbine. This ‘engine, the HeS 3B, was successfully testod in the worlds frst jet-powered aeroplane flight onthe 27 of August, 1939. Ohain improved. the engine, developing the HeS 8A, which was first flown in 1941. Subsequent German developments directed by Anscim Franz led to the Junkers Jumo 004 engine forthe Messerschmitt Me-262 aircraft, which was frst flown in 1942. ‘Within the next few decades both propller-criven gas-turhine engines (turboprops) and pure jet engines developed rapidly, with the later assuming an even larger role as aeroplane speeds increased. However, the very high cost of efficient compressors and turbines and the continued need for moderate turbine-‘nlt temperatures have not only provided 8 very challenging tasks 0 al sorts of engineers, but has also limited the use of such engines to use in mediunvlarge aircraft operating at subsonic or supersonic speeds. These turbine engines however sil remain attractive fr use in small and medium-sized high speed marine vessels and for various industrial applications. hitp:/awww.bath.ac.uk/-endbg/gas%20turbine.htm_ 3/29/01‘The History of the Gas Turbine Engine Page 2 of 3 ‘This isthe Gloster E2839, often known as Pioner. This aeroplane flew forthe fist time in 1941 It contained the White Unit the gas- turbine engine conceived by Whitle in 1952, and fist bul 1987. However, this aieraft only frst ew in 1941 due tothe complete disinterest by pat of the A Ministry l ‘This is simplified diagram of White's engine. The stages are clearly shown: thre is an intake of ai which is compressed and then ignited. The gas going out runs the turbine, and the exhaust gases provide the jet flow. | ‘This Messerschmitt aeroplane contains the Junkers Jumo O04 and was firs flown in 1942. The gas-tubine engine was designed by a team Jed by Anselm Franz, and was a development of the HeS 3B conceived by P. von Onain and motored the first gas-turbine engine aeroplane, in 1939, bnup://www. bath.ac.uk/~en9bg/gas%20uurbine.htm, 329/01The History of the Gas Turbine Engine Page 3 of 3 ‘This is what a modern gus-turbine engine looks like, The development is fairly significant but the asc idea is the same as in Whittle’. Unit Ths particular engine is built by Rolls-Royce, ene ofthe few big firms manufacturing engines http://www.bath.ac.uk/—en9bg/gas%20turbine. htm 329101