Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2020 - Lecture Notes

Chapter 2 Gas Turbine Cycle Analysis

2.1 Introduction to Gas Turbine Engines

2.1.1 Combustion engines
• Combustion engines convert the chemical energy in the fuel to mechanical work, e.g. in a car, or
kinetic energy to produce thrust, e.g. in an airplane. This energy conversion process involves
heat as an intermediate energy form, and thus the efficiency is limited by the Carnot theory.

• Combustion engines predominate transport (road, water and air) and power generation, due to
the reliability, ruggedness, high power density, and low cost. This trend is predicted to continue
into the foreseeable future.

• When the combustion occurs outside the system where the working fluid does work, the engine
is called external combustion engine. An engine undertaking the Carnot cycle is an external
combustion engine. Practical examples: steam engines, Sterling engines. In these engines, the
working fluid, e.g. steam, does not participate in the combustion process. Working fluid is the
fluid that undergoes the thermodynamic cycles and does the work.

• If the combustion occurs inside the system, it is called internal combustion engine. Working fluid
in this case burns in the engine and the combustion product subsequently does the work.
Practical examples: gas turbines, spark-ignition engines, diesel engines.
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• Internal combustion raises the temperature of the working fluid much faster than external heat
addition which relies on heat transfer. Therefore, internal combustion engines usually have
higher energy density (power per engine weight) than external combustion engines.

2.1.2 Application of gas turbines

• Gas turbines are widely used for transport, particularly aircraft and ships, as well as for power
generation. The most significant difference of the two applications is that for airplane and ships,
the output of the process is kinetic energy (thrust) and for power generation, the output is work
(to drive the electric generator).

• Cut-away view of the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 turbofan engine, used on Airbus A380:

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Source: rolls-royce.com

• Note the high pressure (HP), intermediate pressure (IP) and low pressure (LP) ‘spools’. A spool
is defined as one compressor, turbine and shaft set. The LP turbine drives the fan, the IP turbine
drives the IP compressor and the HP turbine drives the HP compressor. The three drive shafts
are coaxial: the LP shaft sits within the IP shaft, which sits within the HP shaft and each spool
rotates at a different speed.

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2.1.3 Pros/cons of gas turbines

• Compared to its primary competing technology, reciprocating engine (diesel and spark-ignition
engines), gas turbines have the following advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages
1. Small size and mass for a given power output, i.e. high W/m3 or W/kg
2. Low vibration: parts rotating and not reciprocating
3. Reliable: low dynamic stresses from near constant speed operation
4. Low cost per kW at larger sizes

Disadvantages
1. Thermal efficiency is usually lower than diesel engines – thermal efficiency of gas turbines is
directly related to the maximum temperature in the cycle (turbine inlet temperature), which is
limited by materials of turbine blades. However, efficiencies higher than diesel engines can be
achieved by combining gas turbine cycles with steam turbine cycles.
2. Relatively poor dynamic performance – less suitable for automotive and other ‘stop-go’
applications.

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2.2 Gas Turbine Cycles

2.2.1 Brayton cycle

• Assumptions:
1. Ideal cycle: reversible, no pressure losses, no heat losses to the surrounding.
2. Air-standard cycles: air is the working fluid with constant specific heat cP ; combustion and
turbine-exhaust expansion replaced with heat addition and heat rejection, respectively.

Can be approximated for

ideal air-standard cycle

• 1 to 2: isentropic compression; 2 to 3: constant-pressure heat addition; 3 to 4: isentropic

expansion; 4 to 1: constant-pressure heat rejection. The T-s and p-v diagrams are below.
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• The thermal efficiency ηth is defined as the work output wout achieved for a given heat input qin :
wout ( wt − wc )
ηth =
=
qin qin

where wc and wt are the compressor and turbine specific work, respectively.

• Since the compression and expansion are both isentropic, they are by definition adiabatic
(isentropic means adiabatic and reversible). Following the 1st law equation for steady flow
system (SFEE) we have
wc =∆h c =cP (T2 − T1 ) and wt =∆ht =cP (T3 − T4 )

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• No work is done on the fluid during heat addition. Therefore, applying the 1st law
qin = cP (T3 − T2 )
∆hCC =
• Substituting the work and heat terms into the thermal efficiency
cP (T3 − T4 ) − cP (T2 − T1 ) 
ηth = 
cP (T3 − T2 )
• Define the pressure ratio as rP = p2 / p1 across the compressor and note p2 = p3 and p4 = p1 , it
follows that:
γ −1 γ −1
γ −1
T2  p 2   p3 
γ T3 γ
=   =   = = rP γ
T1  p1   p4  T4
• Therefore
  1−γ
γ
  1−γ
γ

T3 1 − rP  − T2 1 − rP  
  
ηth =    
(T3 − T2 )
• Collecting like terms, this becomes:
1
ηth = 1 − (γ −1)/γ
rP
• Therefore, the thermal efficiency of the ideal gas turbine depends only on the pressure ratio rP
and the ratio of specific heats γ .
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2.2.2 Compressor and turbine efficiencies

• In actual gas turbine cycles, the work input to the compressor is more than the ideal cycle, and
the work output from the turbine is less than the ideal cycle. The differences can be accounted
for by utilizing the isentropic efficiencies of the compressor and turbine, defined as
isentropic work ws h2 s − h1 T2 s − T1
Compressor ηc ≡ =≅ =
actual work wa h2 a − h1 T2 a − T1
actual work wa h3 − h4 a T3 − T4 a
Turbine ηt ≡ = ≅ =
isentropic work ws h3 − h4 s T3 − T4 s

• From the T-s diagram, the turbomachinery inefficiencies

result in larger qout over smaller qin, thus reducing the cycle
thermal efficiency, ηth = 1 − qout / qin .

2.2.3 Improving gas turbine efficiency

Increasing pressure ratio rP
• From the thermal efficiency equation, it appears that higher pressure ratio always leads to
higher efficiency. However, as shown in the left figure below, the efficiency gain diminishes at
high rP.

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• More importantly, rP is limited in practice due to the maximum temperature that the turbine
blades can withstand.

• For a given turbine inlet temperature T3, the net work per cycle increases with pressure ratio,
reaches a maximum, and then starts to decreases, as shown in the right figure above. It can be
proven that the pressure ratio for maximum work output is
γ
T  2( γ −1)
rP =  3 
 T1 

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• Therefore, there should be a compromise between the pressure ratio (thus thermal efficiency)
and the net work output. With less work output per cycle, a large mass flow rate (thus a larger
system) is needed to maintain the same power output, which may not be economical. In most
common designs, the pressure ratio of gas turbines ranges from about 11 to 16.
Increasing turbine inlet temperatures (T3)
• This has been the primary approach to improve gas turbine efficiency. By using new
materials (ceramic coating for turbine blades) and innovative cooling techniques for the critical
components, the turbine inlet temperatures are as high as ~ 1500°C in modern gas turbine
engines.
Increasing the efficiency of turbomachinery components
• As discussed above, in reality compressor requires more work input, and turbine produces less
work output than that in the isentropic compression/expansion processes. Significant increase in
the cycle efficiency can be resulted from designing more efficient compressors and turbines.
Adding modification to the basic cycle
• Regeneration uses the turbine exhaust to heat the compressor outlet gas via a counter-flow
heat exchanger (provided the former is hotter than the latter), which reduces the heat input (thus
fuel) requirement for the same net work output.

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A gas turbine engine with regeneration

• Increasing the net work output of gas turbines can be achieved by reducing the compressor
work and increasing the turbine work.

• Multi-stage compression with intercooling reduces the compressor work for a given pressure
ratio. Similarly, multi-stage expansion with reheating increases the turbine work output.

• Using intercooling and reheating makes the regeneration even more attractive due to the larger
temperature difference between the turbine outlet and compressor outlet gases. In fact,
intercooling and reheating always reduce the thermal efficiency unless they are accompanied by
regeneration.

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 Thermodynamics - Semester 1 2020 - Lecture Notes

A gas turbine engine with two-stage compression with intercooling, two-stage expansion with
reheating, and regeneration.

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2.3 Jet-Propulsion Cycles

2.3.1 Ideal jet-propulsion cycle

• The jet-propulsion cycle differs from the Brayton cycle in that the gases are not expanded to the
ambient pressure in the turbine. Instead, they are expanded to a pressure such that the power
produced by the turbine is just sufficient to drive the compressor and the auxiliary equipment.
• The net work output is thus zero for ideal jet-propulsion (turbo jet) cycle. The gases
exiting the turbine, at a relatively high pressure, are accelerated by a nozzle to produce the
thrust to propel the aircraft.
• The ideal turbojet cycle, shown below, is identical to the Brayton cycle except for the isentropic
expansion at the nozzle (5 to 6) and the isentropic compression at the diffuser (1 to 2). The
turbine work is also assumed to equal the compressor work in the ideal cycle.

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• The extra energy in the cycle is converted to thrust to propel the aircraft. Thrust is the
unbalanced force that is caused by the difference in the momentum of the inlet and exit air
velocity of the aircraft. Considering that the inlet and exit pressures are both ambient, the
Newton’s 2nd can be written as
F=  )exit − (mV
(mV  )inlet =m (Vexit − Vinlet )
where for the ideal cycle, air is the working fluid and the mass flow rate is thus constant.

2.3.2 Stagnation quantities

• Stagnation quantities are often used in jet propulsion as the sum of the thermal energy and the
kinetic energy. This is due to the large gas-velocity changes in these cycles.

• A “stagnation quantity” is defined as the quantity attained when a fluid is brought to rest
isentropically. For example, stagnation enthalpy ht is defined as:
V2
ht= h +
2

• Accordingly, stagnation temperature can be obtained for ideal gases

h
Tt = t
cP

• The stagnation temperature (Tt) is therefore related to the static temperature (T) by:
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V2
Tt= T +
2c P

• Since an isentropic process is by definition adiabatic:

γ
Pt  Tt  (γ −1)
= 
P T 
• The stagnation pressure is therefore:
γ
 V  2 γ −1
=
Pt P 1 + 
 2cPT 
• These expressions can also be written in terms of the Mach number M = V / γ RT rather than
the velocity V :
γ / ( γ −1)  1/ ( γ −1)
Tt
= 1+
(γ − 1) M 2 , Pt  ( γ − 1) 2 
= 1+ M 

,
ρt  ( γ − 1) 2 
= 1+ M 
T 2 P  2  ρ  2 

• In the jet-propulsion cycle analysis, it is often acceptable to consider only the kinetic energy
change across the exit nozzle because the heat and work terms are much larger than the ∆KE
in the proceeding processes in the cycle.

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2.3.3 Modification to turbojet engines

• Turbo-jet engines produce high-velocity jets, which is suitable for high-speed military aircraft.
For commercial aircraft where large thrust and high efficiency are more of interest, modified
turbojet engines, namely turbofan and turboprop, are commonly used.
• These modifications are based on the principle that for the same power, a large volume of
slower-moving air can produce more thrust than a small volume of fast-moving air.
Turbofan
• The most widely used engine in aircraft propulsion is the turbofan engine where a large fan
driven by the turbine forces a considerable amount of air passing through a duct surrounding the
engine.
• At the engine exit, the low-speed duct air mixes with the high-speed exhaust gas and produces
larger thrust and considerably reduced noise compared to turbojet engines.
• Since the efficiency of propulsion is a function of the relative speed of the exhaust gas to the
surrounding air, non-jet propellers are most efficient for low speed aircraft, pure jets are most
efficient for high speed aircraft, and ducted fans in the middle. Turbofans are thus the most
efficient engines in the range of speeds from about 500 to 1000 km/h (310 to 620 mph), the
speed at which most commercial aircraft operate.

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Turboprop
• Turboprop engines have the fan (propeller) located outside the engine nacelle, which further
increases the ratio of the air flow bypassing the combustion chamber to the air flow going
through the combustor (bypass ratio). Turboprop engines produce more thrust and are more
efficient than turbofan and turbojet, but are typically used for subsonic aircraft.

Turbofan engine Turboprop engine

Afterburner
• One turbojet modification that is popular in military aircraft is the addition of an afterburner
between the turbine and the nozzle when extra thrust is needed. Additional fuel is injected into
the oxygen-rich combustion gases leaving the turbine to further increase the gas velocity for
greater thrust.
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• This is similar to the reheating process discussed in the Brayton cycle but for a different purpose.

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