Jet Propulsion and Rocket Technology

4. Propulsive Devices - components

Pramod George
PPT-4
Jet Propulsion and Rocket Technology 4. Propulsive Devices - Air breathing propulsion - I

MME 4011: JET PROPULSION AND ROCKET TECHNOLOGY

 Jet Propulsion, Thrust equation, Efficiencies: Ram efficiency, thermal efficiency, propulsive efficiency,
propeller efficiency.
 Propulsive Devices: turbo jet, turbo prop engine, turbo shaft engine, Ram jet, pulse jet.
 Rocket Propulsion, Principle of rocket propulsion, thrust equation, Criteria for Rocket-Motor Performance-
specific impulse, total impulse.
 Chemical Rockets: Solid propellant rockets, types of solid propellant, burning rate, solid propellant grain
configurations.
 Liquid propellant rockets, Feed systems and injectors.
 Gaseous propellant rockets
 Developments in Rocket Technology: nuclear propulsion systems, Electrical propulsion and Hybrid rockets.

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Jet Propulsion and Rocket Technology 4. Propulsive Devices – Air breathing propulsion - I

Propulsion Devices
 The working of propulsion devices is based on Brayton cycle or Humphrey cycle.

 In Brayton cycle, combustion is performed at constant pressure with burning governed by temperature front.

 In Humphrey cycle combustion is performed at constant volume with burning governed by pressure front.

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Jet Propulsion and Rocket Technology 4. Propulsive Devices – Air breathing propulsion - I

Air breathing propulsion system – Turbomachinery based

Components of a Jet Engine Cycle
 Air intake/diffuser: accelerates/decelerates air and delivers it to the compressor
 Fan: present in turbofan engines, drives the bypass mass flow
 Compressor: compresses ingested air to high pressure and temperature
 Combustion chamber: fuel is added here, combustion results in high temperature and pressure at turbine inlet
 Turbine: Combustion products are expanded through the turbine, generates shaft power to drive the compressor
 Exhaust: Turbine exhaust is further expanded through the nozzle, generates thrust
 Afterburner: It injects fuel directly into the exhaust stream, function similar to combustion chamber

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Jet Propulsion and Rocket Technology 4. Propulsive Devices – Air breathing propulsion - I

Air breathing propulsion system - Turbomachinery based

Components of a Jet Engine Cycle – Air intake
Diffuser: It is a first component in a turbo jet. It is a part of the airframe.
 It directs incoming air to the compressor entrance with a minimum energy loss.
 It must deliver this air under all flight conditions with lowest turbulence and pressure variation as possible.
Fan: It is a first component in a turbo fan which sucks in large quantity of air.
 It then increases the speed of this air and splits it into two parts.
 One part continues through the “core” or center of the jet engine where it is acted upon by other jet engine components.
 The second part “bypasses” the core of the jet engine. It goes through a duct which surrounds the core to the back of jet engine.

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Jet Propulsion and Rocket Technology 4. Propulsive Devices – Air breathing propulsion - I

Air breathing propulsion system - Turbomachinery based

Components of a Jet Engine Cycle – Compressor
 The primary function of the compressor is to supply enough quantity of air to satisfy the requirements
of the combustion burners.
 It increases the air mass received from the air inlet duct and directs it to the burners in the quantity and
at the pressures required.

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Jet Propulsion and Rocket Technology 4. Propulsive Devices – Air breathing propulsion - I

Air breathing propulsion system - Turbomachinery based

Components of a Jet Engine Cycle – Combustion chamber
 In the combustor the air is mixed with fuel and then ignited (20 nozzles to spray fuel into the air stream).
 The fuel burns with the oxygen in the compressed air, producing hot expanding gases which are directed to the turbine section.
 It provides a high temperature (around 2700° F) and high-energy airflow.
 The major part of this energy drives the compressor.
 The remaining energy passes out to the rear of the engine in the form of a high-velocity jet.
 The inside of the combustion chamber is made of ceramic materials to provide a heat-resistant chamber.

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Jet Propulsion and Rocket Technology 4. Propulsive Devices – Air breathing propulsion - I

Air breathing propulsion system - Turbomachinery based

Components of a Jet Engine Cycle – Turbine
 The high-energy airflow coming out of the combustor chamber goes into the turbine, causing the turbine blades to rotate.
 The turbines are linked by a shaft to turn the blades in the compressor and to spin the intake fan at the front.
 This rotation takes some energy from the high-energy flow that is used to drive the fan and the compressor.
 This function absorbs about 60 to 80 percent of the total pressure energy from the exhaust gases
 The turbine assembly consists of two basic elements the stator and the rotor. It can be single or multi stage.
 The stationary vanes are contoured and set at such an angle that they form small nozzles.
 These nozzles converts the gas as extremely high-speed jets.

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Jet Propulsion and Rocket Technology 4. Propulsive Devices – Air breathing propulsion - I

Air breathing propulsion system - Turbomachinery based

Components of a Jet Engine Cycle – Exhaust Section
 The parts of the exhaust section include the exhaust cone, tailpipe (if required) and the nozzle
 Exhaust cone assembly consist of an outer duct, an inner cone and three or four radial hollow fins
 The nozzle is the jet engine part which actually produces the thrust for the plane
 Some engines use variable area nozzles with flaps which are controlled by synchronized hydraulic actuators

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Jet Propulsion and Rocket Technology 4. Propulsive Devices – Air breathing propulsion - I

Air breathing propulsion system - Turbomachinery based

Ideal Brayton cycle for Jet Engines
 a-1: Air from far upstream is brought to the air intake (diffuser) with some acceleration/deceleration
 1-2: Air is decelerated as is passes through the diffuser
 2-3: Air is compressed in a compressor (axial or centrifugal)
 3-4: The air is heated using a combustion chamber/burner
 4-5: The air is expanded in a turbine to obtain power to drive the compressor
 5-6: The air may or may not be further heated in an afterburner by injecting fuel into exhaust stream
 6-7: The air is accelerated and exhausted through the nozzle

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Jet Propulsion and Rocket Technology 4. Propulsive Devices – Air breathing propulsion - I

Air breathing propulsion system - Turbomachinery based

Turbofan Engines
 A fan of a larger diameter than the compressor is used to generate a mass flow higher than the core mass flow
 Part of the air is directed into the engine's core and rest of the air is “bypassed” around the outside of the engine core
 This bypass air creates additional thrust, cools the engine and makes the engine quieter by blanketing the exhaust air
 The ratio of mass flow rate of bypass stream to the mass flow rate entering the core is called the bypass ratio (BPR)
 Turbofan engines have a higher propulsion efficiency as compared to turbojet engines
 Turbofan engines are F-18, F-110, F-111 for military use and Boeing 787 for commercial use

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Jet Propulsion and Rocket Technology 4. Propulsive Devices – Air breathing propulsion - I

Air breathing propulsion system - Turbomachinery based

Turboprop Engine
 It has a large propeller mounted on the reduction gear assembly which produces most of the thrust (90% or more)
 Total thrust = propeller thrust + nozzle thrust
 Turbine sends increased power to the torquemeter assembly and then to the reduction gear assembly
 Propeller maintains a constant engine speed (design speed) where power and maximum efficiency is obtained
 Turboprop aircrafts are very efficient at lower flight speeds (less than Mach 0.6) and requires less fuel per seat-mile
 It needs significantly shorter runway for takeoff and landing than a turbojet or turbofan

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Jet Propulsion and Rocket Technology 5. Propulsive Devices – Air breathing propulsion - II

Air breathing propulsion system – Pure duct based

Ramjet Engine

 Ramjet is the simplest of all the airbreathing engines

 It consists of a diffuser, combustion chamber and a nozzle
 Ramjets do not need compressors and turbines
 The supersonic air is absorbed by the diffuser and is compressed through a series of oblique shocks followed
by a normal shock which brings the airflow to a subsonic velocity prior to reaching the combustor

 The fuel is injected in the combustion chamber and burned subsonically (Brayton cycle)
 Finally the exhaust gases are accelerated to supersonic speed by convergent-divergent nozzle

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Jet Propulsion and Rocket Technology 5. Propulsive Devices – Air breathing propulsion - II

Air breathing propulsion system – Pure duct based

Scramjet Engine

 In scramjet engine the airflow through the whole engine remains supersonic
 Scramjet is based on supersonic combustion of fuel whereas ramjet operate by subsonic
combustion of fuel
 Supersonic/hypersonic air is absorbed by the inlet diffuser and is compressed through a series of
oblique shocks
 After the combustor, the air is then accelerated through a diverging nozzle to the end of the engine

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Jet Propulsion and Rocket Technology 5. Propulsive Devices – Air breathing propulsion - II

Air breathing propulsion system

Applications (Information only)

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