AIAA-2000-2901

HEAT RECOVERY FROM AIRCRAFT ENGINES'

S. Pasini
U. Ghezzi
R Andnani
L.Degli Antoni Fern
Energetic Department
Polytechnic of Milan
20133 Milan,Italy

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION

The paper deals with the problem of heat recovery
from aircraft engines, with specific reference to jet
engines and turbo propeller engines. In actual
propulsion systems, the trend for cycle maximum
temperatures is for very high values, with a
consequent increasing of discharge temperature, due
account also given to operative modalities of the
discharge nozzle, often working in off design
conditions. Thus, the heat discharged strongly
influences the performances of the system, afkcting
them even if already optimized with reference to
other cycle parameters. In this way, heat recovery
appears an obliged way for further increments of
performances. In the space sector, however, the
recovery of the discharged heat appears strongly
problematic because of engine configuration and
specific limitations, as weight, overall dimensions,
maximum reliability, etc. Nevertheless, this
possibility shows great interest.
The present paper evaluates first the possible
modalities to utilize the recovered heat, emphasizing
how the regenerative processes should be considered
among the most attractive ones. Then, the different
types of jet engines are analyzed to evaluate the
possible obtainable recoveries. The analysis shows
how the recovery not only influences positively
efficiency and therefore specific fuel consumption,
but allows also to ampllfy the importance of other
operative parameters. At last, the practical possibility
of heat recovery is evaluated, trying to define the
configuration of suitable heat exchangers and to
identify the most appropriate location within the
propulsive system.
In the field of air breathing propulsion two main areas
of interest can be considered. The first one deals with
high flight Mach number engines, operating in the
hypersonic fields and able to reach orbital speed. The
studies of such engines are growing very fast, due to
the possibility offered by this kind of engine to be
used as launchers for orbital missions. The other main
research field is related to the possibility to develop
engines rated at very high level of thrust with high
efficiency and low specific fuel consumption The
necessity of reducing fuel consumption is not only
related to the need of lowering the rising costs of fuel,
but also to the possibility of increasing the maximum
payload. Both effects greatly affect the global costs of
transportation and the economy of airlines
companies. The reduction of fuel consumption is
achieved by improving the global efficiency of the
engine, the latter depending directly upon thermal and
propulsion efficiency. In the last decades this aim has
been achieved with the introduction of the turbofan
engines, allowing a reduction in specific fuel
consumption of about 50%. The separate flows
turbofan engines, especially at high by pass ratio,
reduce fuel consumptionby increasing the propulsion
efficiency. From the point of view of the thermal
cycle, the development of new materials and cooling
techniques has allowed the realization of turbine
blades able to withstand high temperature levels, thus
increasing the h u m tempera- and
consequently the maximum pressure of the cycle.
These processes are under way, and, for what
concerns the improvement of propulsion efficiency,
new turbofans at very high by pass ratio are going to
be built.

' Copyright 0 2000 The American Institute of Aeronautics

and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved.

546
American Institute of Aeronautics and A S ~ T O M ~ ~ ~ C S
These new engines can reach such values of BPI€ to
be considered as a C O M C Zbridge ~ . ~ ~ between
T
and turboprop mgiues. The results obtained
working in this direction have been very sensitive and
it is now easy to foresee that future improvement
limits can only be narrower. For this reason it
becomes necessary to consider other aspects of the
propulsion syskm if a further improvement of the
global efZciency is asked for. An analysis from the
energetic point of view of the thexmal cycle shows
that a great mount of heat is wasted in the exhaust,
and indicates how a recovery, total or more
realistidy partial, of this heat can lead to a greater
efficiency of the system. This consideration is not
new, and the heat recovery from the exhaust is a well
0
consolidated p&ce in industrial gas turbine power S
plants for ground application. The thermal cycle in
this case is called regenerative and regeneration the Fig. 2a. Thermodynamic diagram of a t"jet engine with
practice of heat recovering. A classical regenerative regenedon.
cycle of a gas turbine engine for industrial purpose is
shown in Fig, 1.

A
5

Fig. 2b.Scheme of a turbojet with regeneration.

For this reason regeneration influences not only the

S kinetic energy of the jet.
Fig. 1. Thermodynamic diagram of a turboprop engine
with regenemtion.
The main difiiculty of the extension of this practice to
propulsion systems has always been represented by
the size and weight of the heat exchanger. However,
the improved manufacturing possibilities and the
need of new strategies for increasing engine
performances induce to take into due account this
possibility. From a theoretical point of view there are
several methods to exchange heat, but the most
suitable for propulsive applications seems to be that
shown in Figs. 2a and 2b.
Comparison of Figs. 1 and 2 outlines that in the case
of a turbojet engine heat is exchanged (unchanged
other cycle characteristics) at a higher temperature
level, and this is due to the lower expansion ratio of
the turbine. Moreover, the heat exchange influences
the enthalpy drop available in the exhaust nozzle,
hence the discharge velocity.
thermal efficiency, reducing heat in the exhaust, but
also the propulsion efficiency, lowering the residual
Since the global efficiency and the specific fuel
consumption are a function of both thermal and
propulsion efficiency, from these first simple
considerations it becomes evident how regeneration
can have influence on the performances of the engine.
However, the reduction of the enthalpy drop available
in the nozzle, and consequently of the jet velocity,
reduces the specific thrust of the engine.
To establish whether regeneration can have some
advantages, a numerical thermodynamic code was
developed to allow to simulate the thermal cycle and
the main specific performances of a jet engine with
regeneration for Werent operative conditions. Thus,
the possibility to recover heat from the exhaust has
been evaluated for a simple turbojet, a turbofan and a
turboprop engine in design conditions.
It has also been analyzed, in a two separate flows
turbofan engine, the Merent way to transfer heat
between the two flows. Finally, some features of the
offdesign behavior have been pointed out for a
regenerativeturbojet engine.

547
 TURBOJET TURBOFAN

The possibility to introduce the regeneration is first The possibility to apply regeneration in a turbofan
considered for a turbojet engine. In this case the heat engine is now considered. This seems interesting
exchanger is placed between the last turbine stage and since in a Mwfm especially at high by-pass ratio,
the exhaust nozzle, as already shown in Fig. 2. the very large fraction of the thrust is provided by the
The difference with respect to the conventional jet cold flow, while the gas generator provides the
engine is the presence of the heat exchanger, required power. Thus, the enthalpy level before the
represented by the transformations 3-3r and 5%. exhaust nozzle of the gas generator can be lowered
Along the 3-3r transformation (air side), the air from without loosing a great amount of thrust, while
the compressor is heated by the gas from the turbine increasingthe efficiency.
flowing through the heat exchanger along the 5-5r
transformation (gas side). The efficiency R of the
regeneration is the ratio between the actual heat
transferred from hot gas to cold air and the theoretical
amount that could be exchanged in an ideal counter
flow heat exchanger of infinite d a c e , that is:
R = h,, -h3

h, -5
As a f i s t example, the behavior of thermal efficiency
for a ked set of operative conditions is now taken
into consideration, using the regeneration efficiency
R as a parameter. The flight Mach number was 0.8,
the altitude loo00 m, and the turbine inlet Fig. 4. Thermal efficiency of a turbofan engine with
temperature 1600 K. Fig. 3 shows the behavior of the regeneration.
thennal efficiency at Werent pressure ratios and
with R in the rauge from 0 to 1. Fig. 4 shows the thermal ef6ciency of a hubofan
engine compared with a regenerative one. Two cases
are reported, respectively with R equal to 0.5 and 0.7.
In both cases, a pressure drop of 5 YOon the two sides
s 0.7 I I

-
-x-

- w.2
w.4
of the heat exchanger is assumed, For this simulation,
the maximum temperature was 1600 K, the altitude
10000 m, the flight Mach number 0.8and 3PR k e d
R4.8 at 7.

-
--C

-.-5 R4.8
The thermal efficiency in the case with heat recovery
lo 15 m 25 is higher than in the conventional one of about 4 %
R4.0
p r . .ratio when R = 0.5, while it rises to about 10 YO,i f R = 0.7.
These effects are sensible at low pressme ratios. In
fact, for PR = 20, the value of the thermal efficiency
Fig. 3. Thennal efficiency of a turbojet engine with for which R = 0.5 and the conventional one
regeneration. practically coincide; for pressure ratios greater than
30, the curves cross each other and the conventional
The heat exchanger is responsible for a pressure loss case seems better.
both on air and gas side, depending mainly upon its This is due to the fact that above a certain value of
size; the high mass flow rate of a turbojet and the pressure ratio the heat cannot be exchanged any
small size needed can come out with a pressure drop more, while the pressure drop in the heat exchanger
too great to be tolerated if a high degree of still remains. For this reason this section of the plot
regeneration (at least 0.7) is not achieved. For the shows no practical interest.
calculation, a pressure drop of 5 % was assumed for
both sides of the heat exchanger. With reference then TURBOPROP
to the specific fuel consumption (EFC), it can be
said that it depends on both thermal and propulsion The natural development of this study leads to the
efficiency, being expressed as: introduction of the regeneration in a turt>oprop
2VO engine. In fact, this kind of engine seems to be, at the
flp =- state of the art, the most indicated to utilize an heat
Yo -vi
exchanger, both for thermodynamic and constructive
where vo is the flight speed and vJ the exhaust gas reasons.
velocity.
548
In fact, the mass flow rate through the gas generator
is smaller if compared to that of a Mmjet, thus
implying a d e r and lighter heat exchanger: an
important characteristic since these technological
aspects can be determinant for a possible introduction
of regeneration in aircraft power plants. Fig. 5 shows,
in a T-S plane, the thermodynamic cycle of a
turboprop engine with regeneration
r In Fig. 7 is reported the behavior of the shaft power at
0
S
Fig. 5. Thermodynamic diagram of a auboprop engine
with regenerstion.
As before, the behavior of a twl>oprop engine with
regeneration was numerically simulated, determining
the main engine characteristics, such as power, fuel
consumptionand cycle efficiency.
Attention was focused onto one set of parameters
simulating both engine and operative condition, such
as turbine inlet temperature (1500 K),altitude (7000
m) and flight Mach number (0.65). Another
characteristic parameter of a hubprop engine is the
alpha parameter, defined as the ratio of the ideal
enthalpy drop available for the power W i n e to the
total ideal enthalpy drop, as shown in Fig. 6.
Fig. 6. Enthalpy drop distribution between turbine and
exhaust nozzle.
The remaining fraction of enthalpy drop accelerates
the gas in the exhaust nozzle. For the simulation the
value of alpha was 0.88, a value which, for these
operative condition, minimizes the fuel consumption.
549
Also in this case, the plots are parameterized with
regeneration effectiveness, according to the same
scheme of the previous examples. As already seen for
the turboprop case, the introduction of regeneration
causes a pressure drop across the heat exchanger. In
the calculation this fact has been taken into account
by introducinga pressure drop of 4 % on the air side ,
and 6 % on the gas side, deducing these values f h m
similarcaseS.
different pressure mtios.
Fig. 7. Shafi power in -~~cturbopropengine with
regendon, effectivekss as a panuneter.
HEAT EXCHANGE
In the previous analysis, for both jet engine and
turboprop, heat is subtracted by the hot gas before
entering the exhaust nozzle. This practice seems to
e m good results, al least according to numerical
simulatioq it is not however the only thinkable
configuration of a regenerative set up for propulsion
systems. In fact, the heat can be exchanged between
the two flows both during and &er the expansion in
the exhaust nozzle.
In the first case,heat is subtracted fiom gas while this
is expanding in the exhaust nozzle; in the second
case, heat is extracted from gas after this is expanded
in the nozzle, nearly at external pressure, before being
expelled into the atmosphere.
The Merent ways have consequences primarily on
the amount of heat transferred and consequently on
the behavior and performances of the engine.
Here are reported, using the same analysis as
previously done, the plots of the main engine
thermodynamic characteristics computed for three
Merent methods of heat exchange: the conventional
one (heat subtracted before expansion in the nozzle);
during expansion (heat transferred during the
expansion in the nozzle), and after expansion (heat
transferred after the expansion in the nozzle and
before expelling it into atmosphere). Figs. 8 through
12 show the engine characteristics computed in the
three specified ways, assumed R = 0.4.
 I
E]
I
I 8 I 10 12 14 16 18 P P

Fig. 8. Heat exchanged as a function of pressure ratio.

I
Fig. 11. Propulsive efficiency of a regenerative turboj
engine, for three methods of heat subtraction.
t

-. .
1
- 1600 (1(1 F loa00 [m] MO- 0.8 R= 0.4 I 1.3
T
- 1
" sp "
1 yDcO.0 R=0.4
I
1::
0

2 1

Fig. 9. Specific thrust as a function of pressure ratio, with Fig. 12. TSFC as a function of,pressure ratio for three
effectivenessof regeneration equal to 0.4. methods of heat subbaction.

It can be observed that the conventional case allows The analysis has then been repeated with R = 0.8 (this
to obtain the minimum level of fuel consumption. In value assumed since representing a sort of limit for
fact, with reference to the behavior of TSFC, the actual possibility of heat exchangers). The results of
points representing this case appear constantly below these simulationsare reported in Figs. 13 and 14.
the other lines, especially at high values of pressure
ratio. As far as TSFC and heat exchange are then
concerned for the case with heat transferred before
expansion, better results are obtained if compared to
the others. Then the thermal efficiency, evaluated
when heat is transferred during the expansion, is
always greater, while the propulsion efficiency shows
a two-face behavior: while at low pressure ratios heat
subtracted during expansion seems convenient, at
higher values of pressure ratio the heat exchange
becomes more convenient if performed after the
expansion. I -nro

Fig. 13. Heat exchanged as a function of pressure ratio.

J
13

12
I

,f$0
I.:

0.0

01

0.7
0 I 10 12 14 10 10 1D P

Fig. 10. Thermal efficiency as a function of pressure ratio,

1 psaur- I
Fig. 14. TSFC as a function of pressure ratio, for three
with regeneration effectivenessas a parameter. methods of heat subtraction.

550
 OFF-DESIGN
TmeocrlyY)[q ~ l o w [m]
0
It is inkresting to study how the presence of the heat
exchanger can influence the behavior of the engine in
offdesign conditions. Generally, the offdesign F 1
conditions of a gas turbine engine can be synthesized
through the knowledge of the operating line of the
$j0s
compressor (relationship of compressor pressure ratio fI- 0,8
versus equivalent mass flow rate).
In fact, once fixed the air& operative conditions 0.7
0.4 0.5 0,s 0,7 0.8 0,Q 1
and the main engine parameters, as fight Mach
number, altitude, turbine inlet temperature, and FQM Mach number
nozzle behavior, an univocal relationship can be
drawn between compressor pressure ratio and engine Fig. 16. Relationship of TSFC versus Flight Mach number.
performances. From the pressure ratio it becomes so
possible to evaluate the the& cycle of the engine Tmaxz1400 [1<1 r=10000 [m]
and &om this the specific performances, such as 1,035
specific thrust, thermal, propulsion and global 109
efficiencies, and specific fuel consumption By means 1,025 ’ I’

of a numerical thermodynamic code the offdesign P2 1.02

behavior of a regenerative turbojet engine has been

m
1,015
simulated. f 1,Ol
1,005
4 R4.6
Tmax=1400 [qz=loooO [m] c 1
0,995
0,99
,
0.4 0.5 0.6 0,7 0.8 0,9 1
Flight Mach number

L;a
Fig. 17. Relationship of ratio Thrust to Thrust at design
condition versus Flight Machnumber.
1800 ..... ....................................................................
Tmas1400 [l(l z=lOOOO [m]
1500
0.4 0,5 0.6 O,? 0.8 0,Q 1
Flight Mach number

Fig. 15. Relationship of Thrust versus Flight Mach number

Fig. 15 shows the behavior of the thrust of the simple

turbojet engine and the turbojet with R = 0.6 for
Werent values of flight Mach number. Fig. 16
‘6
16
52 54 56 58 60 62
-
64 66 68 70
shows, for the same operative condition, the behavior Coneded mass flow rate [kgls]
of the specific fuel consumption, while Fig. 17
reports the ratio of the thrust at Werent flight Mach Fig. 18. Operative lines of simple and regenerative jet
numbers to the thrust at the design point, the flight engines at different Flight Mach numbers.
Mach number for both engines being 0.8.
It is interesting to see if, for both cases (conventional HEAT EXCHANGER DESIGN CASE
turbojet and regenerative one), the introduction of the
heat exchanger modifies the behavior of the A case is shown to demonstrate the real possibility to
compressor. The points of the operative line of the design a heat exchangerto be used as a regenerator in
compressor represent the different conditions at a typical gas cycle. The regenerator is located after
which the compressor works during its offdesign the turbine and before the nozzle and is interested
conditions. The design point of the engine is axially by the hot gas. The air, coming from the
representedby one point of the line in the compressor compressor, enters perpendicularly the regenerator,
map. The line shows the relationship between the splitting exactly into two flows and realizing
pressure ratio of the compressor and the corrected therefore a perfect cross flow compact heat
mass flow rate through it, as it is shown in Fig. 18. exchanger, both fluids unmixed, made on both sides
by same plain plate-fin surfaces.

551
To achieve a better configuration of the regenerator, SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
only a part of the hot gas mass flow rate is employed
(two cases are given with a fraction equal to 50 and The analysis done shows that heat recovery in jet
75 %), while the whole air from the compressor is engines can be a very interesting practice not only
used. under the energetic point of view hut also more
Operating conditions are specified in Tab. 1. genedly in relation to the possibility of improving
the engine characteristics (lower pressure ratio and
Tab. 1 consequently lower levels of NOx).
The main problem related to this practice is the
Air flow rate I20 kg/s ’ introduction of a heat exchanger suitable to meet the
Gas flow rate I 10 and 15 kgls requirements of an aircraft engine.
Air entering pressure I8 bar A short analysis has been done and the results have
Air entering temperature I 600 K put in evidence that it is possible to build a heat
Gas entering pressure 13 bar exchanger suitable to be mounted on aircraft power
Gas entering temperature I 1100 K plants, both for its size and weight, and also for the
Regenerator O.D. 0.8 m amount of heat exchangeable.
Regenerator I.D. 0.4 m This study is a preliminary step on the evaluation
Regenerator length 0.9 and 1.2 m about the possibility of introduction of regeneration
in a jet engine.
Surface characteristics, identical for both sides, are A deeper theoretical study, involving the off design
specified in Tab. 2. behavior of the engine and Merent kinds of jet
engines, seems anyway necessary before starting an
Tab. 2 experimental phase. However, the results are
encouraging and the actual possibility of building a
heat exchanger suitable for aircraft engines appears
Plate spacing 6.35 mm less remote respect only few years ago.
Hydraulic diameter 2.87 mm
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