A Performance Study of a Super-Cruise Engine with Isothermal Combustion Inside the Turbine
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A Performance Study of a Super-cruise Engine with Isothermal Combustion inside the Turbine By Ya-tien “Mac” Chiu Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Mechanical Engineering Peter S. King, Chair Walter F. O’Brien Michael R. Sexton Karen A. Thole Uri Vandsburger December 9th, 2004 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: Cycle Analysis, Off-design Performance, Ideal Gas Mixture, Isothermal Combustion, Turbine Cooling, Super-cruise Engine A Performance Study of a Super-cruise Engine with Isothermal Combustion inside the Turbine Ya-tien “Mac” Chiu Abstract Current thinking on the best propulsion system for a next-generation supersonic cruising (Mach 2 to Mach 4) aircraft is a mixed-flow turbofan engine with afterburner. This study investigates the performance increase of a turbofan engine through the use of isothermal combustion inside the high-pressure turbine (High-Pressure Turburner, HPTB) as an alternative form of thrust augmentation. A cycle analysis computer program is developed for accurate prediction of the engine performance and a supersonic transport cruising at Mach 2 at 60,000 ft is used to demonstrate the merit of using a turburner. When assuming no increase in turbine cooling flow is needed, the engine with HPTB could provide either 7.7% increase in cruise range or a 41% reduction in engine mass flow when compared to a traditional turbofan engine providing the sane thrust. If the required cooling flow in the turbine is almost doubled, the new engine with HPTB could still provide a 4.6% increase in range or 33% reduction in engine mass flow. In fact, the results also show that the degradation of engine performance because of increased cooling flow in a turburner is less than half of the degradation of engine performance because of increased cooling flow in a regular turbine. Therefore, a turbofan engine with HPTB will still easily out-perform a traditional turbofan when even more cooling than currently assumed is introduced. Closer examination of the simulation results in off-design regimes also shows that the new engine not only satisfies the thrust and efficiency requirement at the design cruise point, but also provides enough thrust and comparable or better efficiency in all other flight regimes such as transonic acceleration and take-off. Another finding is that the off-design bypass ratio of the new engine increases slower than a regular turbofan as the aircraft flies higher and faster. This behavior enables the new engine to maintain higher thrust over a larger flight envelope, crucial in developing faster air-breathing aircraft for the future. As a result, an engine with HPTB provides significant benefit both at the design point and in the off-design regimes, allowing smaller and more efficient engines for supersonic aircraft to be realized. Acknowledgement The author would like to take a moment to recognize some of the people who have contributed to this work. I would like to thank the members of this committee for serving in this capacity. Each of you has enlightened me and expanded my knowledge and understanding on several subjects. I would like to specially thank Dr. Peter King for his immeasurable support and instructions. By giving me free reign and timely advice, I learned more in the self- propelled, goal-pursuing way than I could ask for. I truly appreciate all the help he have provided and I feel privileged to have him as my advisor. I would also like to thank Dr. Walter O’Brien for his advice, not only on the subject matters in this research, but also on the developments in the industry of propulsion and turbomachinery. I am grateful for all the visions and information he provided as they expand my field of view and open me up to a larger world. During the five years of my Ph.D. work here at Virginia Tech, many other have helped me and I owe them my most sincere gratitude. I would like to thank Prof. Robertshaw and Prof. Alley for their guidance and knowledge provided during our work in the class of Mechanical Engineering Lab. I would also like to thank Ben Poe and Jamie Archual for their technical support and Eloise McCoy and Cathy Hill for their administrative assistance. In addition, I must thank all of the “turbolabbers” that have walked through their graduate work with me. Their sincere friendship is one of the most rewarding parts of this journey in higher education. Last, but not the least, I must thank my family for their support. I am especially indebted to my wife, Jennifer, for putting her own pursuit of higher education on hold and taking care of our son, Ian. She has worked tirelessly to maintain our home and raise our son so that I can devote my time on my work. Her, and Ian’s, unconditional love and support is truly what encourages me and drives me in the past five years. I could never have completed this work without them. Thank you, Jennifer and Ian. iii Table of Contents Title...................................................................................................................................... i Abstract.............................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgement............................................................................................................iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. iv List of Figures................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ................................................................................................................... vii Nomenclature .................................................................................................................viii Greek Symbols .......................................................................................................................................... x Subscripts.................................................................................................................................................. xi Engine Reference Station ....................................................................................................................... xiii Abbreviations........................................................................................................................................... xv Chapter 1 Introduction..................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 Literature Review ........................................................................................... 7 2.1 Definition of a Turburner..................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Cycle Studies on Engines with Turburner ......................................................................................... 10 2.3 Numerical Simulations on a Turburner.............................................................................................. 12 2.4 Cycle Studies on Engines with Interstage Turbine Burner ................................................................ 15 2.5 Numerical and Experimental Studies on a Miniaturized Combustor................................................. 18 2.6 Summary............................................................................................................................................ 19 Chapter 3 Modeling and Assumptions.......................................................................... 22 3.1 Engine Cycles and Configurations..................................................................................................... 22 3.2 Programming Language and Program Structure................................................................................ 26 3.3 Thermodynamic Properties of Ideal Gas Mixture in the Chosen Chemical Equilibrium Model ....... 28 3.4 Engine Component Modules ............................................................................................................. 32 3.4.1 Module for Freestream and Inlet ............................................................................................... 32 3.4.2 Module for Compressor ............................................................................................................. 34 3.4.3 Module for Isobaric Combustor................................................................................................. 35 3.4.4 Module for Turbine Coolant Mixer............................................................................................ 37 3.4.5 Module for Turbine and Turburner............................................................................................ 39 3.4.6 Module for Mixed-flow Exhaust................................................................................................. 44 3.4.7 Module for Separate-flow Exhaust............................................................................................. 47 3.5 Off-design Calculations..................................................................................................................... 48 3.6 Validation Tests of the Program ........................................................................................................ 52 3.6.1 Simulation of a Mixed-flow Turbofan Engine...........................................................................