Feasibility Study of Some Novel Concepts for High Bypass Ratio Turbofan Engines

Abstract

The soaring fuel price and the burgeoning environmental concerns have compelled global research towards cleaner engines, aimed at substantial reduction in emission, noise and fuel consumption. In this context, the present research investigates the feasibility of some novel engine concepts, namely Geared Turbofan and Intercooled Recuperated Turbofan concepts, by hypothetically applying them into an existing state-of-the-art high bypass ratio engine. This paper made an effort to estimate the effects on the baseline engine performances due to the introduction of these two concepts into it. By performing steady state simulations, it was found that the incorporation of the Geared Turbofan concept into the existing Turbofan engine caused a significant reduction in thrust specific fuel consumption, engine weight, and fan blade tip speed. However, when simulations were also carried out by incorporating the Intercooler and Recuperator concept in the baseline turbofan engine, it did not demonstrate any substantial improvement in fuel consumption. It was observed that the fuel flow rate was influenced to a large extent by heat exchanger’s effectiveness and the pressure drop within it. The overall engine weight was also found to get increased due to the inclusion of massive heat exchangers necessary for the system.

A Review of Novel and Non-Conventional Propulsion Integrations for Next-Generation Aircraft

“…This work mainly focuses on the theoretically obtainable performance of the isolated propulsion unit, especially in terms of thrust specific fuel consumption (TSFC), but also presents a preliminary analysis of installation effects, in terms of penalties related to the increased size of the nacelle. As the BPR increases, technological developments are introduced to improve the performance of the turbofan, such as the geared solution for the fan [61,62], the variable pitch mechanism for its blades (variable pitch fan, VPF, [63]) and the variable area nozzle (VAN, [64]). In particular, the VPF, as well as providing optimal operating matching of the fan under all working conditions, enables the fan to be allocated the function of a thrust reverser, eliminating the need to integrate it into the nacelle and thus permitting a much more compact design of the latter.…”

Assessment of Performance Boundaries and Operability of Low Specific Thrust GUHBPR Engines for EIS2025

“…Additionally, according to Dewanji [5], decreased LP spool speed could not satisfy the torque to drive the sizeable rotating fan. Thus, the LP spool is likely to be bulkier for torque relief, creating a larger core dimension.…”

“…The GTF would improve SFC and save 2.2% and 3.0% of the fuel consumption by increasing the BPR from 12.5 to 13.5 [4]. Dewanji [5] studied several GTF cases and revealed that the GTF with high BPR was effective in engine weight and SFC reduction. Alexiou [7] presented an ultra-high bypass ratio (UHBPR) GTF engine model with variable pitch fan (VPF), which showed good potential as candidate architecture at high BPR levels.…”