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Gas Turbine Engine - towards the Future of Power

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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Mechanical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2018) | Viewed by 43752

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Theoklis Nikolaidis

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Guest Editor

Centre for Propulsion Engineering, Cranfield University, Bedfordshire, UK
Interests: modelling-simulation advanced numerical methods; steady state/transient performance; engine’s control system; variable and novel cycles; particulate/multiphase flows and their effects on engine’s performance; alternative fuels; health monitoring
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Pericles Pericles Pilidis

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Guest Editor

Centre for Propulsion Engineering, Cranfield University, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL, UK
Interests: gas turbine performance; gas turbines for air, land and sea applications; gas turbine methods; combined cycle gas turbines; power plant integration; TERA (Techno economic Environmental Risk Analysis); power plant asset management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Gas turbine engines are extensively used in aviation and power generation. The engines are designed to offer cost-effective features, such as high efficiency, reliability and availability. The energy demand for both propulsion and power generation are showing a continuous increase. At the same time, rising fuel prices are factors that influence the economics of gas turbine operation. In addition to this, there is an increasing concern about the environmental consequences of engine operation. Emission control has attracted a great deal of attention in the gas turbine community. Under these circumstances, gas turbine novel cycles and technology enhancement has become of primary importance.

An example is the hybrid-electric propulsion system, which has the potential to significantly reduce fuel consumption in the aviation industry. The importance of hybrid aircraft technologies lie in the advancements it provides to aeroplane life cycles and the reduction of adverse environmental effects. Consequently, the aviation industry is currently very keen on distributed propulsion technology for further operational, technologies, fuel consumption, safety, reliability, and efficiency. Additionally, by implementing this technique, a considerable reduction in acoustic noise, maintenance, economic waste, and environment emissions will be attained.

The Special Issue of the journal Applied Sciences, "Gas Turbine Engine-towards the Future of Power" aims to cover innovative technology in the development of gas turbines from the component to the engine level. It focuses on novel cycles and hybrid electric power systems.

Dr. Theoklis Nikolaidis
Prof. Pericles Pilidis
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Novel cycles
Hybrid-electric
Distributed propulsion
Gas turbine emissions
Gas turbine technology enhancement
Gas turbine thermal / propulsive efficiency

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 4420 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Control Requirements for Future Gas Turbine-Powered Unmanned Drones: JetQuads

by Soheil Jafari, Seyed Alireza Miran Fashandi and Theoklis Nikolaidis

Appl. Sci. 2018, 8(12), 2675; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app8122675 - 19 Dec 2018

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 5267

Abstract

The next generation of aerial robots will be utilized extensively in real-world applications for different purposes: Delivery, entertainment, inspection, health and safety, photography, search and rescue operations, fire detection, and use in hazardous and unreachable environments. Thus, dynamic modeling and control of drones will play a vital role in the growth phase of this cutting-edge technology. This paper presents a systematic approach for control mode identification of JetQuads (gas turbine-powered quads) that should be satisfied simultaneously to achieve a safe and optimal operation of the JetQuad. Using bond graphs as a powerful mechatronic tool, a modular model of a JetQuad including the gas turbine, electric starter, and the main body was developed and validated against publicly available data. Two practical scenarios for thrust variation as a function of time were defined to investigate the compatibility and robustness of the JetQuad. The simulation results of these scenarios confirmed the necessity of designing a compatibility control loop, a stability control loop, and physical limitation control loops for the safe and errorless operation of the system. A control structure with its associated control algorithm is also proposed to deal with future challenges in JetQuad control problems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gas Turbine Engine - towards the Future of Power)

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15 pages, 5436 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Numerical Assessment of the Convective Heat Transfer in Rotating Detonation Combustors Using a Reduced-Order Model

by James Braun, Jorge Sousa and Guillermo Paniagua

Appl. Sci. 2018, 8(6), 893; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app8060893 - 30 May 2018

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 4688

Abstract

The pressure gain across a rotating detonation combustor offers an efficiency rise and potential architecture simplification of compact gas turbine engines. However, the combustor walls of the rotating detonation combustor are periodically swept by both detonation and oblique shock waves at several kilohertz, disrupting the boundary layer, resulting in a rather complex convective heat transfer between the fluid and the solid walls. A computationally fast procedure is presented to calculate this extraordinary convective heat flux along the detonation combustor. First, a numerical model combining a two-dimensional method of characteristics approach with a monodimensional reaction model is used to compute the combustor flow field. Then, an integral boundary layer routine is used to predict the main boundary layer parameters. Finally, an empirical correlation is adopted to predict the convective heat-transfer coefficient to obtain the bulk and local heat flux. The procedure has been applied to a combustor operating with premixed hydrogen–air fuel. The results of this approach compare well with high-fidelity unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes three-dimensional simulations, which included wall refinement in an unrolled combustor. The model demonstrates that total pressure has an important influence on heat flux within the combustor and is less dependent on the inlet total temperature. For an inlet total pressure of 0.5 MPa and an inlet total temperature of 300 K, a peak time-averaged heat flux of 6 MW/m² was identified at the location of the triple point, followed by a decrease downstream of the oblique shock, to about 4 MW/m². Maximum discrepancy between the reduced-order model and the high-fidelity solver was 16%, but the present reduced-order model required a computational time of only 200 s, that is, about 7000 times faster than the high-fidelity three-dimensional unsteady solver. Therefore, the present tool can be used to optimize the combustor cooling system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gas Turbine Engine - towards the Future of Power)

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24 pages, 54602 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ramjet Nozzle Analysis for Transport Aircraft Configuration for Sustained Hypersonic Flight

by Raman Baidya, Apostolos Pesyridis and Maxim Cooper

Appl. Sci. 2018, 8(4), 574; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app8040574 - 06 Apr 2018

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 14644

Abstract

For the past several decades, research dealing with hypersonic flight regimes has been restricted mainly to military applications. Hypersonic transportation could be a possible and affordable solution to travel in the medium term and there is renewed interest from several private organisations for commercial exploitation in this direction. Various combined cycle propulsion configurations have been proposed and the present paper deals with implications for the nozzle component of a ramjet configuration as part of one such combined cycle propulsion configuration. An investigation was undertaken for a method of turbine-based propulsion which enables the hypersonic vehicle to take off under its own power and propel the aircraft under different mission profiles into ramjet operational Mach regimes. The present study details an optimal method of ramjet exhaust expansion to produce sufficient thrust to propel the vehicle into altitudes and Mach regimes where scramjet operation can be initiated. This aspect includes a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-based geometric study to determine the optimal configuration to provide the best thrust values. The CFD parametric analysis investigated three candidate nozzles and indicated that the dual bell nozzle design produced the highest thrust values when compared to other nozzle geometries. The altitude adaptation study also validated the effectiveness of the nozzle thrust at various altitudes without compromising its thrust-producing capabilities. Computational data were validated against published experimental data, which indicated that the computed values correlated well with the experimental data. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gas Turbine Engine - towards the Future of Power)

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19 pages, 18624 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Thermodynamic Analysis of the Pressure Gain of Continuously Rotating Detonation Combustor for Gas Turbine

by Hongtao Zheng, Lei Qi, Ningbo Zhao, Zhiming Li and Xiao Liu

Appl. Sci. 2018, 8(4), 535; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app8040535 - 30 Mar 2018

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 4146

Abstract

Considering the potential applications of continuously rotating detonation (CRD) combustors in gas turbines, this paper performed a numerical investigation into the pressure gain performance of CRD combustors, using methane–air as a reactive mixture and under the operating conditions of a micro gas turbine. To analyze the formation process of CRD waves, the variation characteristics of several typical thermodynamic parameters involving thermal efficiency, pressure ratio, and available energy loss were discussed in terms of time and space scales. Numerical results showed that the pressure gain characteristics of the CRD combustors was associated with the corresponding change in Gibbs free energy. Compared to approximate constant pressure-based combustors, usually used in the gas turbines studied, CRD combustors with lower Gibbs free energy loss could offer a significant advantage in terms of pressure ratio. It was found that detonation waves played an important role in increasing pressure ratios but that oblique shock waves caused the loss of extra Gibbs free energy. Due to the changing oblique shock wave height, the effects of CRD combustor axial length on pressure ratios and Gibbs free energy loss were more significant than the effects on detonation wave propagating characteristics and combustion thermal efficiency. When the axial length was changed from 200 mm to 100 mm, the pressure ratio increased by approximately 15.8%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gas Turbine Engine - towards the Future of Power)

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14 pages, 4658 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research on Model-Based Fault Diagnosis for a Gas Turbine Based on Transient Performance

by Detang Zeng, Dengji Zhou, Chunqing Tan and Baoyang Jiang

Appl. Sci. 2018, 8(1), 148; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app8010148 - 22 Jan 2018

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 5222

Abstract

It is essential to monitor and to diagnose faults in rotating machinery with a high thrust–weight ratio and complex structure for a variety of industrial applications, for which reliable signal measurements are required. However, the measured values consist of the true values of the parameters, the inertia of measurements, random errors and systematic errors. Such signals cannot reflect the true performance state and the health state of rotating machinery accurately. High-quality, steady-state measurements are necessary for most current diagnostic methods. Unfortunately, it is hard to obtain these kinds of measurements for most rotating machinery. Diagnosis based on transient performance is a useful tool that can potentially solve this problem. A model-based fault diagnosis method for gas turbines based on transient performance is proposed in this paper. The fault diagnosis consists of a dynamic simulation model, a diagnostic scheme, and an optimization algorithm. A high-accuracy, nonlinear, dynamic gas turbine model using a modular modeling method is presented that involves thermophysical properties, a component characteristic chart, and system inertial. The startup process is simulated using this model. The consistency between the simulation results and the field operation data shows the validity of the model and the advantages of transient accumulated deviation. In addition, a diagnostic scheme is designed to fulfill this process. Finally, cuckoo search is selected to solve the optimization problem in fault diagnosis. Comparative diagnostic results for a gas turbine before and after washing indicate the improved effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method of using data from transient processes, compared with traditional methods using data from the steady state. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gas Turbine Engine - towards the Future of Power)

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Review

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16 pages, 2462 KiB

Open AccessReview

Thermal Management Systems for Civil Aircraft Engines: Review, Challenges and Exploring the Future

by Soheil Jafari and Theoklis Nikolaidis

Appl. Sci. 2018, 8(11), 2044; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app8112044 - 24 Oct 2018

Cited by 57 | Viewed by 7697

Abstract

This paper examines and analytically reviews the thermal management systems proposed over the past six decades for gas turbine civil aero engines. The objective is to establish the evident system shortcomings and to identify the remaining research questions that need to be addressed to enable this important technology to be adopted by next generation of aero engines with complicated designs. Future gas turbine aero engines will be more efficient, compact and will have more electric parts. As a result, more heat will be generated by the different electrical components and avionics. Consequently, alternative methods should be used to dissipate this extra heat as the current thermal management systems are already working on their limits. For this purpose, different structures and ideas in this field are stated in terms of considering engines architecture, the improved engine efficiency, the reduced emission level and the improved fuel economy. This is followed by a historical coverage of the proposed concepts dating back to 1958. Possible thermal management systems development concepts are then classified into four distinct classes: classic, centralized, revolutionary and cost-effective; and critically reviewed from challenges and implementation considerations points of view. Based on this analysis, the potential solutions for dealing with future challenges are proposed including combination of centralized and revolutionary developments and combination of classic and cost-effective developments. The effectiveness of the proposed solutions is also discussed with a complexity-impact correlation analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gas Turbine Engine - towards the Future of Power)

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