Supersonic Engine Tertiary Airflow Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Supersonic gas turbine engines face challenges in heat management due to increased fuel and oil temperatures from high-speed flight, making traditional cooling methods less efficient.
Innovation Solution
A supersonic gas turbine engine design incorporating a tertiary airflow duct with a heat exchanger that utilizes cooler air extracted from the intake, which is guided through the duct to efficiently cool fluids, such as oil, by providing the coolest air available within the engine.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If traditional cooling methods using bypass air or fuel are used in supersonic gas turbine engines, then the engine can operate at high cruise power, but the cooling efficiency deteriorates due to increased air and fuel temperatures at high Mach numbers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts cool air from the intake stream before it enters the compressor, creating a separate tertiary airflow path. This extracted air is then directed to heat exchangers to cool oil and other fluids, effectively removing the cooling function from the hot bypass air stream and assigning it to the cooler extracted air stream.
Solution Approach 2:
The airflow is segmented into multiple paths: primary airflow through the compressor, secondary bypass airflow, and tertiary extracted airflow for cooling purposes. This segmentation allows each air stream to serve its specific function optimally, with the extracted tertiary air dedicated to cooling operations.
2Temperature
If air is used for cooling oil in supersonic conditions, then cooling is provided, but the air temperature increases along the engine making it less efficient for cooling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary cooling action by extracting air from the intake before the compressor heats it. This tertiary air is extracted at a point where it is still relatively cool, allowing cooling to occur before the air temperature rises to inefficient levels.
Solution Approach 2:
The extracted tertiary air acts as an intermediary cooling medium. Instead of using the hot bypass air or fuel directly for cooling, the system uses the cooler extracted air as an intermediate that transfers heat from the oil and other fluids, improving overall cooling efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design enhances cooling efficiency by utilizing the coolest air available, improving heat management and reducing the temperature of fluids within the engine, thereby addressing the inefficiencies of traditional cooling methods in supersonic conditions.
Implementation Method 1
at least one heat exchanger is mounted in the tertiary airflow duct. The at least one heat exchanger is configured such that a fluid of the heat exchanger to be cooled is cooled by the tertiary airflow
Data Source
AI summary
A supersonic gas turbine engine for an aircraft that comprises a nacelle, a fan, an engine core including a primary duct configured to guide a core airflow through the engine core, a bypass duct extending between the engine core and an engine casing and configured to guide a bypass airflow through the bypass duct, an intake located upstream of the fan, and a tertiary airflow duct extending between the engine casing and the nacelle and configured to guide a tertiary airflow. The intake is configured to extract air from the intake and guide it to the tertiary airflow duct in which the extracted air flows as tertiary airflow. It is provided that at least one heat exchanger is mounted in the tertiary airflow duct.