Aircraft Turbine Steam Injection for High Bypass Core Downsizing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Turbine engines face limitations in increasing bypass ratio and compression ratio due to the size of the nacelle and the difficulty in balancing air flow and compression characteristics across multiple compressor stages, leading to inefficient energy use and larger core engine sizes.
Innovation Solution
Incorporation of a steam system that recovers waste heat to generate steam, which is injected into the core engine to increase mass flow and reduce core engine size, allowing for a single-stage high-pressure turbine to drive a multi-stage high-pressure compressor with enhanced compression ratios.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If the bypass ratio is increased to improve thermal efficiency, then the core engine size must be reduced, but the nacelle size limits further increases in bypass ratio
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state of water by injecting it as liquid into the combustor where it rapidly vaporizes, fundamentally altering the mass flow characteristics and enabling higher bypass ratios without increasing nacelle size
Solution Approach 2:
Water acts as an intermediary substance that absorbs heat in the combustor, converts to steam, and increases core mass flow, thereby enabling the bypass ratio to exceed conventional limits dictated by nacelle size
2Use of energy by moving object
If the compression ratio is increased to improve thermal efficiency, then multiple compressor stages are required, but this increases device complexity and difficulty in balancing air flow
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the density parameter of the air stream by injecting liquid water that vaporizes in the combustor, effectively increasing the mass flow and enabling a single compressor stage to achieve compression ratios that would otherwise require multiple stages
3Device complexity
If a single-stage high-pressure turbine is used to reduce device complexity, then the compression ratio is limited, but higher compression ratios are needed for improved thermal efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the energy content parameter of the gas stream by injecting liquid water that absorbs combustion heat and vaporizes, extending the energy available to the single-stage turbine and enabling it to drive a multi-stage compressor at higher compression ratios
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 configuration increases the bypass ratio beyond conventional limits, enhances thermal efficiency, and reduces the core engine size while maintaining fan size, achieving higher compression ratios and improved thermal cycles.
Implementation Method 1
a steam system that extracts water from the combustion gases, vaporizes the water to generate steam
Implementation Method 2
a condenser that condenses water from the combustion gases
Data Source
AI summary
A turbine engine for an aircraft includes a fan that rotates to generate a volume of air, a core turbine engine, a nacelle, and a steam system. The core turbine engine includes a combustor that generates combustion gases, and a turbine including a shaft. The combustor and the turbine define a core air flowpath. The fan is drivingly coupled to the shaft. The nacelle circumferentially surrounds the fan and defines a bypass airflow passage between the nacelle and the core turbine engine. The volume of air flows into the bypass airflow passage as bypass air and flows into the core air flowpath as core air. The steam system extracts water from the combustion gases, vaporizes the water to generate steam, and injects the steam into the core air flowpath to add mass flow to the core air. A bypass ratio of the turbine engine is greater than 18:1.