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Wave Engine Topping Cycle AssessmentThe performance benefits derived by topping a gas turbine engine with a wave engine are assessed. The wave engine is a wave rotor that produces shaft power by exploiting gas dynamic energy exchange and flow turning. The wave engine is added to the baseline turboshaft engine while keeping high-pressure-turbine inlet conditions, compressor pressure ratio, engine mass flow rate, and cooling flow fractions fixed. Related work has focused on topping with pressure-exchangers (i.e., wave rotors that provide pressure gain with zero net shaft power output); however, more energy can be added to a wave-engine-topped cycle leading to greater engine specific-power-enhancement The energy addition occurs at a lower pressure in the wave-engine-topped cycle; thus the specific-fuel-consumption-enhancement effected by ideal wave engine topping is slightly lower than that effected by ideal pressure-exchanger topping. At a component level, however, flow turning affords the wave engine a degree-of-freedom relative to the pressure-exchanger that enables a more efficient match with the baseline engine. In some cases, therefore, the SFC-enhancement by wave engine topping is greater than that by pressure-exchanger topping. An ideal wave-rotor-characteristic is used to identify key wave engine design parameters and to contrast the wave engine and pressure-exchanger topping approaches. An aerodynamic design procedure is described in which wave engine design-point performance levels are computed using a one-dimensional wave rotor model. Wave engines using various wave cycles are considered including two-port cycles with on-rotor combustion (valved-combustors) and reverse-flow and through-flow four-port cycles with heat addition in conventional burners. A through-flow wave cycle design with symmetric blading is used to assess engine performance benefits. The wave-engine-topped turboshaft engine produces 16% more power than does a pressure-exchanger-topped engine under the specified topping constraints. Positive and negative aspects of wave engine topping in gas turbine engines are identified.
Document ID
19970010414
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Welch, Gerard E. (Army Research Lab. Cleveland, OH United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
December 1, 1996
Subject Category
Aircraft Propulsion And Power
Report/Patent Number
NAS 1.15:107371
E-10539
ARL-TR-1284
AIAA Paper 97-0707
NASA-TM-107371
Meeting Information
Meeting: Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit
Location: Reno, NV
Country: United States
Start Date: January 6, 1997
End Date: January 10, 1997
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Accession Number
97N15635
Funding Number(s)
PROJECT: RTOP 505-62-10
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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