Turbine Engine 101

Topics History of turbine engine design. Types of turbine engines. Common turbine engine models found on today's private and corporate aircraft. Turbine engine malfunction recognition.

History Of The Turbine Engine Long before humans appeared on the earth, nature had given some creatures of the sea the ability to jet propel themselves through the water. Examples: Squid Cuttlefish

History Of The Turbine Engine There have been many examples of the utilization of the reaction principle during the early periods of recorded history, but because a suitable level of technical achievement in the areas of engineering, manufacture and metallurgy had not been reached, there was a gap of 2000 years before practical application of the principal.

Examples Of Early Turbine Engine Development Hero Egyptian Scientist 100 B.C. “Aeolipile” Mongols 1232 A.D. “Rockets” Leonardo Da Vinci 1500 A.D. “Chimney Jack” Giovanni Branca 1629 A.D. “Stamping Mill”

Examples Of Early Turbine Engine Development Sir Isaac Newton 1687 A.D. “Steam Wagon” John Barber 1791 A.D. “Patent Design”

Between 1791 and 1930 A.D. During this period many people supplied ideas which laid the foundation for the modern Gas Turbine Engine.

Between 1930 and 1950 A.D. In Britain In Germany In Italy Sir Frank Whittle In Germany Hans von Ohain Max Hahn In Italy Secundo Campini

Examples Of Early Turbine Engine Development In America General Electric Corporation Detroit Diesel Allision Garrett AiResearch Boeing Teledyne CAE Avco Lycoming

Examples Of Early Turbine Engine Development Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Pratt & Whitney Canada Solar Wright Of these company some no longer produce turbine engine and some have had name changes.

“ The Aeolipile”

“Newton’s Steam Wagon”

First Turbine Powered Flight The earliest date considered of modern jet propulsion is: August 27, 1939

First Turbine Powered Flight It was accomplished by Erich Wahrsitz of the Heinkel Aircraft Company, in a HE178 powered by a Heinkel HeS-3b developing 1100 lbs. of thrust and a top speed over 400 MPH.

First Turbine Powered Flight Subsequent German development produced the: ME262 with a top speed of 500 MPH.

“German ME262”

Types Of Turbine Engines The Gas Turbine Engine is classified according to the type of compressor used. Compressors fall into three categories: Centrifugal Flow Axial Flow Centrifugal-axial Flow

Centrifugal Compressor Engines The principal advantages are: Light Weight Ruggedness, resistant to FOD Simplicity Low Cost High compressor ratio (per stage)

Centrifugal Compressor Engines

Axial Flow Compressor The principal advantage are: Ability to handle large volumes of airflow at pressure ratios of 20:1 or greater.

Axial Flow Compressor

Centrifugal-axial Flow Compressor The principal advantages are: As a group these engines exhibit the greatest variability and design innovation. Various permutations and combinations of compressor design can be used, (i.e. number of spools, etc.)

Types Of Turbine Engines Power usage fall into four categories: Turbojet Engines Turbofan Engines Turboprop Engines Turboshaft Engines

Turbojet Engine In relation to power usage, the turbojet engine directly uses the reaction resulting from a stream of high energy gas from the rear of the engine at a higher velocity than it had entering the front of the engine.

Turbojet Engine The principal characteristics are: Low thrust at low forward speeds Relatively high fuel consumption at low altitudes and airspeeds. This decreases as altitude and airspeed increase. Long takeoff roll Small inlet frontal area

Turbojet Engine

Turbofan Engine The turbofan engine also uses the reaction principle, but the gases exiting from the rear of this engine have a lower energy level, since some of the power has to be extracted to drive the fan.

Turbofan Engine The principal characteristics are: Increased thrust at low forward speeds Fuel consumption between a turboprop and turbojet Increased operating economy and range over a turbojet Considerable noise level reduction of 10 to 20 % over turbojets

Turbofan Engine

Turboprop / Turboshaft Engine Turboprop and turboshaft engines both convert the majority of the kinetic (energy of motion), static (energy of pressure) and temperature energies of the gas into torque to drive the propeller in one case or the shaft in the other. Very little thrust from reaction is produced by the exiting gas stream.

Turboprop / Turboshaft Engine The principal characteristics are: High propulsive efficiency at low airspeeds Short takeoff rolls Low fuel consumption Reverse thrust available

Turboprop / Turboshaft Engine

Common Turbine Engines Today Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A Raytheon King Air Cessna Conquest Cessna Caravan Piper Meridian Piper Cheyenne

Pratt & Whitney PT6A The PT6A is a free turbine engine with a three stage axial and a single stage centrifugal compressor. It has a single stage compressor turbine and a counter rotating power turbine driving the prop shaft through a reduction gearbox.

Pratt & Whitney PT6A Left Hand View

Pratt & Whitney PT6A Right Hand View

Pratt & Whitney PT6A Compressor Turbine

Pratt & Whitney PT6A Compressor Turbine Made of nickel alloy Maximum speed rotor turns at 39,000 RPM. Each blade is pulling on the disk with approximately one ton (2,000 lbs.) of force

Pratt & Whitney PT6A Power Turbine

Pratt & Whitney PT6A Power Turbine Made of a nickel alloy Maximum speed rotors turn at is between 29,930 and 33,278 RPM depending on dash number of engine.

Common Turbine Engines Today Pratt & Whitney JT15D Cessna Citation (500,550,S550 & 560) Raytheon Beechjet 400 Mitsubishi MU 300 Diamond

Pratt & Whitney JT15D The JT15D is a lightweight turbofan engine that has one low pressure and one high pressure compressor rotor. A two stage low pressure turbine drives the low pressure axial compressor (fan). A single stage high pressure turbine drives the high pressure centrifugal compressor.

Pratt & Whitney JT15D

Pratt & Whitney JT15D Low Pressure Compressor

Pratt & Whitney JT15D High Pressure Compressor

Pratt & Whitney JT15D High Turbine There are 71 blades are made from a nickel based alloy. Disk is made from a nickel alloy steel. Maximum rotor speed is 31,777 RPM.

Turbine Engine Malfunction Recognition

Turbine Engine Malfunction Recognition

Turbine Engine Malfunction Recognition

Turbine Engine Malfunction Recognition

Turbine Engine Malfunction Recognition

Turbine Engine Malfunction Recognition

Turbine Engine Malfunction Recognition