Introduction to Thermodynamics, Lecture 27-28

Prof. G. Ciccarelli (2012)

Gas Turbine Power Plants

Gas Turbine Power Plants are lighter and more compact
than vapor power plants. The favorable power-output-toweight ratio for gas turbines make them suitable for
transportation.

Air-standard Brayton Cycle

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Q CV WCV
0

(hin hout )
m
m

For steady-state:

12
23
34
41

Win
Adiabatic compression
(h2 h1 )
m
Q in
Heat addition
(h3 h2 )
m
W out
Adiabatic expansion
(h3 h4 )
m
Q out
Heat removal
(h4 h1 )
m

Cycle Thermal Efficiency:

Brayton
cycle

Q out m
h h
1
1 4 1
Q in m
h3 h2

Back work ratio:

Win m
h h
bwr
2 1
W out m h3 h4

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Ideal Air-standard Brayton Cycle (processes are

reversible)
12
23
34
41

Isentropic compression
Constant pressure heat addition
Isentropic expansion
Constant pressure heat removal

Qi
n

Qout

For the isentropic process 1 2

P
Pr 2 Pr 1 2
P1

For the isentropic process 3 4

P4
Pr 4 Pr 3
P3

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Ideal Cold Air-standard Brayton Cycle

For isentropic processes 1 2 and 3 4
k 1
k

T2 P2

T1 P1

Since

and
k
k 1

T
P2 P3
thus 2

P1 P4
T1

k 1
k

T4 P4

T3 P3
k
k 1

T
3
T4

T2 T3

T1 T4

Thermal Efficiency

Brayton 1
constk

h4 h1
c T T
T T / T 1
1 P 4 1 1 1 4 1
h3 h2
c P T3 T2
T2 T3 / T2 1

T2 T3
T4 T3
recall

T1 T4
T1 T2

Brayton 1
constk

T1
1
T2

k 1
P2 P1 k

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Efficiency increases with increased pressure ratio across

the compressor

Back work ratio

Win m W comp m c P (T2 T1 ) T2 T1
bwr

Wout m Wturb m c P T3 T4 T3 T4

Typical BWR for the Brayton cycle is 40 - 80% compared

to < 5% for the Rankine cycle.
Recall, reversible compressor work is given by 12 vdP
Since gas has a much larger specific volume than liquid
much more power is required to compress the gas from P1
to P2 in the Brayton cycle compared to the Rankine cycle
for which liquid is compressed.
The turbine inlet temperature is limited by metallurgical
factors, e.g., Tmax = 1700K
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Gas Turbine Irreversibilities

In the ideal Brayton cycle all 4 processes are assumed
reversible, thus processes 2-3 and 4-1 are constant
pressure and processes1-2 and 3-4 are isentropic.
The constant pressure assumption does not normally incur
any great errors but the compressor and turbine processes
are far from isentropic

Ideal (reversible) processes:

1 - 2s and 3 - 4s
Actual (irreversible)
processes:
1 - 2 and 3 - 4

These irreversiblities are taken into account by:

turb

Wt
m
h3 h4

h3 h4 s
Wt
m

comp

W c
m

s h2 s h1

h2 h1
Wc
m

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Efficiency versus Power

Consider two Brayton cycles A and B with a similar
turbine inlet temperatures T3

P
P
Since 2 2 A B
P1 A P1 B
Since (enclosed area 1-2-3-4)B > (enclosed area 1-2-3-4)A
W cycle
W cycle
W cycle , A
m

m
m
m B W cycle , B

In order for cycle A to produce the same amount of net

power as cycle B, i.e., Wcycle, A Wcycle, B , need m A m B .
Higher mass flow rate requires larger (heavier) equipment
which is a concern in transportation applications
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Increasing Cycle Power

The net cycle power is: W cycle Wt W c
The cycle power can be increased by either increasing the
turbine output power or decreasing the compressor input
power.
Gas Turbine with Reheat
The turbine work can be increased by using reheat, as was
shown in the Rankine cycle

Compressor

The turbine is split into two stages and a second

combustor is added where additional heat can be added

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Recall:

T2 T3
so, isobars on T-s diagram diverge

T1 T4'

Q in, 2

Q in,1

Note:
hb - h4 > ha - h4

4
4

The total turbine work output without reheat is:

Wbasic h3 ha ha h4' m

The total turbine work output with reheat is:

Wturbine Wt ,1 Wt , 2 h3 ha hb h4 m
w / reheat

Wturbine

Since hb - h4 > ha - h4

Wbasic

w / reheat

Since the compressor work h2 - h1 is unaffected by reheat

W cycle
w / reheat

W cycle
basic

The reheat cycle efficiency is not necessarily higher since

additional heat Q in, 2 is added between states a and b
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Compression with Intercooling

The compressor power can be reduced by compressing in
stages with cooling between stages.

T2 T3
so, isobars on T-s diagram diverge

T1 T4'

Recall:

2
d

h2 hc > h2
hd

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The compressor power input without intercooling is:

Wbasic h2' hc hc h1 m

The total compressor power input with intercooling is:

W comp

W c,1 W c, 2 hc h1 h2 hd m

w / reheat

Since h2 hc > h2 hd W comp

Wbasic

w / reheat

Since the turbine work h3 h4 is unaffected by

intercooling
W cycle
w / reheat

W cycle
basic

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Different approach: The reversible work per unit mass for

a steady flow device is vdP , so
2

2
c
2'
W c
vdP vdP vdP

Without intercooling : m basic 1
1
c
area b-1-c-2' -a

2
c
2
W c
vdP vdP vdP

With intercooling : m w/ int 1
1
d
area b-1-c-d-2-a

Since area(b-1-c-2-a) > area(b-1-c-d-2-a)

W c
W c


m basic m w / int
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Aircraft Gas Turbines

Gas turbine engines are widely used to power aircraft
because of their high power-to-weight ratio
Turbojet engines used on most large commercial and
military aircraft

Ideal air-standard jet propulsion cycle:

Diffuser

Nozzl
e

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Normally compression through the diffuser (a-1), and

expansion through the nozzle (4-5) are taken as isentropic
Q in

Q out

In the ideal jet propulsion engine the gas is not expanded

to ambient pressure Pa.
Instead the gas expands to an intermediate pressure P4
such that the power produced is just sufficient to drive the
compressor, no net cycle power produced (W cycle 0 ),
thus
W c Wt

m
m

h2 h1 h3 h4
After the turbine the gas expands to ambient pressure P5
which is the same as Pa.
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Apply the steady-state conservation of energy equation to

the Diffuser and Nozzle
2
Q CV WCV
Vin2
Vout
hout

hin

m
m
2
2

Diffuser slows the flow to a zero velocity relative to the

engine:
Va2
V12
h1
ha
2
2
Va2
Diffuser (a 1)
h1 ha
2
Va2
T1 Ta
for constant k
2c P
Nozzle accelerates the gas leaving the turbine (turbine
exit velocity negligible compared to nozzle exit velocity):

Nozzle (4 5)

V52
V42
h4
h5
2
2
V5 2h4 h5
V5 2c P T4 T5 for constant k

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The gas velocity leaving the nozzle is much higher than

the velocity of the gas entering the diffuser, this change in
momentum produces a propulsive force, or thrust Ft

Ft m V5 Va
Where V is flow velocity relative to engine
For aircraft under cruise conditions the thrust just
overcomes the drag force on the aircraft fly at high
altitude where the air is thinner and thus less drag
To accelerate the aircraft increase thrust by increasing V5
In military aircraft afterburners are used to get very
large thrust for short take-offs on aircraft carriers

An afterburner is simply a reheat device!

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Other Propulsion Systems

Turbofan

Turboprop

Subsonic ramjet

In turbofan bypass flow produces additional thrust for

take-off. During cruise thrust comes from turbojet
In a ramjet engine there is no compressor or turbine,
compression is achieved gasdynamically.
Ramjet engines produce no thrust when stationary thus
must be coupled with a turbojet engine to get off the
ground
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Supersonic Ramjet Engine

The flow is decelerated to subsonic velocity before the
burner via a series of shock waves.
Combustion occurs at constant pressure

Supersonic
exhaust
flow

Supersoni
c free
stream
flow
choke
d
flow

Turbojet-ramjet combination:

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Supersonic Combustion Ramjet (SCRAMJET) Engine

At very high Mach numbers the air temperature gets
extremely hot after deceleration through the diffuser
Va2
T1 Ta
2c P

For Mach 6 flight speed, the air temperature just before

the burner reaches about 1550K. At this temperature the
air dissociates resulting in a drop in enthalpy
At flight speeds greater than Mach 6 (hypersonic) better
to burn fuel- in supersonic air stream

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US National Aero Space Plane (X-30)

Was to use 5 scramjet engines to achieve a Mach 12 flight

speed
To be used for travel to space and also as an airliner, a
flight between any two points on earth would take less
than 2 hours
Canceled in 1993!
Several countries have similar planes on the drawing
board, Canada is not one of them!

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