91-583: The Rolls-Royce AE 2100 is a turboprop developed by Allison Engine Company , now part of Rolls-Royce North America . The engine was originally known as the GMA 2100, when Allison was a division of former corporate parent General Motors . On July 11, 1989, Saab-Scania A.B. selected the GMA 2100 to power its new Saab 2000 , a 50-seat stretch of the Saab 340 turboprop, in a US$ 500 million deal. In July 1990, Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) of Indonesia picked
182-400: A Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 , and an under-speed governor on a Honeywell TPE331 . The turboprop is also distinguished from other kinds of turbine engine in that the fuel control unit is connected to the governor to help dictate power. To make the engine more compact, reverse airflow can be used. On a reverse-flow turboprop engine, the compressor intake is at the aft of the engine, and
273-415: A turbojet or turbofan , the engine's exhaust gases do not provide enough power to create significant thrust, since almost all of the engine's power is used to drive the propeller. Exhaust thrust in a turboprop is sacrificed in favor of shaft power, which is obtained by extracting additional power (beyond that necessary to drive the compressor) from turbine expansion. Owing to the additional expansion in
364-415: A turbojet , driving the fan of a turbofan , rotor or accessory of a turboshaft , and gear reduction and propeller of a turboprop . If the engine has a power turbine added to drive an industrial generator or a helicopter rotor, the exit pressure will be as close to the entry pressure as possible with only enough energy left to overcome the pressure losses in the exhaust ducting and expel the exhaust. For
455-409: A turboprop engine there will be a particular balance between propeller power and jet thrust which gives the most economical operation. In a turbojet engine only enough pressure and energy is extracted from the flow to drive the compressor and other components. The remaining high-pressure gases are accelerated through a nozzle to provide a jet to propel an aircraft. The smaller the engine, the higher
546-420: A turbopump to permit the use of lightweight, low-pressure tanks, reducing the empty weight of the rocket. A turboprop engine is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear to translate high turbine section operating speed (often in the 10s of thousands) into low thousands necessary for efficient propeller operation. The benefit of using the turboprop engine is to take advantage of
637-452: A turboshaft design. They supply: Industrial gas turbines differ from aeronautical designs in that the frames, bearings, and blading are of heavier construction. They are also much more closely integrated with the devices they power—often an electric generator —and the secondary-energy equipment that is used to recover residual energy (largely heat). They range in size from portable mobile plants to large, complex systems weighing more than
728-520: A bombing raid. In 1941, the engine was abandoned due to war, and the factory converted to conventional engine production. The first mention of turboprop engines in the general public press was in the February 1944 issue of the British aviation publication Flight , which included a detailed cutaway drawing of what a possible future turboprop engine could look like. The drawing was very close to what
819-413: A buildup on the outside of the blades. Nickel-based superalloys boast improved strength and creep resistance due to their composition and resultant microstructure . The gamma (γ) FCC nickel is alloyed with aluminum and titanium in order to precipitate a uniform dispersion of the coherent Ni 3 (Al,Ti) gamma-prime (γ') phases. The finely dispersed γ' precipitates impede dislocation motion and introduce
910-517: A few dozen hours per year—depending on the electricity demand and the generating capacity of the region. In areas with a shortage of base-load and load following power plant capacity or with low fuel costs, a gas turbine powerplant may regularly operate most hours of the day. A large single-cycle gas turbine typically produces 100 to 400 megawatts of electric power and has 35–40% thermodynamic efficiency . Industrial gas turbines that are used solely for mechanical drive or used in collaboration with
1001-579: A gas turbine engine is its power to weight ratio. Since significant useful work can be generated by a relatively lightweight engine, gas turbines are perfectly suited for aircraft propulsion. Thrust bearings and journal bearings are a critical part of a design. They are hydrodynamic oil bearings or oil-cooled rolling-element bearings . Foil bearings are used in some small machines such as micro turbines and also have strong potential for use in small gas turbines/ auxiliary power units A major challenge facing turbine design, especially turbine blades ,
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#17327838290221092-442: A governor, and overspeed governor, and a fuel-topping governor. The governor works in much the same way a reciprocating engine propeller governor works, though a turboprop governor may incorporate beta control valve or beta lift rod for beta operation and is typically located in the 12 o'clock position. There are also other governors that are included in addition depending on the model, such as an overspeed and fuel topping governor on
1183-490: A hundred tonnes housed in purpose-built buildings. When the gas turbine is used solely for shaft power, its thermal efficiency is about 30%. However, it may be cheaper to buy electricity than to generate it. Therefore, many engines are used in CHP (Combined Heat and Power) configurations that can be small enough to be integrated into portable container configurations. Gas turbines can be particularly efficient when waste heat from
1274-418: A lesser extent, on cars, buses, and motorcycles. A key advantage of jets and turboprops for airplane propulsion – their superior performance at high altitude compared to piston engines, particularly naturally aspirated ones – is irrelevant in most automobile applications. Their power-to-weight advantage, though less critical than for aircraft, is still important. Gas turbines offer a high-powered engine in
1365-428: A mean time before unscheduled removal (MTBUR) of over 35,000 hours. Data from FAA type certificate data sheet no. TE1CH. Related development Comparable engines Related lists Turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller . A turboprop consists of an intake , reduction gearbox , compressor , combustor , turbine , and a propelling nozzle . Air enters
1456-410: A mode typically consisting of zero to negative thrust, is used for all ground operations aside from takeoff. The Beta mode is further broken down into 2 additional modes, Beta for taxi and Beta plus power. Beta for taxi as the name implies is used for taxi operations and consists of all pitch ranges from the lowest alpha range pitch, all the way down to zero pitch, producing very little to zero-thrust and
1547-532: A recovery steam generator differ from power generating sets in that they are often smaller and feature a dual shaft design as opposed to a single shaft. The power range varies from 1 megawatt up to 50 megawatts. These engines are connected directly or via a gearbox to either a pump or compressor assembly. The majority of installations are used within the oil and gas industries. Mechanical drive applications increase efficiency by around 2%. Oil and gas platforms require these engines to drive compressors to inject gas into
1638-461: A second, independent turbine (known as a power turbine ) that can be connected to a fan, propeller, or electrical generator. The purpose of the gas turbine determines the design so that the most desirable split of energy between the thrust and the shaft work is achieved. The fourth step of the Brayton cycle (cooling of the working fluid) is omitted, as gas turbines are open systems that do not reuse
1729-533: A single lever. There are four production variants of the engine: the civil AE 2100A, and the military variants which include the AE 2100D2/D2A, AE 2100D3, AE 2100J and AE 2100P. The AE 2100 inherited the Allison T56 's 14-stage axial compressor design, but the inlet and the stator for the first five stages have variable blades. The annular combustor has 16 air-blast fuel injection nozzles. The turbine that drives
1820-581: A small amount of air by a large degree, a low disc loading (thrust per unit disc area) increases the aircraft's energy efficiency , and this reduces the fuel use. Propellers work well until the flight speed of the aircraft is high enough that the airflow past the blade tips reaches the speed of sound. Beyond that speed, the proportion of the power that drives the propeller that is converted to propeller thrust falls dramatically. For this reason turboprop engines are not commonly used on aircraft that fly faster than 0.6–0.7 Mach , with some exceptions such as
1911-591: A test-bed not intended for production. It first flew on 20 September 1945. From their experience with the Trent, Rolls-Royce developed the Rolls-Royce Clyde , the first turboprop engine to receive a type certificate for military and civil use, and the Dart , which became one of the most reliable turboprop engines ever built. Dart production continued for more than fifty years. The Dart-powered Vickers Viscount
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#17327838290222002-569: A threshold stress, increasing the stress required for the onset of creep. Furthermore, γ' is an ordered L1 2 phase that makes it harder for dislocations to shear past it. Further Refractory elements such as rhenium and ruthenium can be added in solid solution to improve creep strength. The addition of these elements reduces the diffusion of the gamma prime phase, thus preserving the fatigue resistance, strength, and creep resistance. The development of single crystal superalloys has led to significant improvements in creep resistance as well. Due to
2093-550: A very small and light package. However, they are not as responsive and efficient as small piston engines over the wide range of RPMs and powers needed in vehicle applications. In series hybrid vehicles, as the driving electric motors are mechanically detached from the electricity generating engine, the responsiveness, poor performance at low speed and low efficiency at low output problems are much less important. The turbine can be run at optimum speed for its power output, and batteries and ultracapacitors can supply power as needed, with
2184-425: Is also required to drive a helicopter rotor or land-vehicle transmission ( turboshaft ), marine propeller or electrical generator (power turbine). Greater thrust-to-weight ratio for flight is achieved with the addition of an afterburner . The basic operation of the gas turbine is a Brayton cycle with air as the working fluid : atmospheric air flows through the compressor that brings it to higher pressure; energy
2275-413: Is an air inlet but with different configurations to suit the requirements of marine use, land use or flight at speeds varying from stationary to supersonic. A propelling nozzle is added to produce thrust for flight. An extra turbine is added to drive a propeller ( turboprop ) or ducted fan ( turbofan ) to reduce fuel consumption (by increasing propulsive efficiency) at subsonic flight speeds. An extra turbine
2366-463: Is distinguished from the Otto cycle , in that all the processes (compression, ignition combustion, exhaust), occur at the same time, continuously. In a real gas turbine, mechanical energy is changed irreversibly (due to internal friction and turbulence) into pressure and thermal energy when the gas is compressed (in either a centrifugal or axial compressor ). Heat is added in the combustion chamber and
2457-677: Is reducing the creep that is induced by the high temperatures and stresses that are experienced during operation. Higher operating temperatures are continuously sought in order to increase efficiency, but come at the cost of higher creep rates. Several methods have therefore been employed in an attempt to achieve optimal performance while limiting creep, with the most successful ones being high performance coatings and single crystal superalloys . These technologies work by limiting deformation that occurs by mechanisms that can be broadly classified as dislocation glide, dislocation climb and diffusional flow. Protective coatings provide thermal insulation of
2548-407: Is that it can also be used to generate reverse thrust to reduce stopping distance on the runway. Additionally, in the event of an engine failure, the propeller can be feathered , thus minimizing the drag of the non-functioning propeller. While the power turbine may be integral with the gas generator section, many turboprops today feature a free power turbine on a separate coaxial shaft. This enables
2639-412: Is then added by spraying fuel into the air and igniting it so that the combustion generates a high-temperature flow; this high-temperature pressurized gas enters a turbine, producing a shaft work output in the process, used to drive the compressor; the unused energy comes out in the exhaust gases that can be repurposed for external work, such as directly producing thrust in a turbojet engine , or rotating
2730-419: Is then ducted into the combustor section which can be of a annular , can , or can-annular design. In the combustor section, roughly 70% of the air from the compressor is ducted around the combustor itself for cooling purposes. The remaining roughly 30% the air is mixed with fuel and ignited by the already burning air-fuel mixture , which then expands producing power across the turbine . This expansion of
2821-421: Is typically accessed by moving the power lever to a beta for taxi range. Beta plus power is a reverse range and produces negative thrust, often used for landing on short runways where the aircraft would need to rapidly slow down, as well as backing operations and is accessed by moving the power lever below the beta for taxi range. Due to the pilot not being able to see out of the rear of the aircraft for backing and
Rolls-Royce AE 2100 - Misplaced Pages Continue
2912-475: Is used, it is possible to use exhaust air from the turbine as the primary combustion air. This effectively reduces global heat losses, although heat losses associated with the combustion exhaust remain inevitable. Closed-cycle gas turbines based on helium or supercritical carbon dioxide also hold promise for use with future high temperature solar and nuclear power generation. Gas turbines are often used on ships , locomotives , helicopters , tanks , and to
3003-968: The Airbus A400M transport, Lockheed AC-130 and the 60-year-old Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bomber. While military turboprop engines can vary, in the civilian market there are two primary engines to be found: the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 , a free-turbine turboshaft engine, and the Honeywell TPE331 , a fixed turbine engine (formerly designated as the Garrett AiResearch 331). Aeroderivative gas turbines are generally based on existing aircraft gas turbine engines and are smaller and lighter than industrial gas turbines. Aeroderivatives are used in electrical power generation due to their ability to be shut down and handle load changes more quickly than industrial machines. They are also used in
3094-528: The BMW 801 . This, however, also translated into poor efficiency and reliability. More advanced gas turbines (such as those found in modern jet engines or combined cycle power plants) may have 2 or 3 shafts (spools), hundreds of compressor and turbine blades, movable stator blades, and extensive external tubing for fuel, oil and air systems; they use temperature resistant alloys, and are made with tight specifications requiring precision manufacture. All this often makes
3185-634: The P-3 Orion , and the C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft. The first turbine-powered, shaft-driven helicopter was the Kaman K-225 , a development of Charles Kaman 's K-125 synchropter , which used a Boeing T50 turboshaft engine to power it on 11 December 1951. December 1963 saw the first delivery of Pratt & Whitney Canada's PT6 turboprop engine for the then Beechcraft 87, soon to become Beechcraft King Air . 1964 saw
3276-841: The Piper Meridian , Socata TBM , Pilatus PC-12 , Piaggio P.180 Avanti , Beechcraft King Air and Super King Air . In April 2017, there were 14,311 business turboprops in the worldwide fleet. Between 2012 and 2016, the ATSB observed 417 events with turboprop aircraft, 83 per year, over 1.4 million flight hours: 2.2 per 10,000 hours. Three were "high risk" involving engine malfunction and unplanned landing in single‑engine Cessna 208 Caravans , four "medium risk" and 96% "low risk". Two occurrences resulted in minor injuries due to engine malfunction and terrain collision in agricultural aircraft and five accidents involved aerial work: four in agriculture and one in an air ambulance . Jane's All
3367-756: The Saab 2000 , Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules , and IPTN N-250 , respectively. The engine uses six-bladed, all-composite blade Dowty propellers, including the model R381 on the Saab 2000, R414 on the ShinMaywa US-2 , R384 on the IPTN N-250, and R391 on the C-130J military transport and the LM-100J civil-certified version of the C-130J. The gearbox has a reduction ratio of about 14 and
3458-614: The Tupolev Tu-114 can reach 470 kn (870 km/h; 540 mph). Large military aircraft , like the Tupolev Tu-95 , and civil aircraft , such as the Lockheed L-188 Electra , were also turboprop powered. The Airbus A400M is powered by four Europrop TP400 engines, which are the second most powerful turboprop engines ever produced, after the 11 MW (15,000 hp) Kuznetsov NK-12 . In 2017,
3549-403: The Tupolev Tu-95 . However, propfan engines, which are very similar to turboprop engines, can cruise at flight speeds approaching 0.75 Mach. To maintain propeller efficiency across a wide range of airspeeds, turboprops use constant-speed (variable-pitch) propellers. The blades of a constant-speed propeller increase their pitch as aircraft speed increases. Another benefit of this type of propeller
3640-413: The specific volume of the gas increases, accompanied by a slight loss in pressure. During expansion through the stator and rotor passages in the turbine, irreversible energy transformation once again occurs. Fresh air is taken in, in place of the heat rejection. Air is taken in by a compressor, called a gas generator , with either an axial or centrifugal design, or a combination of the two. This air
3731-640: The AE 2100 as the baseline engine by 2017. A derivative of the Allison AE 1107C-Liberty ( Rolls-Royce T406 ) turboshaft engine , the AE 2100 shares the same high-pressure core as that engine, as does the Rolls-Royce AE 3007 turbofan . This core is capable of powering turboprops of up to 10,000 shp (7,500 kW). The AE 2100 is a two-shaft design, and it was the first to use dual FADECs (full authority digital engine control) to control both engine and propeller , allowing both to be adjusted with
Rolls-Royce AE 2100 - Misplaced Pages Continue
3822-535: The GMA 2100 as the engine for the twin-engine N-250 regional airliner. Flight testing with a 13 ft 6 in diameter (4.11 m) Dowty R373 propeller on a Lockheed P-3 Orion testbed aircraft began on August 23, 1990, and finished after over 50 hours of flight and ground testing. The GMA 2100D3 became the powerplant for the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules . It made its first test flight on March 19, 1994, which
3913-533: The Soviet Union had the technology to create the airframe for a jet-powered strategic bomber comparable to Boeing's B-52 Stratofortress , they instead produced the Tupolev Tu-95 Bear, powered with four Kuznetsov NK-12 turboprops, mated to eight contra-rotating propellers (two per nacelle) with supersonic tip speeds to achieve maximum cruise speeds in excess of 575 mph, faster than many of
4004-464: The World's Aircraft . 2005–2006. Gas turbine A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine . The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the direction of flow: Additional components have to be added to the gas generator to suit its application. Common to all
4095-456: The active species (typically vacancies) within the alloy and reducing dislocation and vacancy creep. It has been found that a coating of 1–200 μm can decrease blade temperatures by up to 200 °C (392 °F). Bond coats are directly applied onto the surface of the substrate using pack carburization and serve the dual purpose of providing improved adherence for the TBC and oxidation resistance for
4186-510: The addition of a ducted fan are called turbofans or (rarely) fan-jets. These engines produce nearly 80% of their thrust by the ducted fan, which can be seen from the front of the engine. They come in two types, low-bypass turbofan and high bypass , the difference being the amount of air moved by the fan, called "bypass air". These engines offer the benefit of more thrust without extra fuel consumption. Gas turbines are also used in many liquid-fuel rockets , where gas turbines are used to power
4277-414: The amount of debris reverse stirs up, manufacturers will often limit the speeds beta plus power may be used and restrict its use on unimproved runways. Feathering of these propellers is performed by the propeller control lever. The constant-speed propeller is distinguished from the reciprocating engine constant-speed propeller by the control system. The turboprop system consists of 3 propeller governors ,
4368-401: The blade and offer oxidation and corrosion resistance. Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are often stabilized zirconium dioxide -based ceramics and oxidation/corrosion resistant coatings (bond coats) typically consist of aluminides or MCrAlY (where M is typically Fe and/or Cr) alloys. Using TBCs limits the temperature exposure of the superalloy substrate, thereby decreasing the diffusivity of
4459-420: The closely related form of the turbocharger . The turbocharger is basically a compact and simple free shaft radial gas turbine which is driven by the piston engine's exhaust gas . The centripetal turbine wheel drives a centrifugal compressor wheel through a common rotating shaft. This wheel supercharges the engine air intake to a degree that can be controlled by means of a wastegate or by dynamically modifying
4550-473: The compressor and the turbine with a compressed air store. In a conventional turbine, up to half the generated power is used driving the compressor. In a compressed air energy storage configuration, power is used to drive the compressor, and the compressed air is released to operate the turbine when required. Turboshaft engines are used to drive compressors in gas pumping stations and natural gas liquefaction plants. They are also used in aviation to power all but
4641-472: The compressor has two stages, with the first stage using single-crystal blades. A free power turbine with two stages drives the propeller through an inner shaft and a gearbox. The engine has replaceable steel blades and vanes, which are more reliable but heavier than titanium . The AE 2100 engine and gearbox are rated at 6,000 shaft horsepower (4,500 kilowatts), but was derated to 4,200, 4,590, and 3,600 shp (3,130, 3,420, and 2,680 kW) for
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#17327838290224732-513: The compressor/shaft/turbine rotor assembly, with other moving parts in the fuel system. This, in turn, can translate into price. For instance, costing 10,000 ℛℳ for materials, the Jumo 004 proved cheaper than the Junkers 213 piston engine, which was 35,000 ℛℳ , and needed only 375 hours of lower-skill labor to complete (including manufacture, assembly, and shipping), compared to 1,400 for
4823-444: The construction of a simple gas turbine more complicated than a piston engine. Moreover, to reach optimum performance in modern gas turbine power plants the gas needs to be prepared to exact fuel specifications. Fuel gas conditioning systems treat the natural gas to reach the exact fuel specification prior to entering the turbine in terms of pressure, temperature, gas composition, and the related Wobbe index . The primary advantage of
4914-425: The early 2020s. In March 2018, GE Power achieved a 63.08% gross efficiency for its 7HA turbine. Aeroderivative gas turbines can also be used in combined cycles, leading to a higher efficiency, but it will not be as high as a specifically designed industrial gas turbine. They can also be run in a cogeneration configuration: the exhaust is used for space or water heating, or drives an absorption chiller for cooling
5005-435: The engine cycled on and off to run it only at high efficiency. The emergence of the continuously variable transmission may also alleviate the responsiveness problem. Turbines have historically been more expensive to produce than piston engines, though this is partly because piston engines have been mass-produced in huge quantities for decades, while small gas turbine engines are rarities; however, turbines are mass-produced in
5096-533: The entire engine from raw materials, including the fabrication of a centrifugal compressor wheel from plywood, epoxy and wrapped carbon fibre strands. Several small companies now manufacture small turbines and parts for the amateur. Most turbojet-powered model aircraft are now using these commercial and semi-commercial microturbines, rather than a Schreckling-like home-build. Small gas turbines are used as auxiliary power units (APUs) to supply auxiliary power to larger, mobile, machines such as an aircraft , and are
5187-407: The exhaust gases, or from ducted fans connected to the gas turbines. Jet engines that produce thrust from the direct impulse of exhaust gases are often called turbojets . While still in service with many militaries and civilian operators, turbojets have mostly been phased out in favor of the turbofan engine due to the turbojet's low fuel efficiency, and high noise. Those that generate thrust with
5278-407: The exhaust is situated forward, reducing the distance between the turbine and the propeller. Unlike the small-diameter fans used in turbofan engines, the propeller has a large diameter that lets it accelerate a large volume of air. This permits a lower airstream velocity for a given amount of thrust. Since it is more efficient at low speeds to accelerate a large amount of air by a small degree than
5369-499: The first jet aircraft and comparable to jet cruising speeds for most missions. The Bear would serve as their most successful long-range combat and surveillance aircraft and symbol of Soviet power projection through to the end of the 20th century. The USA used turboprop engines with contra-rotating propellers, such as the Allison T40 , on some experimental aircraft during the 1950s. The T40-powered Convair R3Y Tradewind flying-boat
5460-564: The first deliveries of the Garrett AiResearch TPE331 , (now owned by Honeywell Aerospace ) on the Mitsubishi MU-2 , making it the fastest turboprop aircraft for that year. In contrast to turbofans , turboprops are most efficient at flight speeds below 725 km/h (450 mph; 390 knots) because the jet velocity of the propeller (and exhaust) is relatively low. Modern turboprop airliners operate at nearly
5551-465: The future Rolls-Royce Trent would look like. The first British turboprop engine was the Rolls-Royce RB.50 Trent , a converted Derwent II fitted with reduction gear and a Rotol 7 ft 11 in (2.41 m) five-bladed propeller. Two Trents were fitted to Gloster Meteor EE227 — the sole "Trent-Meteor" — which thus became the world's first turboprop-powered aircraft to fly, albeit as
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#17327838290225642-550: The hobby of engine collecting. In its most extreme form, amateurs have even rebuilt engines beyond professional repair and then used them to compete for the land speed record. The simplest form of self-constructed gas turbine employs an automotive turbocharger as the core component. A combustion chamber is fabricated and plumbed between the compressor and turbine sections. More sophisticated turbojets are also built, where their thrust and light weight are sufficient to power large model aircraft. The Schreckling design constructs
5733-435: The inlet air and increase the power output, technology known as turbine inlet air cooling . Another significant advantage is their ability to be turned on and off within minutes, supplying power during peak, or unscheduled, demand. Since single cycle (gas turbine only) power plants are less efficient than combined cycle plants, they are usually used as peaking power plants , which operate anywhere from several hours per day to
5824-417: The intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel is then added to the compressed air in the combustor, where the fuel-air mixture then combusts . The hot combustion gases expand through the turbine stages, generating power at the point of exhaust. Some of the power generated by the turbine is used to drive the compressor and electric generator . The gases are then exhausted from the turbine. In contrast to
5915-617: The lack of grain boundaries, single crystals eliminate Coble creep and consequently deform by fewer modes – decreasing the creep rate. Although single crystals have lower creep at high temperatures, they have significantly lower yield stresses at room temperature where strength is determined by the Hall-Petch relationship. Care needs to be taken in order to optimize the design parameters to limit high temperature creep while not decreasing low temperature yield strength. Airbreathing jet engines are gas turbines optimized to produce thrust from
6006-550: The marine industry to reduce weight. Common types include the General Electric LM2500 , General Electric LM6000 , and aeroderivative versions of the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 , Pratt & Whitney FT4 and Rolls-Royce RB211 . Increasing numbers of gas turbines are being used or even constructed by amateurs. In its most straightforward form, these are commercial turbines acquired through military surplus or scrapyard sales, then operated for display as part of
6097-400: The mixture then leaves the combustor section and has its velocity increased across the turbine section to strike the turbine blades, spinning the disc they are attached to, thus creating useful power. Of the power produced, 60-70% is solely used to power the gas generator. The remaining power is used to power what the engine is being used for, typically an aviation application, being thrust in
6188-671: The most widespread turboprop airliners in service were the ATR 42 / 72 (950 aircraft), Bombardier Q400 (506), De Havilland Canada Dash 8 -100/200/300 (374), Beechcraft 1900 (328), de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter (270), Saab 340 (225). Less widespread and older airliners include the BAe Jetstream 31 , Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia , Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner , Dornier 328 , Saab 2000 , Xian MA60 , MA600 and MA700 , Fokker 27 and 50 . Turboprop business aircraft include
6279-467: The pioneer of modern Micro-Jets, Kurt Schreckling , produced one of the world's first Micro-Turbines, the FD3/67. This engine can produce up to 22 newtons of thrust, and can be built by most mechanically minded people with basic engineering tools, such as a metal lathe . Evolved from piston engine turbochargers , aircraft APUs or small jet engines , microturbines are 25 to 500 kilowatt turbines
6370-427: The power section (turbine and gearbox) to be removed and replaced in such an event, and also allows for less stress on the start during engine ground starts. Whereas a fixed shaft has the gearbox and gas generator connected, such as on the Honeywell TPE331 . The propeller itself is normally a constant-speed (variable pitch) propeller type similar to that used with larger aircraft reciprocating engines , except that
6461-534: The propeller to rotate freely, independent of compressor speed. Alan Arnold Griffith had published a paper on compressor design in 1926. Subsequent work at the Royal Aircraft Establishment investigated axial compressor-based designs that would drive a propeller. From 1929, Frank Whittle began work on centrifugal compressor-based designs that would use all the gas power produced by the engine for jet thrust. The world's first turboprop
6552-403: The propeller-control requirements are very different. Due to the turbine engine's slow response to power inputs, particularly at low speeds, the propeller has a greater range of selected travel in order to make rapid thrust changes, notably for taxi, reverse, and other ground operations. The propeller has 2 modes, Alpha and Beta. Alpha is the mode for all flight operations including takeoff. Beta,
6643-474: The purpose of using pulverized coal or finely ground biomass (such as sawdust) as a fuel. In the indirect system, a heat exchanger is used and only clean air with no combustion products travels through the power turbine. The thermal efficiency is lower in the indirect type of external combustion; however, the turbine blades are not subjected to combustion products and much lower quality (and therefore cheaper) fuels are able to be used. When external combustion
6734-670: The rotation rate of the shaft must be to attain the required blade tip speed. Blade-tip speed determines the maximum pressure ratios that can be obtained by the turbine and the compressor. This, in turn, limits the maximum power and efficiency that can be obtained by the engine. In order for tip speed to remain constant, if the diameter of a rotor is reduced by half, the rotational speed must double. For example, large jet engines operate around 10,000–25,000 rpm, while micro turbines spin as fast as 500,000 rpm. Mechanically, gas turbines can be considerably less complex than Reciprocating engines . Simple turbines might have one main moving part,
6825-483: The same air. Gas turbines are used to power aircraft, trains, ships, electrical generators, pumps, gas compressors, and tanks . In an ideal gas turbine, gases undergo four thermodynamic processes: an isentropic compression, an isobaric (constant pressure) combustion, an isentropic expansion and isobaric heat rejection. Together, these make up the Brayton cycle , also known as the "constant pressure cycle" . It
6916-592: The same speed as small regional jet airliners but burn two-thirds of the fuel per passenger. Compared to piston engines, their greater power-to-weight ratio (which allows for shorter takeoffs) and reliability can offset their higher initial cost, maintenance and fuel consumption. As jet fuel can be easier to obtain than avgas in remote areas, turboprop-powered aircraft like the Cessna Caravan and Quest Kodiak are used as bush airplanes . Turboprop engines are generally used on small subsonic aircraft, but
7007-545: The size of a refrigerator . Microturbines have around 15% efficiencies without a recuperator , 20 to 30% with one and they can reach 85% combined thermal-electrical efficiency in cogeneration . Most gas turbines are internal combustion engines but it is also possible to manufacture an external combustion gas turbine which is, effectively, a turbine version of a hot air engine . Those systems are usually indicated as EFGT (Externally Fired Gas Turbine) or IFGT (Indirectly Fired Gas Turbine). External combustion has been used for
7098-503: The smallest modern helicopters, and function as an auxiliary power unit in large commercial aircraft. A primary shaft carries the compressor and its turbine which, together with a combustor, is called a Gas Generator . A separately spinning power-turbine is usually used to drive the rotor on helicopters. Allowing the gas generator and power turbine/rotor to spin at their own speeds allows more flexibility in their design. Also known as miniature gas turbines or micro-jets. With this in mind
7189-511: The substrate. The Al from the bond coats forms Al 2 O 3 on the TBC-bond coat interface which provides the oxidation resistance, but also results in the formation of an undesirable interdiffusion (ID) zone between itself and the substrate. The oxidation resistance outweighs the drawbacks associated with the ID zone as it increases the lifetime of the blade and limits the efficiency losses caused by
7280-595: The turbine engines high power-to-weight ratio to drive a propeller, thus allowing a more powerful, but also smaller engine to be used. Turboprop engines are used on a wide range of business aircraft such as the Pilatus PC-12 , commuter aircraft such as the Beechcraft 1900 , and small cargo aircraft such as the Cessna 208 Caravan or De Havilland Canada Dash 8 , and large aircraft (typically military) such as
7371-463: The turbine housing's geometry (as in a variable geometry turbocharger ). It mainly serves as a power recovery device which converts a great deal of otherwise wasted thermal and kinetic energy into engine boost. Turbo-compound engines (actually employed on some semi-trailer trucks ) are fitted with blow down turbines which are similar in design and appearance to a turbocharger except for the turbine shaft being mechanically or hydraulically connected to
7462-480: The turbine is recovered by a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) to power a conventional steam turbine in a combined cycle configuration. The 605 MW General Electric 9HA achieved a 62.22% efficiency rate with temperatures as high as 1,540 °C (2,800 °F). For 2018, GE offers its 826 MW HA at over 64% efficiency in combined cycle due to advances in additive manufacturing and combustion breakthroughs, up from 63.7% in 2017 orders and on track to achieve 65% by
7553-406: The turbine system, the residual energy in the exhaust jet is low. Consequently, the exhaust jet produces about 10% of the total thrust. A higher proportion of the thrust comes from the propeller at low speeds and less at higher speeds. Turboprops have bypass ratios of 50–100, although the propulsion airflow is less clearly defined for propellers than for fans. The propeller is coupled to
7644-424: The turbine through a reduction gear that converts the high RPM /low torque output to low RPM/high torque. This can be of two primary designs, free-turbine and fixed. A free-turbine turboshaft found on the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 , where the gas generator is not connected to the propeller. This allows for propeller strike or similar damage to occur without damaging the gas generator and allowing for only
7735-498: The wells to force oil up via another bore, or to compress the gas for transportation. They are also often used to provide power for the platform. These platforms do not need to use the engine in collaboration with a CHP system due to getting the gas at an extremely reduced cost (often free from burn off gas). The same companies use pump sets to drive the fluids to land and across pipelines in various intervals. One modern development seeks to improve efficiency in another way, by separating
7826-607: Was certified on December 20, 1993. It powered the N-250 prototype's first flight on August 10, 1995, but the N-250 aircraft program was postponed indefinitely in the late 1990s due to the Asian financial crisis . In June 1997, the AE 2100 was selected by Lockheed Martin and Alenia to power the C-27J Spartan tactical airlifter . In October 2015, Alenia announced plans to use a 5,100-horsepower (3,800-kilowatt) uprated version of
7917-587: Was conducted by Marshall Aerospace on a Lockheed C-130K Hercules testbed leased from the Royal Air Force . Testing ended in June 1994 after 47 flight hours. The engine powered the initial flight of the C-130J aircraft on April 5, 1996. By April 1997, the D3 variant had received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) type certification. 2,000 of the D3 variants have been delivered as of 2018. The engine's C variant
8008-573: Was designed by the Hungarian mechanical engineer György Jendrassik . Jendrassik published a turboprop idea in 1928, and on 12 March 1929 he patented his invention. In 1938, he built a small-scale (100 Hp; 74.6 kW) experimental gas turbine. The larger Jendrassik Cs-1 , with a predicted output of 1,000 bhp, was produced and tested at the Ganz Works in Budapest between 1937 and 1941. It
8099-467: Was of axial-flow design with 15 compressor and 7 turbine stages, annular combustion chamber. First run in 1940, combustion problems limited its output to 400 bhp. Two Jendrassik Cs-1s were the engines for the world's first turboprop aircraft – the Varga RMI-1 X/H . This was a Hungarian fighter-bomber of WWII which had one model completed, but before its first flight it was destroyed in
8190-655: Was operated by the U.S. Navy for a short time. The first American turboprop engine was the General Electric XT31 , first used in the experimental Consolidated Vultee XP-81 . The XP-81 first flew in December 1945, the first aircraft to use a combination of turboprop and turbojet power. The technology of Allison's earlier T38 design evolved into the Allison T56 , used to power the Lockheed Electra airliner, its military maritime patrol derivative
8281-603: Was the first turboprop aircraft of any kind to go into production and sold in large numbers. It was also the first four-engined turboprop. Its first flight was on 16 July 1948. The world's first single engined turboprop aircraft was the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba -powered Boulton Paul Balliol , which first flew on 24 March 1948. The Soviet Union built on German World War II turboprop preliminary design work by Junkers Motorenwerke, while BMW, Heinkel-Hirth and Daimler-Benz also worked on projected designs. While
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