ESS-38-91

Reverse Flow Core Intercooled Engines

Rodrigo Orta Guerra
Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL, United Kingdom,[email protected]

Abstract

Following the modern trend for cleaner aero engines with higher efficiencies and low emissions has led to the development and
overtaking the idea of introducing intercooling during the compression process. Certain industrial gas turbines have used this
tool to reduce the temperature during the compression processes; hence less work is needed to archive certain pressure rise. The
main target of introducing a heat exchanger is to increase the specific power and thermal efficiency. Main constraints related to
the development and integration of cooling technologies in aero engines will be discussed in this paper among other features.
The increase on the engine weight due to heat exchanger arrangements and complex ducting to increase the heat transfer area,
pressure losses associated with driving the air flow through complex passages of the intercooler and the integration of new
mechanical components increasing maintenance and assembly operations are the penalties associated with the development
of this idea. Nevertheless, back in the end of 1960’s a three-spool turbofan was developed with the objective to reduce the
specific fuel consumption and emissions of small engines currently in operation. The unique configuration of this engine offers a
possibility to introduce intercooling in modern large turbofan concepts by offering an attractive core configuration to overcome
difficulties.

Keywords: intercooling, compressor cooling, reverse flow core, heat exchanger, turbofan

1. Introduction hence lower flame temperatures. This reduces the NOX emis-
sions and the specific fuel consumption of the engine. On
Gas turbine manufacturers have the task to develop en- the other hand for a specified NOX level and technology, the
vironmentally friendly equipment without jeopardizing the cycle overall pressure ratio can be augmented leading to an
efficiency and performance of gas turbines. This promotes the increased in thermal efficiency, low specific fuel consumption
development of new technologies and materials to enhance and low CO2 emissions, see Figure 1.
the efficiency of the components and reduce the specific fuel
consumption hence reduce emissions. The environmental
impact of the civil aviation over the last 20 years has growth
substantially. The expected increase of 5% per year [1] in
civil aviation traffic generates concerns about the boost in the
CO2 and NOX emissions.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) an
it’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP)
are encouraging the development of new aero engines that
ensure the reduction of CO2 and NOX . For airlines compan-
ies the constant increase in the prices of aviation fuels and
penalties associated with emissions legislations reduce their
profitability. This impels the manufacturers to investigate
novel aero engine concepts to fulfill the market requirements
by reducing the environmental impact as well operating cost
for their clients. Work funded by the European Framwork
6 Collaborative Project NEW Aero Engine Core concepts
(NEWAC)and the Techno-economic, Environmental, and Risk Figure 1: Thermal Efficiency of Different Gas Turbine Cycles[3]
Assessment for 2020 (TERA2020) have been used to investig-
ate the potential benefits of introducing intercooled cores for
future turbofan engine designs[2]. The application of intercooling in the industrial field is well
Intercooling provides lower combustor inlet temperature stablish. Nevertheless the size and weight heat exchanger is

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Rodrigo Orta Guerra/Reverse Flow Core Intercooled Engines

not a limitation for industrial gas turbines. Technical con- 3. The Garret ATF3
strains must be overcome to allow intercooling to be integ-
rated in modern aero engines. A new approach in the design of small turbofan engines
Despite the challenges associated with the integration of was performed in the late 1960’s. The Garret ATF3 tur-
an intercooling system in an aero engine, around the end bofan engine brings to bear a unique three-spool design. This
of 1960’s Garret AiResearch develop the first three-spool, unique configuration provided an efficiency comparable with
reverse flow turbine, mixed flow turbofan engine, the Gar- the recent large turbofan engines at that time. The thrust
ret ATF3. This unique core configuration offers pontential capabilities of the large turbofan achieved values of 40,000 lb
benefits to overcome the main difficulties of introducing an (178 kN) and higher. Aircraft in the range of 20,00 to 50,000
intercooler in a large bypass turbofan. The introduction of gross weight used turbojet engines. Design techniques and
the first large turbofan engines provided and increase in the technologies applied in the large turbofan engines had not
performance of the propulsive systems. At that time small been applied to small engines to increase the pressure ratio
engines showed lower efficiency due to the low pressure ratio and bypass ratio.
values restricted by the turbine entry temperature. Executive The Garret ATF3 became the first three spool, reverse flow
and military small aircraft became important for the transport- turbine, mixed flow, turbofan concept to be develop in the
ation of business and military personnel. The small turbofan world[4]. The engine performance objective was to reduce
engine (Garret ATF3) provided a solution for small aircraft the specific fuel consumption at cruise operation to achieve
to achieve higher flight capabilities by reducing the specific nonstop cost-to-cost flight.
fuel consumption up to 40% at cruise thrust in comparison
for small engines currently in operation[4].

2. Intercooling
Introducing intercooling in an ideal thermodynamic cycle
shows a remarkable increase in the output power. By lower-
ing the temperature during the compression process less work
provided by the turbine will be needed to achieve the same
overall pressure ratio, hence higher output power. Neverthe-
less this reduction in the temperature during the compression
process will impact the thermal efficiency of the engine. Since
heat is being removed from the engine, it must be replaced by
adding more fuel in order to achieve the same value of turbine
entry temperature hence lowering the thermal efficiency.
An alternative to improve the thermal efficiency for our
intercooled engine, without the addition of a recuperator,
is to increase the overall pressure ratio. By increasing the
overall pressure ratio of the compressor the temperature ratio
achieved in the compressor between the inlet and the outlet
will overcome the removed heat by the intercooler. For a
fixed value of turbine entry temperature, less fuel will be
needed in order to achieve the same temperature rise in the
combustor.
There are usually three limitation that restrict the overall
pressure ratio of a simple cycles: The materials used for the
compressor and their heat resistance capabilities. The turbine
entry temperature restricts the optimum pressure ratio to be
achieve to obtain high efficiency. Cooling air supplied to the
turbine will be higher due to the increase in compressor exit
temperature[5].
The mechanical complexity of introducing an intercooler
generates several constraints for the aero engine application.
A mechanism to increase the heat transfer rates relies in con-
ducting the flow through a large area in order to experience
exchange energy with the cooling flow. Pressure losses asso-
ciated with turning the flow in complex ducting systems and Figure 2: Specific Thrust vs Thrust Specific Fuel Consumption with
the intercooler cavities become an important factor for the Variable Turbine Entry Temperature and Pressure Ratio[4]
feasibility of this concept. Another constraint is the design
arrangement of the intercooler. It must be lightweight and
compact in order to be fitted either inside the core or between Figure 2 shows the impact of the turbine entry temperature
the bypass and the core of the engine. Mechanical integration and the pressure ratio on the specific fuel consumption and
becomes an important issue in the design stage in order to specific thrust at a see level standard day conditions (Temp =
ease the installation and facilitate maintenance operations. 15◦ C/59◦ F and P=101.325 kPa/14.695 psi) for a fixed value
Efforts on introducing this technology in modern aero en- of bypass ratio equal to 3. By achieving high turbine entry
gines are being performed. Apart from the environmental temperatures higher values of specific thrust can be obtained,
benefits by lowering the CO2 and NOX emissions, the reduc- nevertheless it will drop as pressure ratio increases. Specific
tion of the specific fuel consumption becomes an attractive fuel consumption will not show a considerably change above
feature for the civil aviation market. a pressure ratio of 14. In order to provide all the character-

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istics and requirements previously mentioned, an unusual bustion process with a pressure drop of 3.4%. A maximum
approach was taken. wall temperature of 1600◦ F (871◦ C) is maintained by air
A reverse flow core configuration was selected. By this impinging on the internal cooling rings. Fuel is introduce by
unique configuration it is possible to gain the thermodynamic eight double heading injector consisting of an internal flow
advantages of a three-spool engine without the mechanical separator and two dual orifice spray atomizers positioned
disadvantages of three concentric shafts, and at the same radially around the wall. High turbulence and complete mix-
time to take full advantage of Garret’s years fabrication and ing combined with a lean fuel ratio with low flow velocity
design experience with high-speed radial compressors and provides enough time to the combustion process to occur
reverse-flow combustors. Disadvantage such as the increase resulting in a smoke and carbon free combustor. The reverse
of bearing thrust due to the reverse flow on the turbine. The flow annular combustor controls the unburned hydrocarbons ,
additional cost and weight of the complex ducting had to NOX and CO2 emissions to an acceptable levels. A combus-
be balanced with the advantages of the mixed turbofan and tor patter factor of 0.2 is obtained[4].
the quick removal of the components to ease maintenance
operations[4].

3.1. Engine Configuration

Figure 3 shows the layout of the engine and the unique

flow path inside the core. The air path first meets the single
stage forged titanium midspan shroud fan compressor with a
design pressure ratio of 1.6 and a mass flow of 162 lbs/s (73.5
kg/s)[6]. The bypass ratio operates at 3.0:1 at take-off, going
to 2.7:1 at an altitude of 40,000 ft and Mach 0.8. No inlet
guide vanes were consider for the design in order to avoid
acoustic and icing problems. The core air flow enters the low Figure 4: ATF3 Engine Cuteaway[7].
pressure compressor through variable inlet guide vanes.

The high pressure turbine drives the high pressure cent-

rifugal compressor on a single separated spool. As recalled
before this unique arrangement offers the advantages of a
three-spool engine without the disadvantages of a three con-
centric shafts, see Figure 4. The high pressure turbine is
formed of a two pass cooled pin-finned cast turbine vane
discharging the cooling air at the trailing edge and turbine
blades with a pin-finned heat transfer surface discharging the
cooling air at the tip of the blade. The limit for the ATF3 4050
lb-thrust engine is 2000◦ F (1093◦ C) requiring 1% cooling
air from the core airflow. The ATF3 5000 lb-thrust requires
Figure 3: ATF3 Gas Path.[7] 1.5% to operate at its maximum turbine entry temperature of
2150◦ F (1176◦ C). Creep growth permitted is limited to 1%.
The turbine entry temperature is calculated through measur-
The low pressure axial compressor consist of five stages ing the exit temperature of the high pressure turbine resulting
(forged titnaium blades) with a design pressure ratio of 5.8:1. in a temperature drop of 320◦ F (160◦ C). This environment
Once the flow exits the low pressure axial compressor is di- allows the use of thermocouples to provide an accurate value
vided into eight channel to pass between the exhaust exit, see for the temperature at the exit of the high pressure turbine.
Figure 5. The flow is driven to the rear back of the engine The relatively small diameter (9 in/0.23m) of the high pres-
to enter the high pressure centrifugal compressor. During the sure spool compared to the much larger diameter fan and low
transition from the exit of the low pressure axial compressor pressure pools results in a unique engine acceleration and
to the inlet of high pressure centrifugal compressor the air deceleration characteristics[7].
exchange heat with the bypass lowering the temperature at Intermediately after the high pressure turbine, the fan tur-
the inlet of the high pressure centrifugal compressor. Al- bine is allocated. The fan spool and the low pressure spool
though there is no data available of the the amount of heat integrate the twin spool arrangement in this engine configur-
removed by this transition, its unique configuration provided ation. The fan turbine is formed of three axial stages with
an acceptable area and external conditions for convection to inserted cast shrouded blades. The loading of the turbine
occur. The extended ducting between the compressors and (δH) of 76.0 btu/lb (176.77 kJ/kg) is distributed in the three
the 180◦ turn in the flow results in a 3% overall pressure drop stages. The fan speed control restricts the turbine to operate
in the engine cycle[4]. above 700 ft/sec (213 m/s) at the tip section.
The forged titanium high pressure centrifugal compressor The two stage low pressure turbine discharges the ex-
with straight radial blades provides a pressure ratio of 2.55:1. haust air at Mach 0.4. It enters the two stages 90◦ turning
The engine overall pressure ratio of 23:1 gives the engines its cascades (see Figure 4) to avoid pressure losses and mal-
excellent cruise specific fuel consumption. At the discharge distribution on the flow as it mixes with the bypass air from
of the high pressure centrifugal compressor straightening the fan, see Figure 5. The core flow is exhausted at the
vanes remove most of the swirl before entering to the reverse- middle of engine, see Figure 3.
flow annular combustor at an inlet Mach of 0.2. Engine components and accessories are mounted on the
The reverse flow annular combustor turns again the flow cast-aluminium gearbox. The structure provide mechanical
180◦ . A design efficiency of 99.5% is achieved by the com- integrity to allocate other accessories in order to reduce the

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to achieve a lightweight and compact intercooler to be match

with the high operability requirements for a very high overall
pressure ratio turbofan engine for future configurations in
order to meet the ACARE 2020 objectives[8].
The technologies introduced in the SP3 project included
a compact and effective intercooler providing low pressure
losses in the intercooler passages and the inlet and outlet
ducting system. Other studies inside this project introduced
technologies to maintain high efficiency in the compressor by
controlling the tip clearance and new blading design.
Figure 6 shows the construction concept for an inter-
cooled turbofan engine concept. A three spool turbofan with
intercooling system between the intermediate pressure com-
pressor and the high pressure compressor. Between them,
the inlet and outlet ducting system will turn the flow through
180◦ . The need to diffuse the flow before entering to the
intercooler gives rise to high aerodynamic loading in the inlet
duct. Therefore, most of the turning is achieved at the outlet
duct. The intercooler module experience heat transfer with
the flow taken from the bypass duct. Pressure losses in the
Figure 5: Crossover Duct [4]
cold side of the intercooler must be minimum. Sufficient air
taken from the bypass duct must be diffused to lower Mach
numbers before its fed to the intercooler to reduce pressure
losses in the cold side. In order to make the engine attractive
frontal area of the engines to avoid drag losses. The mounting in performance, the intercooler needs to have an effectiveness
of the gearbox is allocated after the high pressure centrifugal of over 50% and the overall pressure losses through the inter-
compressor, in the rear back, see Figure 4. cooler and ducts must not exceed 10% for both hot and cold
sides. For off-design operations the air taken from the bypass
3.2. Maintenance must be regulated[1].
Redirecting the flow from the intermediate pressure com-
Maintenance operations were consider as an important pressor to the heat exchanger and then to the high pressure
factor for the development of this engine. A modular con- compressors generates high pressure losses in the cycle. Fig-
struction offered significant advantages to reduce operating ure 6 shows an "S" duct type is used to drive the air from the
cots, reduce the shipping and the size of spare parts and intermediate pressure compressor to the intercooler. At the
increase the operational availability of the aircraft. A mod- exit of the intercooler a "C" duct type to introduce the air the
ular maintenance concept allow greater range of repair and high pressure compressor. The diffusing S-ducts take advant-
replacement reducing the aircraft down time. age of the inlet swirl to help distribute the air between the
The engine can be disjoint in five modules. The Fan Mod- unevenly spaced intercooler modules, more information in
ule can be replace as a complete assembly having the advant- reference [1]. The target performance was met, nevertheless
age to be easily accessible for inspection and repair(stator different geometries are being studies with different areas and
and blades) if its necessary. The shaft, fan rotor and bearings mass flow ratios.
can be replace with the engine mounted without rebalancing.
The Low Pressure Compressor Module provides part of the
base-structure of the engine. Contains both the front and
rear mounting structure. Crossover Duct Module contains the
assemblies fan and the low pressure axial compressor, which
can be remove as different assemblies without dismounting
the engine. The High Pressure Module contains the full as-
sembly of the high pressure section of the engines. Nozzle
vanes and turbines blades can be inspected/replaced/repaired
without rebalancing and dismounting the engine. The com-
bustor section provides easy access to perform welding op-
erations in case of a small repair. For the Gear Box Module
provides accessibility to the shaft seals without disassembling
the gearbox. The oil reservoir is inside the gearbox reducing
the external components in the module. The accessories are
capsulized for improved accessibility[4]. Figure 6: Intercooled Engine Concept[8]

4. Recent Attempts
Another potential problem with introducing intercooling
The New Aero Engine Concepts NEWAC project SP3 in- in a large bypass turbofan is that their smaller diameter cores
vestigated technologies to achieve high overall pressure ratio may be more flexible than those of conventional engines.
for a intercooled engine concept for long range and short The high pressure casing may suffer distortion due to thrust
range capabilities. Research activities in the SP3 project loads and manouvers leading to a possible increase in the
were related to aerodynamical, aero-thermal and mechanical tip clearance in both the compressor and turbine blades. An
design studies for intercooled systems. The main target was intercase design demonstrated that a stiffer structure will

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Rodrigo Orta Guerra/Reverse Flow Core Intercooled Engines

reduce the tip clearance. Although a small penalty in weight [4] Van Nimwegen, R. R. (1971) Design features of the garret
increase had to be taken[8]. ATF3 turbofan engine. Tech. Rep. 710776, SAE International,
The intercooler design must ease the assembly to reduce Warrendale, PA.
maintenance operations and a low frontal area to reduce drag [5] Alves, M. A. d. C., Carneiro, H. F. d. F. M., Barbosa, J. R.,
losses without compromising the performance and effective- Travieso, L. E., Pilidis, P., and Ramsden, K. W. (2001) An in-
ness requirements to make this concept feasible. Optimiza- sight on intercooling and reheat gas turbine cycles. Proceedings
tion methods were applied to compressor blading. Improve- of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A: Journal of
ments in the leading edge shape and camber distributions to Power and Energy, 215, 163–171.
minimize secondary losses. [6] Gunston, O. F., Bill (ed.) (1996) Jane’S-Aero Engines: 16.
To make intercooled engines truly competitive further de- Janes Information Group.
velopments are needed in the design and installation of com-
pact lightweight intercoolers and in enhance engine structures [7] Evans, J. C. (2013) ATF3 Engine Crosssection & Gas Path. The
Garrett AiResearch ATF3 Online Museum, http://www.atf3.org.
to minimise performance losses due to casing distortions. Al-
ternative intercooler designs and engine architectures will [8] ARTTIC and Partners, N. (2011) Newac publishable final activ-
be investigated in the LEMCOTEC programme currently in ity report.
operation[8]. [9] Norris, J. W., Epstein, A., Roberge, G. D., Costa, M. W., Berry-
ann, A. P., and Kupratis, D. B. (2012), Reversed-flow core for
5. Summary and Conclusions a turbofan with a fan drive gear system. U.S. Classification:
602/261.
The Garret ATF3 was the first engine to integrate a novel [10] Research-Programmes-Rolls-Royce (2011) Significant CO2
configuration in order to achieve better fuel consumption and and NOx reductions targeted through ultra-high pressure ra-
lower the emissions at cruise operation for small aircraft. It tio core engine technology development. LEMCOTEC (Low
is still in operation and providing a great service to the U. S. Emissions Core Engine Technologies).
Coast Guard and the French Navy[7].
The challenge today is to incorporate a reverse flow core
engine concept[9] with an external intercooling system for
a large turbofan engine. The Garret ATF3 component dis-
tribution offers and attractive core concept for large bypass
intercooled turbofan engines. Pressure losses, mechanical
restrictions, aerodynamical constraints and mal-distribution
due to the turning of the flow still a concern for the design of
ducting system to connect the intercooler modules in the com-
pressor. Another attractive feature of this unique configura-
tion is its modular assembly configuration eases maintenance
operations lowering down times of the engine and costs.
The integration of an external intercooling system will
lower the temperature in the compression process in order to
achieve higher pressure ratios to overcome the heat removal
and still achieve higher values of turbine entry temperature
without increasing the specific fuel consumption and lower
CO2 and NOX emissions[10]. A reverse flow core intercooled
engine concept provides solutions to overcome some of con-
straints with the construction of an intercooled large turbofan
engine. For performance calculations for an intercooled core
ultra high bypass ratio engine concept see reference [2]. Even
doe the complexity of this configuration is challenging, the
benefits of introducing advance materials and new technolo-
gies expects to overcome the main difficulties of intercooling
in aero engines. Strong efforts of this configuration are still
under development, nevertheless is expected to overcome
mechanical and aerodynamical constraints in order to make
it feasible and available in the upcoming years.

References

[1] Walker, A. D., Carrotte, J. F., and Rolt, A. M. (2009) Duct

aerodynamics for intercooled aero gas turbines: Constraints,
concepts and design methodology. pp. 749–758, ASME.
[2] Kyprianidis, K. G., Groinstedt, T., Ogaji, S. O. T., Pilidis, P.,
and Singh, R. (2011) Assessment of future aero-engine designs
with intercooled and intercooled recuperated cores. Journal of
Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, 133, 011701.
[3] Rolt, A. M. and Baker, N. J. (2009) Intercooled turbofan engine
design and technology research in the eu framework 6 newac
programme. Rolls-Royce plc.