History of Air-Breathing Engines

Internal combustion air-breathing engines - in common vernacular jet engines - have a long and
innovative history, that has yielded results that far outdo their piston and propeller cousins in all aspects
including, but not limited to, efficiency, power output and reliability. Furthermore, the sonic boundaries have
been torn open and supersonic flight has now become almost taken for granted, where before humanity could
only dream of approaching the sound barrier, let alone surpassing it. Jet engines typically employ compressors
that are in turn powered by turbines, with thrust vectored at the nozzle for forward (and also vertical see
VTOL aircraft) propulsion. All modern components of contemporary jet engines have seen countless iterations
and variations, and the general history of air-breathing engines, as well as particular histories of each type, are
researched and outlined below.
The general history of the manufacture of jet engines harks back to early Greek experiments with the
aeolipile, which used steam to generate propulsion via nozzle outlets. Gunpowder rockets invented by the
Chinese centuries later also touched upon the fundamentals of jet/rocket propulsion, yet did not advance it a
lot. Finally, in the 20
th
century, French inventor Ren Lorin proposed supplying a mixture of fuel with
compressed air delivered by a piston engine, and thus the first jet propulsion system was designed. These early
concepts were motorjets jets supplied with air via regular piston motors. Turbojets themselves were first
seen on paper in 1921, where another Frenchman, Maxime Guillaume, patented the conceptual property.
Compressor technology advanced in decades following, and centrifugal-flow turbojets were patented in both
1930 and 1935 by Frank Whittle (UK) and Hans von Ohain (Germany) respectively. The advances obviously
originated from the impetus of technology and ingenuity given birth to by the two World Wars. Power Jets WU
produced the first working turbojet engines in the late 1930s in the UK, which although not intended for
flight, produced 6.18kN of thrust from single-stage axial flow turbines feeding simple single stage compressors
and powered by Kerosene. This engine eventually became the Rolls-Royce RB.23 Welland, Britains first
production jet engine.
In Germany, meanwhile the worlds first aeroplane powered solely
by a turbojet engine was flown, the Heinkel He 178. These engines
however, could still not attain supersonic speeds, in no small part due to
the fact that high-temperature metals and alloys were still far away in
development and realisation terms. Finally, in the 1950s alloy technology
had advanced and was finally a financially viable option that allowed for
more efficient and powerful engines. The World Wars also were the origin
for the largest jet engine manufacturers of today, such as GE and Rolls-
Royce. German engineers were procured from the Axis ruins and set to work
with Allied aircraft engineers, and by the 50s the jet engine ruled the sky
in terms of combat jet engines. Also, by the 1960s most significant
commercial and passenger planes were jet-powered; only a few areas were left such as cargo where it was
more economically viable to run fixed propellers. The 1970s then saw the invention and implementation of
high-bypass jet engines, which further increased their efficiency and viability.
Turbofan engines are basically turbojets to which a fan has been added at either the front or rear to
create higher bypass of air, which creates greater thrust and reduces fuel consumption, perfect for commercial
passenger jets. The earliest turbofans were created by German Daimler-Benz in April 1943, in response to the
low fuel efficiency of regular turbojets. Production was halted due to complications while at the same time in
England, the UKs first axial-flow turbojet was improved with a fan to become a turbofan. Low-bypass and
high-bypass turbofans were created, the latter becoming the norm for fighter jets since the 70s with the
availability of afterburners and variable fuel nozzle envelopes. Turbofans have come a long way since initial
conception, with several configurations for different specialities. Apart from the basic single-spool
arrangement, 2-spool, aft-spool and 3-spool arrangements have been designed. Developments in blade
technology via new material science advancement and knowledge have also allowed the fans themselves to
Figure 1
become lighter, stronger, more reliable as well as suit the engines bypassing needs more efficiently. For
example, the GE90 fan from General Electric boasts composite fan blades made from carbon-fibre and epoxy
matrix (see Figure 1).
Turboprop engines on the other hand, use the turbines to spin both the compressor and the
propeller, where most of the propulsion thrust comes from like a traditional propeller aeroplane. Gearbox
improvements have allowed the turboprop be a viable
option for small subsonic aircraft, and some large
military non-combat aircraft. The worlds first true
turboprop was designed by Hungarian engineer Gyrgy
Jendrassik, and patented in 1929; Jendrassiks first
prototype was built in 1938. The worlds first turboprop
aircraft was a British one, fitted with the British Rolls-
Royce RB.50 Trent turboprop engine. This engine later
became the Clyde and the Dart (Figure 2), the latter of
whom is known as one of the most reliable turboprop
engines created. The Soviets also used German
engineers to create the 575mph Tupolev Tu-95, at the
time faster than any of the first regular turbojet aircraft. In 1951 the turboprop engine (specifically the Boeing
T50) was first used to power a helicopter.
The structure and components of jet-engines has varied
and evolved over the years.
The air intake, one of the most crucial advances from motorjets
to turbojets,
directs air into
the
compressor.
Aerodynamics
knowledge
has increased
since its first
acknowledgement, and the result is air intakes that have
changed to increase efficiency by large amounts over the
decades. Air intakes have transformed, by design, to
accommodate higher flow rates of air to the engines and to
achieve smaller and smaller distortions over a larger area and envelope. Complex designs have been fashioned
as engine speeds and subsequently engine requirements have increased, with intakes incorporated into the
fuselage to deal with Mach 3.0 and higher, as shown in the SR-71 in Figure 3. Compressor design has also
transformed, with advanced computations going into designing the most efficient compressors, a far cry from
early designs where calculations were done by hand and the materials used not so different from the ones
found on the fuselage of the aircraft. Initial compressors decades ago had pressure ratios as low as 5:1,
compressors in the modern era can reach 44:1 ratios. Blade angles, separation of modules inside the
compressor and use of new superalloys have all increased compressor efficiency. Examples of the continual
evolution of the compressor can be seen in the Rolls-Royce RB199 military turbofan (Figure 4), where the
compressor is split into 3 modules: the fan, the Low-Pressure, and the High-Pressure Compressors, each with
its own turbine drive.
After the air has travelled through the compressor and mixed with fuel in the combustion chamber,
the hot gas product leaving via the turbine. Air turbines have increased in efficiency by optimisation and use of
modern and more specialized materials.
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Afterburners, combustion chambers that reheat exhaust gases, have also been added to the crop of
optimisations and design evolutions, as seen on the famous Concorde (Figure 5).
Ramjets are a highly simple design in theory, yet
are incredibly hard to manufacture with successful
results. They are simply put, engines that use the
forward momentum of the vehicle to compress air
without the need for any kind of mechanical/rotary
compressor. They only therefore, work efficiently or at a
viable efficiency, at high Mach numbers typically
supersonic. Missiles and rockets can make particular use
of ramjets, but for ordinary planes ramjets are slightly
unviable (at the moment at least). The ramjet concept
actually predates the more simple and wide-spread turbofan layout, in 1913 patented by the Frenchman Ren
Lorin. 1933 saw the Soviet Union test the first engine, the GIRD-04 the process whereby they were tested
may be mankinds first powered projectiles to break the sound barrier. 1949 also saw the first ramjet powered
aircraft in France. Ramjets are still being developed and looked into today. Nuclear powered ramjets were
looked into at one point by the US, who wisely scrapped it due to worries about a nuclear reactor over allied
land/soldiers. Theoretical space ramjets have been conceived in the minds of many scientists, including Robert
W.Bussard, after whom the Bussard ramjet is named.
Bilbliography:
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Civil large engines - Rolls-Royce
In-text: (Rolls-royce.com, 2014)
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Aircraft Engines | Aircraft Systems | Aviation Services | GE Aviation
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[online] Available at: http://www.geaviation.com/ [Accessed 23 Sep. 2014].
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PRODUCTS
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The History of the Jet Engine - Sir Frank Whittle - Hans Von Ohain
In-text: (Inventors.about.com, 2014)
Bibliography: Inventors.about.com, (2014). The History of the Jet Engine - Sir Frank Whittle - Hans Von Ohain.
[online] Available at: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bljetengine.htm [Accessed 23 Sep. 2014].
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Jet propulsion
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Figure 5