Aerospace

Science

and Technology,

1999,

no. 5.293-299

Thermodynamic analysis of gas turbines topped with wave rotors

A. Fatsis, Y. Ribaud*
ONERA EnergeticsDepartment, 29 avenue de la Division Leclerc, 92 322 Chltillon cedex, France
(Received 27 May 1997, revised 3 December 1998, accepted 24 February 1999)

A. Fatsis,Y. Ribaud, Aerospace

Abstract

Science

Subscripts

P
PC
PR

Pressure
Mixing and duct pressure losses
Wave rotor compression ratio

vc

Isentropic compression efficiency of wave rotor

Isentropic expansion efficiency of wave rotor

(= P.f/Pp,flgure

e
ref

Auxiliary power unit

Specific fuel consumption
Specific power
Specific thrust
Turbine inlet temperature

A wave rotor is a device in which two different fluids

can exchange energy by direct contact and axial
displacement. This is based on the fact that when two
gases of different pressure and temperature are coming in
contact for a very short time, their pressures are equalized by unsteady waves mechanisms before the gases are
mixed. This component comprises, figure la [5, 91, a
rotating cylinder and a coaxial cylindrical stator. This
rotor is equipped with long, axial, constant cross-

Total conditions

* Correspondence
andreprints
Aerospace

Science and Technology,

1. Introduction
1.1. Wave rotor description

superscripts
0

compression
expansion
engine conditions without wave rotor

lb)

Abbreviations
APU
SFC
SP
ST
TIT

1999, no. 5, 293-299

Technology,

Wave rotors constitute promising gas turbine topping devices.In order to evaluate the potential benefit of
these configurations, thermodynamic cycle analysesare carried out for various types of gas turbines including a four-port wave rotor. The parameters chosen to vary are the efficiencies of compressionand expansion processesinside the rotor, the wave rotor compressionratio and the mixing and pressurelossesin the
ducts connecting the wave rotor to the adjacent components of the engine. The results obtained show that
almost all the engines under study benefit from the wave rotor addition and that the most significant gain is
obtained for gas turbines for which the compressorpressureratio is moderate (-5) and the turbine inlet temperature is fairly high (> 1600 K). 0 Elsevier, Paris

Nomenclature

Ve

and

127O-9638,99/05/

0 Elsevier,

Paris

A. Fatsis, Y. Ribaud

294

section channels. Ports which are arranged on the two

lateral walls of the stator act like valves for each rotating
channel. The peripheral velocity of the wave rotor, which
is much lower than the one needed for a transonic turbomachine, is chosen to satisfy the flow wave pattern.
Otherwise the power necessary needed to run the wave
rotor, in order to overcome the aerodynamic and mechanical friction losses, is a few percent of the power transferred between the two gases by the unsteady wave process.

pressure ratio increase simultaneously. In conventional

gas turbine the maximum temperature of the Brayton
cycle is limited by the properties of the available materials and by the turbine cooling techniques which are
nowadays very sophisticated and are not very far from
their limits. However the wave rotor permits us to overcome this limitation because of the periodic cooling
attained by the forced convection of the fresh air traversing the wave rotor channels [ 111. Figure 2 shows a
thermodynamic cycle of a gas turbine using a wave rotor.

1.2. Wave rotor topping cycle

When the wave rotor is integrated in a gas turbine, as

shows, the hot gases coming out of the combustion chamber compress further the air coming out of
the compressor and then they are expanded into the turbine. The further compressed air is directed towards the
combustion chamber. The main interest of such an application is that the thermal efficiency of a gas turbine
increases as the turbine inlet temperature and compressor

$gurelb

Fiiure 2. Enthalpy-Entropy diagram for a typical gas turbine

without and with a wave rotor.
Gas turbine cycle computations with and without
four-port wave rotors were performed by Wilson and
Paxson [ 111 and by Jones and Welch [4]. The former
authors considered a constant value of compression and
expansion efficiencies for all the computations they did,
without taking into account the effects of an eventual
drop of these efficiencies on the overall performance of
the engine. The latter authors did not mention either
these efficiencies or the wave rotor compression ratios
(PR) considered for the gas turbines they examined.
The present contribution describes the work performed at ONERA on wave rotor research concerning gas
turbine calculations with and without wave rotors. It is
applied to turboshaft, auxiliary power unit, turbojet and
turbofan engines. In these calculations the influence of
the compression and expansion efficiency levels of the
wave rotor are taken into account, as well as the extra
pressure losses in the ducts caused by the presence of
the wave rotor in the engine.
2. Cycle cakuiations

b
Figure 1. (a) Scheme of a 4 port wave rotor; (b) Schematic
view of a gas turbine including a four-port wave rotor.

Four different types of engines typical for aeronautical applications are analyzed in the present work. These
are a turboshaft helicopter engine, an auxiliary power
unit, a small size turbojet engine and a turbofan engine
with low bypass ratio. Tables I to IV summarize the
input data for these engines. For all cases, a four-port
wave rotor is proposed to be placed between the core
compressor, the turbine and in parallel with the combustion chamber asfigure lb illustrates.
Aerospace

Science and Technology

Thermodynamic

analysis of gas turbines topped with wave rotors

Table I. Input data for an helicopter engine.

Compressorpressureratio
Turbine Inlet Temperature
1Baseline Specific Power

15
I

1600 K

481 kJ.kg-1

0.202 kg.kW-.h-

Baseline Specific Consumption

295

assuming nc = ne = 0.83 for a typical four port

wave rotor and it seems that old experiments on
wave rotors give 0.77 < nc = qe < 0.86 [8].
These results are not definitive values and efficiency enhancements are still possible by a better
control of the leakages and of the three-dimensional flow configurations,

a minimization

of the

losses associated with the vortex created by the

finite time opening of the ports. In the present

Table II. Input data for an Auxiliary Power Unit.

Compressor pressureratio

4.9

Turbine Inlet Temperature

1600 K

study, the influence of these parameters on the

engine performance is examined. These efficiencies are chosen to vary between qc = ne = 0.8
and nc = qe = 0.86.

221 kJ.kg-

Baseline Specific Power

Baseline Specific Consumption

iii) Mixing losses due to the non-uniform outflow

towards the turbine and pressure losses in the

0.319 kg.kW- .h-

ducts connecting the wave rotor to the adjacent

Table III. Input data for a small size turbojet engine.
1Compressorpressureratio
Turbine Inlet Temperature
Baseline Specific Power
Baseline Specific Consumption

4.9

1075 K

380 m.s-
1.31 Kg.daN- .h-

Table IV. Input data for a low bypassratio turbofan engine.

Core Compressorpressureratio

24.5

Fan pressureratio

3.9-4.5

Turbine Inlet Temperature

1 850 K

Bypassratio
Baseline Specific Thrust

0.25-0.60

922-800 m.s-

Baseline Specific Consumption 10.078-0.089Kg .daN- .h- I

The following parameters are chosen as the most

important ones to characterize the wave rotor performance.
i) Wave rotor compression ratio (PR = P$)/Pf,
figure Ib) because it represents the maximum
compression that can be achieved within the rotor.
Wilson and Paxson [ 111 considered PR = 1.8
from General Electric data. Here PR is varied from
1.4 to 3.0. Ratios lower than 1.8 are rather pessi-

components of the gas turbine. Concerning mixing

losses, Welch [lo] showed that outflows of fourport wave rotors are non-uniform. Studies on wave
rotors for automotive applications (Janssens [3])
showed that the overall thermal efficiency is penalized due to the secondary flow losses occurring in
the ducts upstream and downstream of the wave
rotor due to the changes in cross sections and due
to curvature effects. Ihe effects of these types of
losses on engine performance were not taken into
account by previous researchers, but as will be
shown, they have a strong influence on the wave
rotor-topped gas turbine engine performance. Two
values of losses were considered in the present
study; PC = 10 % and 6 %, simulating two cases
for which the architecture of the baseline engine is
more or less favorable to the integration of the
wave rotor.
The aerothermodynamic relations used to perform the
cycle calculations for the different types of engines will
not be presented here. They can be found in any standard
textbook on propulsion systems. In this work the textbook of Decouflet [2] was used. The equations linking
the wave rotor to the gas turbine, in this thermodynamic
analysis, are the same as the ones used by Wilson and
Paxson [ 111. In order to improve the accuracy of the calculations, the specific heats for gas and air are calculated
as functions of the temperature and of the equivalence
ratio (Boudigues [ 11).

mistic, representing extreme cases where one can

anticipate that compression processes inside the

rotor are really poor. On the contrary, the value of
PR = 3.0 is rather realistic as it was confirmed by
detailed calculations performed in a through-flow
wave rotor, [lo].
ii) Isentropic efficiencies of compression and expansion processes within the rotor ( nc, ne respectively). In previous wave rotor research it has not been
possible to evaluate nc and r,~~separately. Instead
their product has been determined; Wilson and
Paxson [ 1l] calculated overall cycle performances
1999, no. 5

3. Helicopter engine
Figure 3 shows the ratio of the specific power (SP) of

the wave rotor-topped engine over the specific power of

reference (which corresponds to the engine without wave
rotor), for two different values of duct and mixing losses
(PC). In the case of PC = 10 %,figure 3~2,it is advanta-

geous to use a wave rotor for all the range of the wave
rotor compression ratio considered. If PC = 10 %,
figure 3~2,the gain in SP is 10 % even for qc = ne = 0.8,

296

A. F&is,

if PR = 3. Similar conclusions are drawn from figure 4

for the specific fuel consumption. For both specific
power and specific fuel consumption the gain is about of
10 % if qc = qe = 0.8, PR = 3 and PC = 10 %. The
variation in expansion and compression efficiencies does
not affect very much the overall performances.

4. Futuristic auxihry

power unit

Figure 5 shows that the gain in specific power is of

the order of 230 %-240 % even if PC = 10 % for
PR = 3. For PC = 6 %, the gain is higher than 250%

Y. Mbaud

when compared to the baseline engine. The specific fuel

consumption benefits are about of 30 %, if PC = 10 %
and PR = 3, figure 6a. Assuming that PC = 6 %, the
gain in specific fuel consumption is about of 32 %-35 %,
figure 6b. Even if nC = ne = 0.8, the gains in specific
power and in specific fuel consumption are remarkable.
One can see that the difference in performances between
the helicopter engine and the APU when a wave rotor is
used as a topping device is due to the lower compressor
pressure ratio of the APU since both engines have the
same TIT

(a) PC=io%
2.6
2.5

1.20

(a)
. PC=lO%
II-

ll@.=0.80
m,=o.e3
n =0.86

__--

_-__-,-.............. -......

2
OJ
n
cn

2.4
2.3
2.2
2.1
2.0
1.9
1.0

1.4

1.8

2.2

2.6

3.0

2.6
Ratio (PR)

3.0

(b) PC=8%
I

.1

1.4
1.20

1.8

2.2

2.6

3.0

(b) PC =6%

a 1.15
53

1.10

1.05

::: ;

1.4

1.8
2.2
Wave Rotor Compression

2.8
Aatto (PR)

1.8
2.2
Wave Rotor Compression

Figure 5. Distribution of specific power in terms of the wave

rotor compressionratio for an auxiliary power unit for two different valuesof mixing and duct lossesdue to the wave rotor.

Figure 3. Distribution of specific power in terms of the wave

rotor compressionratio for an helicopter engine for two different values of mixing and duct lossesdue to the wave rotor.
(a) PC= 10%
0.90
1 0.85
2

0.80

UJ 0.75
3

0.70

0.65

I
2.2

2.6

3.0

(b) PC =6%
I

1.8
2.2
Wave Rotor Ccmpfehon

Figure 4. Distribution of specificfuel consumption in terms of

the wave rotor compressionratio for an helicopter engine for
two different valuesof mixing and duct lossesdue to the wave
rotor.

2.6
Ratio (PR)

Figure 6. Distribution of specificfuel consumption in terms of

the wave rotor compression ratio for an auxiliary power unit
for two different values of mixing and duct lossesdue to the
wave rotor.
Aerospace

Science and Technology

Thermodynamic

analysis of gas turbines topped with wave rotors

297

5. Small size turbojet engine

6. Low bypass ratio turbofan eugine

Figures 7 and 8 show the corresponding performance

benefits. In the case with PC = 10 %, the wave rotor
penalizes both specific thrust (ST) and specific fuel
consumption for PR -z 2.1 if qc = qe = 0.8. In the case
with PC = 6 %, the gain is about of 7 % to 17 % for
both ST and SFC. The moderate benefits in this case are
due to the low TIT (= 1075 K) although the compressor
pressure ratio is the same as the previously examined
APU engine. One can also underline that for this engine
it is very important to optimize the efficiency of compression and expansion processes because the gains in
terms of specific thrust and specific fuel consumption are
very sensitive to the values of r,rcand qe.

Different bypass ratios were studied, but only the

results for a bypass ratio of 0.6 will be presented here.
Figure 9u shows that the specific thrust is slightly increased when PC = 10 %. When PC = 6 %, the gain in
specific thrust and in specific fuel consumption
(figure ZO) occurs for the wave rotor compression ratios
examined and it is about of 5 %. Although the TZT is
1 850 K, the large core compressor pressure ratio leads
to moderate benefits for this type of engine. Moreover,
we must examine the influence of the wave rotor on the
engine weight, for this military application.

(a) PC=10%

(a) PC = 10%
1.10

0.95 '
1.4

1.6

2.2

2.6

I
3.0

(b) PC=6%
1.20

n,-n,acLao
",*,&.@
- - - nyn.=o.ae

1.15
2
I

1.06.
1.00

1.4

1.0
2.2
Wave Rotor Compression

2.6
Ratio (PR)

3.0

Rgure 7. Distribution of specific thrust in terms of the wave

rotor compressionratio for a small size turbojet engine for two
different values of mixing and duct lossesdue to the wave
rotor.

__~~..-.~.~.Z.I-.=
1.4

_ _ - - -..y..y,.T:____.______.________............
---------yz..Yz
.- --..;..z_._._._.........

1.8
2.2
Wave Rotor Compreshn

(a) PC=lo%
1.10

-1.

3 1.05
Y

1.00

2 0.90
E5

0.001.41

1.8

2.2

2.6

3.0

1.00 t
.~.~-.~L-~._..L-..._.__-...-...-...-

0.95

0.90
1.4
1.10 ,

0.00

I
1.0

2.2

2.6

3.0

(b) PC=6%
I

I
1.6
2.2
Wave Rotor tAmpmUm

2.6
Ratio (PR)

3.0

Figure 8. Distribution of specificfuel consumption in terms of

the wave rotor compressionratio for a small size turbojet engine for two different valuesof mixing and duct lossesdue to the
wave rotor.
1999, no. 5

. . .._.__.____._____...............................,.~~,~~.~~~
--------___--_______--.

(b) PC=6%

1.4

3.0

Figure 9. Distribution of specific thrust in terms of the wave

rotor compressionratio for a low bypass ratio turbofan engine for two different valuesof mixing and duct lossesdue to the
wave rotor.

(a) PC = 10%

$
fn

2.6
Ratto (PR)

1.0
2.2
WaveRotwCanpredonRatio(PR)

2.6

Figure. 10. Distribution of specific fuel consumption in terms

of tbe wave rotor compressionratio for a low bypuss ratio turbofan engine for two different values of mixing and duct
lossesdue to tbe wave rotor.

A. Fat&, Y. Ribaud

298

The difference in performances can be explained as

follows: The performance map of a typical four-port
wave rotor shows that the pressure ratio across the rotor
is proportional to the temperature ratio (Jones and
Welch [4], Shreeve and Mathur [a]). Having the turbine
inlet temperature (TIT) fixed and having a relatively high
temperature at the wave rotor inlet (which corresponds to
the high core compressor pressure ratio), the temperature increase across the rotor is relatively low. As a consequence, the pressure increase across the wave rotor is
low as well. In this case the topping benefits of the wave
rotor are limited since it cannot produce the maximum
pressure and temperature increase across it. So it can be
concluded that the lower the compressor pressure ratio
and the higher the turbine inlet temperature are, the more
significant the performance gain is when using a wave
rotor. For this reason, gas turbines with low compressor
pressure ratio, such as turboshaft and auxiliary power
units, seem to be well-suited to receive a four-port wave
rotor as a topping device.
7. General remarks about the wave rotor use

This study compares the performances of a basic engine with those of an identical one to which a wave rotor
has been added, while maintaining both the TIT and the
mechanical pressure ratio. So the analysis takes care only
of the performance enhancement without taking account
of the addition of engine weight and the reduction of the
kerosene weight on board. Recent studies performed at
NASA, relative to the mission of a plane of the Boeing
777 type, show [7] that the wave rotor use, to boost the
thermodynamic cycle of the engines, allows us to obtain
a reduction of the fuel consumption of about 1.5 to 3 %
percent, for a wave rotor weight of about 25 % of the
core engine.
A second manner to examine the advantages of the
wave rotor use is to suppose that the thermodynamic
cycle is unvarying and that the rear compressor stages
are replaced by a wave rotor. Doing that, on a simple flux
one core engine, with a pressure ratio of 25 and a TIT of
1 850 K, we find at ONERA that the wave rotor can
replace about 4 compressor stages and that the TIT
decrease is about 100 C. Doing so, we can obtain a substantial reduction in the cost of the engines, in particular
because the turbine operating life is much increased.

8. Conclusions

In the present study, thermodynamic cycle computations showed the effect on performance when using the
wave rotors topping technique for gas turbine engines.
The variation in the efficiency of compression and
expansion processes inside the rotor, as well as mixing

and pressure losses in the ducts due to the wave rotor

integration were also taken into account.
It is concluded from the cases examined that the most
significant gains in terms of power and specific fuel
consumption are achieved for engines with a low compressor pressure ratio and high turbine inlet temperature,
such as turboshaft engines and futuristic auxiliary power
units.
These results are consistent with those presented by
Jones and Welch [4] on APU and turboshaft engines. For
big turbojet and turboshaft engines the performances
gains are less visible and for the Iatter type of engines a
cascade optimization strategy for air breathing propulsion system concepts must be used (Patnaik et al., [6]) in
order to know the exact benefit when using such a component.
It must be also underlined that a better knowledge of
the wave rotor overall pressure ratio versus temperature
ratio, and of the internal losses in this component, are
necessary for cycle calculation refinement. This may be
achieved by a detailed internal flow analysis inside the
wave rotor, which constitutes a big challenge.
Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to

the D.R.E.T. - G7 of D.G.A. of the French Ministry of
Defense for their support to achieve this work.
References

[II Boudigues S., Initiation a la thermopropulsion,

ENSAE, 1984.
Decouflet
J., Aerothermodynamique des turbomaPI
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Janssens
J.P., Simulation of the unsteady non[31
homoentropic flow in pressure wave machinery
using the massflow defect concept, Ph.D. thesis,
K.U., Leuven, Belgium, 1992.
r41 Jones S.M., Welch G.E., Performance benefits for
wave rotor-topped gas turbines engines, ASME
Paper 96GT-75, 1996.
[51 Kentfield J.A.C., Nonsteady, one-dimensional,
internal, compressible flows, Oxford University
Press, Oxford, 1993.
[61 Patnaik S.N., Lavelee T.M., Hopkins D.A.,
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air breathing propulsion system concepts, AIAA J.
Aircraft 34 (1) Engineering Notes, 1997.
[71 Jones S.M., Welch G.E., Performance benefits for
wave rotor-topped gas turbine engines. A.S.M.E.
paper n96-GT-75.
Aerospace

Science and Technology

Thermodynamic analysis of gasturbines topped with wave rotors

[8] Shreeve RI?, Mathur A. (Eds.), Proceedings-1985
ONRLNAVAIR wave rotor research and technology
Report
NPS-67-85-008,
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workshop,
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1999, no. 5

299

[IO] Welch G.E., Two-dimensional

computational
model for wave rotor flow dynamics, ASME Paper
No. 96-GT-550, 1996.
[ll] Wilson J., Paxson D.E., Jet engine performance
enhancement through use of a wave rotor toppingcycle, NASA TM 4486, 1993.