Medium Scale Jet Engine Design and Design Validation Through Simulation

This paper investigates the development of preliminary design methodology for the core components of medium scale jet engine viz. Diffuser, compressor, combustion chamber, turbine and nozzle and the validation of the conceptual design. The preliminary design process begins with aerodynamic analysis and its reliance on empirical relations, limiting the dimensional constraints and performance demands. The engine has been designed to operate with mass flow rate of 1 kg/s, compression ratio 6, on fuel methane having a calorific value of 42,800 kJ/K, with turbine inlet temperature of 1800 K which drives the compressor at 17,000–22,000 RPM and nozzle which generates thrust mass flow rates greater than 500 N. An overall pressure ratio of 0.75 is selected to make the engine self-sustainable at operating regimes with the overall efficiency of about 38%. The parametric results were compared with simulated results using different approaches to optimize the component design by adopting different techniques and validation of the design.