Power required to drive the compressor

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating the power required to drive a compressor in a jet engine, specifically in relation to generating a thrust of 15,000 lb. Participants explore the complexities involved in determining the necessary power and mass flow, as well as the air and fuel requirements for achieving the specified thrust.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant notes that calculating the power required is not straightforward due to various viscous losses that complicate the solution.
  • Another participant describes the Brayton cycle as the ideal cycle for gas-turbine engines and mentions the importance of the back-work ratio, which relates to the power consumed by the compressor.
  • A further contribution emphasizes that knowing the thrust alone is insufficient for calculating compressor requirements and mass flow, highlighting the need for additional parameters such as mass flow into the engine.
  • Participants discuss the necessity of understanding velocity triangles to calculate the torque required for each stage of the compressor, which is essential for determining the power needed.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that additional information is necessary to perform accurate calculations regarding the compressor's power requirements and mass flow. However, there are differing views on the specific parameters and methods needed to arrive at these calculations.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the dependence on specific engine parameters such as inlet and outlet temperatures and pressures, as well as the complexity of the calculations involved, which may not be fully addressed without further information.

vincentryan
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hi
in jet engine power generated for two purpose
one is to drive the turbine, compressor and other accosseries
Second is for the forward jet thrust
take an example
A engine generates 15000 lb thrsut.
how to calculate the following power and mass flow
how much amount of power required to drive the compressor and to deliver the 15000 lb of thrust. how much amount air and fuel required to deliver 15000 lb thrust
 
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This isn't a simply plug-and-chug calculation. You have tons of viscous losses that will make it extremely nasty to solve.
 
Jet engines operate on the Brayton cylce, which is the ideal cycle for gas-turbine engines. Actual gas-turbines are complex and involve intercooling, reheating, and regeneration. However, assuming the simple Brayton cycle is what you are asking about, first you need to determine the back-work ratio. The back-work ratio is the amount of power that the compressor will consume. That is calculated from the enthalpy difference between inlet and outlet of the compressor divided by the difference in enthaply between the inlet and outlet of the turbine.

Before I go any further, do you have the inlet and outlet temperatures and the inlet and outlet pressures?

Forgive me if it seems that I a taking the long way to the answer, but this is how I know to calculate the power output of a gas-turbine.

Thanks
Matt
 
Given solely the amount of thrust it is impossible to calculate the compressor requirements as well as mass flow. There are certain things that must be known and mass flow into the engine is one of them. If you look at any book on aerothermodynamics you will find the equations of stages in an engine and how to calculate them. Essentially you start at the front and work your way to the back. To really calculate the power required for a compressor you need to know what are called velocity triangles that will allow you to calculate the torque required for each stage. From that and the speed you can then calculate the power required.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Jet_Propulsion/Aerodynamics
http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Jet_engine_performance
http://web.mit.edu/16.unified/www/FALL/thermodynamics/notes/node28.html
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Fred, that was why I stopped short on my post. Didn't want to keep going with the basic way to get a ball park number for the power if no more information was available.

Good links.

Thanks
Matt
 

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