Gas Turbine Engines

A detailed Summary of Gas Turbine Engines

Gas turbine engines date back to the early 1940's. Sir Frank Wittle, a British aeronautical engineer and aviator, invented the turbojet engine (The World Almanac Educational Group, 2002, p. 1). Gas turbine engines took off, and have been soaring ever since. They offer an unmatched power to weight ratio, which make them ideal for many applications. This essay will describe the process of a gas turbine engine, as well as explain some new advances and futuristic technologies associated with GTE's, by answering the following questions:

1. What exactly is a gas turbine engine?

2. How is a gas turbine engine different from a reciprocating engine?

3. What are some new advances with gas turbine engines?

4. What is the future for gas turbine engines?

What exactly is a gas turbine engine?

Turbine engines are used in aircraft and on boats. Some smaller gas turbine engines are even used to produce electrical power, drive pumps, and generate steam. "Turbine engines are relatively simple, at least insofar as their parts count is concerned. And they are also tough and reliable, so they rarely fail in any circumstances" (Aarons, 2001, p. 52). In the Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, Dale Crane defines a gas tur

What is the future for gas turbine engines?

There are considerably fewer problems with gas turbine engines than its predecessor, the reciprocating engine; however, the environment, as well as time are the greatest hindrance. The average commercial airplane flying today is almost twenty years old, and their engines are now in need of constant upkeep and repair (Schonfeld, 1995, p. 245). This is because, "Aircraft engines must perform in extremely hot and cold environments. A plane taking off from Antarctica, for example, can have its internal engine temperatures go from a bone-chilling -50 degrees to 1,000 Fahrenheit in a matter of minutes" (Dahl, Frank, Mraz, 2000, p. 108).

What are some new advances with the engines?

An internal combustion engine that burns its fuel in a constant-pressure cycle. Air is taken into a gas turbine engine and compressed by either an axial flow or centrifugal compressor. The compressed air then passes into the combustion chambers where fuel is sprayed into a continuously burning fire. The burning fuel heats and expands the air. The hot air passes through a turbine, which extracts some of the energy and uses it to turn the compressor. (p. 267)

Gas turbine engine engineers are constantly looking for new materials that are lighter, stronger, and corrosion resistant. Machine Design identifies two new controlled-expansion alloys:

The entire device complete with an integrated electric generator--is expected to weigh in at just 1 gram. According to lab director Alan Epstein, a prototype silicone micro turbine produced using semiconductor-type micro fabrication methods may be operating by the turn of the century. If that initial effort meets success, the researchers plan to use similar lithographic techniques to construct another radial inflow turbine engine from silicon carbide, a refractory ceramic material (Ashley, 1997, p. 78).

Another material that has been in development for decades is ceramics. During the 1940s and 1950s a variety of ceramics were evaluated, but to no avail. Ceramics have been looked at again for turbines because of Great Britain's fabrication of silicon nitride and silicon carbide. (Rich

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Approximate Word count = 1466
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science