Wave Rotor

Topping
Cycle
Aircraft Propulsion I Assignment 1
Dr. Raed Kafafy
Due Date: September 28th 2014

Group members:
Sundus Awan EAU0812425
Hira Laghari EAU0712303
Sarah Azouz EAU0512235
Wissam Abdouli EAU0212061
Naveen Fernando EAU0112028
Sheraz Ali Hafiz EAU____________

TABLE

OF

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
MAIN TYPES AND DESIGN
FUNCTIONALITY
ADVANTAGES
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES

2
2
4
4
5
6

Introduction
Wave rotors are unsteady-flow devices being researched on currently to
improve the performance of gas turbines by utilizing them as a topping cycle
while they act as a pressure exchanger. They work by exchanging energy by
direct work action between fluids within a single device and therefore are
incredibly versatile devices as they are also being used within diesel
automobiles as a pressure wave supercharger, as a source of air within
hypersonic wind tunnels and even as air conditioners in deep underground
mines. We will be concentrating on its use as a topping cycle where its main
advantage is the allowability of higher combustion temperatures before
entering the turbine as the gas will be cooled off with in the wave rotor.

Main Types and Design

A wave rotor consists of a number of channels arranged about an axis. By
rotation, the ends of the channels are periodically attached to high and low
pressure ducts which in turns generate pressure wave and then utilize them.
As the number of channels present is large, the flow in the ducts is almost
steady; however the device is termed an unsteady-flow device, and is
directed to other steady flow components.

A four-port wave rotor attached to its testing station with the four ports clearly
seen (NASA, 2011)

In a conventional arrangement of a four-port wave rotor, it is placed in

parallel to the combustion chamber and the turbine while being attached to
the combustor therefore called a topping cycle. The following schematic will
give a better understanding of this arrangement.

A schematic depicting a four-port wave rotor being used

as a topping cycle (NASA, 2011)

However when wave rotors are considered to be used in gas turbine engines,
an internal combustion design is designed where combustion occurs within
the wave channels in the ducts of the wave rotor which charges and
discharges across the specifically sized inlets and outlets.

Sketch of an Internal Combustion Wave Rotor (International Gas Turbine Congress, 2003)

Schematic of an Internal Combustion Wave Rotor showing the absence of an external

combustor and the presence of a fuel injector (International Gas Turbine Congress, 2003)

Functionality
The most recent interest and the one being discussing is the use of wave
rotors as topping cycles to enhance the specific power and reduce the
specific fuel consumption of gas turbine engines. For this application the
wave rotor would be used with air from the compressor passing to the wave
rotor, which is constantly rotating, and being compressed, then heated in the
combustor or internally combusted within the wave rotor in the case of an
ICWR. In a conventional wave rotor though it would then return to it where
expansion takes place and finally be sent to the turbine. The gas entering the
turbine would be at the same temperature as it would be without a wave
rotor, but its pressure would be significantly higher. Maximum improvement
requires the wave rotor to be optimized for best performance at the mass

flow of the GT engine. The optimization is a reducing with losses due to

friction and passage opening time, and rotational effects.

Advantages
The increase in pressure within a wave rotor is what gives rise to the
increased performance which includes higher thermal efficiency and work
enhancement both desired factors in advancing gas turbine engines. It has
been proved that this applies for all engines with the same inlet and outlet
Mach numbers.
Using the figure below showing the temperature- entropy comparison
between a baseline gas turbine engine and a wave rotor topped gas turbine
engine, it can be seen that both engines have the same inlet turbine
temperature (4a and 4b) but the topped engine gains far more pressure in
the combustor and therefore has a larger output work. Also as the topped
engine has a lower final entropy value (5a), it can be seen that it is of a
higher thermal efficiency.

Temperature-Entropy Diagram for a baseline GT engine and a wave rotor topped

GT engine (International Conference on Vibration Engineering, 2005)

In the case of internal combustion wave rotors, the need for extra ducting
and an external combustor both of which are normally exposed to extreme
temperatures can be eliminated and therefore these wave rotors with their
several advantages can be easily being placed in modern gas turbine
engines without the need to having to add any more parts. Their relatively
simple design also proves for easy manufacturing in the future making that
another advantage over conventional gas generator cores.

Conclusion
The objective of this report was to gain a deeper understanding of this newly
heard of technology as a student and it seems as though wave rotors seem
have been extensively investigated and with their countless advantages over
traditional parts, be provided the opportunity to change these sometimes
conceptual devices into regular used parts. With their usage in situations
such as those where they may be used as topping cycles, the immense
increase in performance could revolutionize gas turbine engines and
furthermore the aviation industry once the research data fully supports their
consequences and recognizes their unique abilities.

References
Paxson, DE. (2011). Wave Rotor Topping Cycle for Gas Turbine
Engines.Available:
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/cdtb/projects/waverotor/. Last
accessed 27th Sept 2014.
Wilson, J, Paxson, DE. (1993). Jet Engine Performance
Enhancement Through Use of a Wave-Rotor Topping Cycle. NASA
Technical Memorandum 44, p1-14.
Nalim, R, Pekkan, K. (2003). Internal Combustion Wave Rotors for
Gas Turbine Engine Enhancement. Proceedings of the
International Gas Turbine Congress . p1-4.
Akbari, P, Muller, N. (2003). Preliminary Design Procedure for Gas
Turbine Topping Reverse-Flow Wave Rotors. Proceedings of the
International Gas Turbine Congress . p3-7.