On the trade-off between minimum fuel burn and maximum time between overhaul for an intercooled aeroengine

Abstract

A large variety of promising power and propulsion system concepts are being proposed to reduce carbon dioxide and other emissions. However, the best candidate to pursue is difficult to select and it is imperative that major investments are correctly targeted to deliver environmentally friendly, economical and reliable solutions. To conceive and assess gas turbine engines with minimum environmental impact and lowest cost of ownership in a variety of emission legislation scenarios and emissions taxation policies, a tool based on a techno-economic and environmental risk assessment methodology is required. A tool based on this approach has been developed by the authors. The core of the tool is a detailed and rigorous thermodynamic representation of power plants, around which other modules can be coupled (that model different disciplines such as aircraft performance, economics, emissions, noise, weight and cost) resulting in a multidisciplinary framework. This approach can be used for efficient and cost-effective design space exploration in the civil aviation, power generation, marine, and oil and gas fields. In the present work, a conceptual intercooled core aeroengine design was assessed with component technologies consistent with 2020 entry into service via a multidisciplinary optimisation approach. Such an approach is necessary to assess the trade-off between asset life, operating costs and technical specification. This paper examines the influence of fuel consumption, engine weight and direct operating costs with respect to extending the engine life. The principal modes of failure such as creep, fatigue and oxidation, are considered in the engine life estimation. Multidisciplinary optimisation, comprising the main engine design parameters, was carried out with maximum time between overhaul as the objective function. The trade-off between minimum block fuel burn and maximum engine life was examined; the results were compared against the initial engine design and an assessment was made to identify the design changes required for obtaining an improved engine design in terms of direct operating costs. The results obtained from the study demonstrate that an engine optimised for maximum time between overhaul requires a lower overall pressure ratio and specific thrust but this comes at the cost of lower thermal efficiency and higher engine production costs.

Techno-economic viability assessments of greener propulsion technology under potential environmental regulatory policy scenarios

“…What taxation or fuel price scenario will establish economic viability and actually justify a Goulos, et al, 2010;Najafi Saatlou, et al, 2014; Doulgeris, G., et.al. 2012).…”

Techno economic and environmental assessment of wind assisted marine propulsion systems

“…TERA has been used extensively in the past to conduct design space exploration and trade-off studies, parameter sensitivity analysis, asset management and multi-disciplinary optimisation (Kyprianidis et al, 2011Xu, et al, 2013;Najafi Saatlou, et al, 2014;Camilleri et al, 2014). Frameworks that utilise a similar approach to TERA have also been used successfully by other researchers in the field for novel technology assessments (Marinai et al, 2004;Alexiou, et al, 2012).…”

“…The framework allows an increased visibility of risks, whilst enabling the user to compare and rank competing schemes on a formal and consistent basis, so that investment resources may be allocated efficiently (Goulos et al, 2010;Najafi Saatlou et al, 2014;Doulgeris et al, 2012).…”

Techno economic and environmental assessment of Flettner rotors for marine propulsion

“…Techno-economic Environmental Risk Analysis (TERA) essentially comprises a framework of mathematical models to simulate the performance of a single or a set of technologies. The framework allows an increased visibility of risks, whilst enabling the user to compare and rank competing schemes on a formal and consistent basis, to enable efficient allocation of resources (Goulos, et al, 2010;Najafi Saatlou, et al, 2014;Doulgeris, G., et.al. 2012).…”

“…TERA has been extensively used in the past to conduct design space exploration, trade-off studies, parameter sensitivity analysis, asset management and multi-disciplinary optimisation (Kyprianidis, et al, 2011;Kyprianidis, et al, 2014;Xu, et al, 2013;Najafi Saatlou, et al, 2014;Camilleri et al, 2014). Frameworks that utilise a similar approach to TERA have also been used successfully by other researchers in the field for novel technology assessments (Marinai, L., et.al.…”