Numerical investigation of the effect of spraying vapor in combustion chamber of turbine engine on engine performance

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical and Engineering Faculty and Research Institute, Imam Hossein University, Tehran, Iran

2 science committee of Technical Engineering Faculty of Imam Hossein University

Abstract

Turbine engines are one of the vital components in the transportation sector. Due to their widespread usage, there have been continuous strides to enhance the power and thrust of the turbine engines and also the overall cycle efficiency using various techniques. One of those techniques is the introduction of steam into the combustion chamber. The addition of steam enhances the mass flow rate of the working fluid, hence increasing the power and thrust of the engine. This would, additionally, reduce the outlet temperature from the combustion chamber and extend the turbine life while reducing the emissions; besides, as mentioned above, the steam generation from exhaust gases of the engine increases the overall cycle efficiency.

The investigations are presented over ALF502 engine in this study on injecting steam into a combustion chamber. The type of research that has been carried out is dealing with various flow rates and pressures besides fuel to air ratios. Calculations with STAR-CCM+ are carried out, then with a MATLAB code, the analysis for a suitable gas cycle of the engine and engine power and thrust calculation was found, at the same time, producible steam from exhaust gases estimation is done.



The tests demonstrated that the injection of steam, solely derived from exhaust gases for the generation of steam without any additional fuel, resulted in power up to a maximum increase of 17%. Moreover, when added the required supplementary fuel to generate steam, three times the power increase and an increase in thrust by two-thirds were achievable.

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Fluid Mechanics & Aerodynamics
Volume 14, Issue 1 - Serial Number 35
Spring and summer 2025
September 2025

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History

  • Receive Date: 01 January 2025
  • Revise Date: 06 September 2025
  • Accept Date: 03 August 2025
  • Publish Date: 23 August 2025

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