Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session 2166

Laboratory Experience with a Model Jet Turbine

John E. Matsson

Oral Roberts University

Abstract

This paper describes the experience gained from the operation of a JetCat model turbojet engine as part of an undergraduate mechanical engineering program. The engine was remotely controlled from a laptop using Jettronic for Windows software for the serial interface. Engine speed, fuel consumption, and exhaust gas temperature were measured using the software and the thrust was determined from a digital force gauge and compared with calculations based on different readings. Students designed the turbine mount and a safety enclosure for the engine. The use of this engine has been a low cost alternative to other commercially available turbojet laboratory systems.

Introduction

It is now 65 years since the first successful flight using a jet turbine in the Heinkel He 178 aircraft1. Since then, modern turbo-jets have been developed to a high level of sophistication. During the last 15 years, model aircraft builders have also developed fully functional scale versions of jet turbines2-4. In recent years the Turbine Technologies SR- 30 turbojet engines have been used in mechanical engineering laboratories5-7. Another available laboratory system is the Powertek axial flow gas turbine engine. Our choice was to purchase a lower cost model aircraft engine kit that included all the necessary auxiliary equipment.

In this study, a turbojet laboratory system was set up in the undergraduate manufacturing course, and used for labs and demonstration purposes in fluid mechanics and applied thermodynamics8. The laboratory set up consists of a JetCat P-70 model jet engine and subsystems required for operation. The turbojet engine with a weight of only 1.2 kg and a diameter of 94 mm produces a maximum thrust of around 70 N at 120,000 rpm. The idle rpm is 35,000. The instrumentation provided with the engine includes a temperature sensor at the exhaust exit and a speed sensor. Furthermore, an electronic control unit (ECU) simplifies start up and assures safe operation by maintaining turbine rpm within certain limits. A support unit (GSU) was connected to the ECU for monitoring parameters such as temperature, rpm, and fuel pump voltage. By using a RS-232 serial

Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright ©2004, American Society for Engineering Education

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Matsson, J. (2004, June), Laboratory Experience With A Model Jet Turbine Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--13003