Peng Shan

School of Jet Propulsion,

Beijing University of Aeronautics
and Astronautics,
37 Xueyuan Road,
Beijing 100191, China
e-mail: PShan@buaa.edu.cn

Yicheng Zhou
School of Jet Propulsion,
Beijing University of Aeronautics
and Astronautics,
37 Xueyuan Road,
Beijing 100191, China
e-mail: zhouyc@sjp.buaa.edu.cn

Dexuan Zhu
School of Jet Propulsion,
Beijing University of Aeronautics
and Astronautics,
37 Xueyuan Road,
Beijing 100191, China
e-mail: zhudexuan@comac.cc

Mathematical Model of
Two-Stage Turbocharging
Gasoline Engine Propeller
Propulsion System and Analysis
of Its Flying Characteristic
A flying characteristic simulation method was studied for two-stage turbocharging compression ignition (CI) engine propeller propulsion system, intended for medium/high altitude low-speed long-endurance multirole aerial vehicle systems at 1020 km high.
Introducing the simulation method for gas turbine engine with component models, based
upon component maps or algebraic equations, this method solved joint-working equations of the propulsion system by Newton iteration method to obtain cooperation points
of the system. A full-power holding (FPH) requirement and turbocharger-engine collaboration condition were stated. The regulating rules in both FPH mode and power lapse
(PL) mode were analyzed. The influences of regulating rules on turbocharger operating
lines were placed. Finally, the altitudevelocity characteristics of the propulsion system
and components were investigated. The research shows three results. This method converges rapidly that usually it needs only 56 iterations to obtain one operating point. The
regulation scheme of two gas-bypass valves cannot only meet the design objectives but
also allow an effective adjusting to the operating points of the turbochargers. This
method can be extended conveniently to the simulations of more complex multistage turbocharging systems. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4028664]

Introduction
In atmospheric research, traditional jet aircraft which aims at
the high-altitude high-speed tasks will encounter series of problems, such as the high operational and maintaining costs, destruction of the study samples and equipments caused by aerodynamic
heat, and the shock wave in high speed flying [1]. To this end, in
the 1990s NASA focused on the research of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and its propulsion system specialized by highaltitude low-speed long-endurance and low operating cost. Wilkinson and Benway [2], Harp [3], Tonskotter and Scheithauer [4]
investigated separately the performances of very highly turbocharged CI engines and high pressure ratio turbojets capable of
working at altitudes above 18.3 km. After that, Bents et al. [1,5]
affirmed that the right candidate for powering the research aircraft
at these altitudes is just the multistage turbocharging gasoline
engine, based on the comparison among gasoline, diesel, turbojet,
turbofan, rocket, and solar energy engines. In order to pursuit very
high flying altitude, a multistage turbocharging system in series
and parallel connections is usually adopted. However, this produces a multi-component-matching complex system with multidesign-freedom, multi-control-variable. Therefore the specifying
of turbochargers, the setting of intercooler parameters, and the
definition of the system regulation rules become the essential
issues in the design of a multistage turbocharging propeller propulsion system.
The studies of the above issues are usually carried out
through system experiments and integral performance simulations. Taking the black-box assumption for the gasoline engine
and other four experienced assumptions, adapting both the empirical equations for compressor maps and a revised iterating
model for power/rotational-speed matching operating points of
Contributed by the Aircraft Engine Committee of ASME for publication in the
JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING FOR GAS TURBINES AND POWER. Manuscript received July 22,
2014; final manuscript received August 5, 2014; published online November 25,
2014. Editor: David Wisler.

three compressor/turbine assemblies, Metlapalli [6], Loth et al.

[7] presented the altitude-performance of the 80 horsepower gasoline engine Rotax 912 equipped with a tristage turbocharging
system, together with a three-valve control strategy and the conclusion of system usability. In the same year, a single-stage turbocharged Rotax 912 engine took aircraft Altus I to the altitude
13.3 km successfully. Once again in 1999, a two-stage turbocharged Rotax 912 engine took aircraft Altus II to the altitude
16.8 km and lasted 3 h there. Rodgers [8] then reported the
design method, component performance, and system test of a tristage turbocharged Rotax 912 power plant arriving at the pressure ratio 64 in a 26 km high altitude facility. Its three spools of
turbochargers were developed especially by thermo mechanical
systems, and initially featured the aluminum bearing housings,
vaned diffusers, and titanium impellers with a high stage pressure ratio four. Its system cycle analysis and turbocharger
matching assumed still the constant efficiencies of compressors,
turbines, and intercoolers. Other experiments include the study
of Korakianitis and Sadoi [9] about the effects of different turbochargers on CI engine. On the other hand of system modeling
of multistage turbocharging system cycle design and matching,
Perz [10] reviewed some pure- and semi-theoretical methods
and codes developed by literatures in 1970s to 1980s and presented his multicomponent design code involved in the mass
continuity and energy equations. It is noticed that an aerial turbocharging systems mathematical model must include the momentum equation to consider the turbine mass confluence flow
losses. Based on the compressor-turbine cooperation curves and
the blackbox CI engine with FPH mode and PL mode,
Shan et al. [11] reported an essential model for a two-stage
turbocharged system and analyzed its regulating rules and its
altitude characteristics. Lee [12] applied a simplified component
balancing method to study the performances of the two-stage
hybrid boosting systems of exhaust, mechanical and electrical
driven chargers. A zero-dimension model was used to analyze
in-cylinder process.

Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power

C 2015 by ASME
Copyright V

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Although only the simplified component models were used, and

the propeller component was not included in, the above mentioned
experiment is also very encouraging, while the modeling techniques have a progressive precision. To realize an aviation propulsion system model, more precise component models, especially
the propeller map should be introduced, thus one can obtain the
altitudevelocity characteristics of both the components and the
integral system.
In this paper, the mathematical model of the gas turbine engine
with component models [1316] is introduced. Also the analysis
of the characteristic of the two-stage turbocharged CI engine propeller propulsion system is fulfilled. The performance maps and
the algebraic equations are used to describe the components. The
joint-working equations of this kind of propulsion system are
given and Newton method is used to solve this equations. A jointworking condition between turbocharger and CI engine is clarified
and a system FPH requirement is placed. The regulating rules of
this kind of system in both FPH mode and PL mode are analyzed.
The altitudevelocity characteristics are displayed, and they show
some important inner working features of this propulsion system.

Design Objectives
The two-stage turbocharging propeller propulsion system
(Fig. 1) in this paper mainly consists of a variable-pitch propeller,
a CI engine, a low pressure (LP) and a high pressure (HP) turbochargers, a LP, and a HP intercoolers. The system main regulating
variables involve propeller pitch, engine throttle, LP, and HP turbine bypass valves. So this is a multivariable propulsion system
with four independent variables. To cooperating work of the system, a certain number (just equals four) of regulating rules of the
internal variables need to be introduced. The determining solution
conditions of the joint-working equations of the system are the
flying altitude and the flying velocity.
In this paper, (1) The altitude at the sea level is marked as H0 .
(2) The FPH altitude is marked as H2 . It means the highest altitude
where the boosting CI engine can output the maximum continuous
power the same as that in the sea level H0 . (3) Above H2 , the power
output of engine is allowed to lapse, until to 35% of its maximum
continuous state power at the sea level. The corresponding altitude,

marked as H3 , is named the thermodynamic ceiling of the boosting

CI engine propulsion system. The design objective of this paper is
to make the FPH altitude H2 reach 10 km.

Turbocharger and CI Engine Joint-Working Condition,

Engine FPH Requirement
Turbocharger and CI Engine Joint-Working Condition.
The mass flow in the engine is caused by the reciprocating intake
and exhaust motions of the piston, so it is rather different from the
inherently continuous mass flow in turbocharger. For a four-stroke
CI engine, the time averaged mass flow m_ s is determined by Vh , n,
gv , and qs [17], as shown below:
m_ s

Vh ngv qs Vh ngv ps
m_ 0


120
120 RTs

(1)

During the joint-working, the mass flow m_ 0 provided by compressor must pass all through the CI engine. So Vh , n, gv , ps , Ts of
the engine and m_ 0 should meet a certain relation shown in the
third equation of Eq. (1). This relation is called here the mass flow
equilibrium equation in the system joint-working equations.
Engine High Altitude FPH Requirement. The compression
ratio e of a CI engine is fixed, so its ideal cycle thermal efficiency
gt 1  1=ek1 is constant, while the indicated efficiency gi / gt .
Considering only the atmospheric environment change, one can
take gi  const. So, assuming the excess air coefficient is fixed,
the CI engine indicated power Ni will be proportional to the mass
flow entering the cylinders.
K

Ni;x m_ s;x

Ni;r m_ s;r

(2)

where K is the ratio of the indicated power. According to

ISO3046-1:2002 [18], the relationship of power adjustment for
ambient conditions is
"
!
#
Ne;x
1
K  1  K 1  a
1 a
(3)
gm;r
Ne;r
where a is the ratio of the mechanical losses related to ambient
conditions to the indicated power. So in order to keep the engine
effective power Ne not to decrease, namely, keep the indicated
power not to decrease, with the increasing of altitude, one needs
keeping engine mass flow not to decrease. So this paper takes
K 1 in Eq. (3) as the high altitude FPH requirement of the propulsion system.

Two-Stage Turbocharger Regulating Plan, Engine

Regulating Rules in FPH Mode and PL Mode

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of two-stage turbocharged compression ignition engine propeller propulsion system

051201-2 / Vol. 137, MAY 2015

Two-Stage Turbocharger Regulating Plan. Two regulating

plans could be envisaged to a two-stage turbocharging system.
First, regulates HP stage mainly for low altitude and LP stage
mainly for high altitude. It means adjusting only HP stage to keep
the engine mass flow not to decrease with increasing altitude,
while LP stage does not work, until the HP compressor reaches its
maximum state at the low altitude design point H1 . After that,
adjusting only LP stage to keep the engine mass flow not to
decrease with increasing altitude, while HP stage works at a constant point, until the LP compressor reaches its maximum state.
Second, regulates two stages together. It means adjusting simultaneously two stages according to a certain regulating rules to keep
the engine mass flow constant, until one of them reaches its maximum state.
Since a turbocharger is a component characterized by three
variables mass flow, rotation speed, and pressure ratio, the first
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regulating plan is substantially a plan adjusting a turbocharger

according to only the pressure ratio required. So the two-stage
will encounter a serious mass flow conflict at different altitudes.
Additionally, the plugging into of the LP compressor in the
compression duct at H1 will complicate the duct valve system
and the control system. So the second regulating plan is
feasible.
Engine FPH Mode Regulating Rule. By the above discussion, a turbocharging CI engine operating in FPH mode must
meet the mass flow equilibrium equation (Eq. (1)) and FPH
requirement K 1 in Eq. (3). However, from the knowledge of
coworking of a geometry unchangeable compressorturbine set,
if the turbine works in the critical state, at which the
Mach number of the gas at the throat of the turbine nozzle is
equal to 1, the joint-working line of the compressor-turbine set is
fixed. So generally speaking, the system cannot automatically
satisfy the above mass flow equilibrium equation and FPH
requirement simultaneously. To achieve the FPH state, an additional regulating variable must be introduced. Two candidates
can be chosen.
(1) Regulating the cooling ratios of intercoolers.
It can regulate the cooling ratio of HP intercooler solely or regulate that of two intercoolers simultaneously. This paper applies
the following component model of intercooler:
9
Tout Tin  ecool Tin  T1 >
=
pout pin r

qout pout =RTout

>
;

(4)

Seen from Eq. (4) that, by regulating quantitatively the cooling

ratio ecool , the flow density qout at the manifold intake can be kept
constant as desired though the altitude changes.
(2) Regulating the bypass ratios of the turbines.
Arrange one bypass valve at either the HP or the LP turbine
side to regulate the amount of the exhaust mass flow entering into
the turbine. It is easier to regulate the bypass ratio than to regulate
the intercooler cooling ratio.
Furthermore, arranging the bypass valve at both HP and LP turbine sides provides one more regulating freedom with more convenient adjusting of the operating points. This paper selects the
candidate of two exhaust bypass valves.
By the discussion in the above, in order to let the propulsion
system with two exhaust bypass valves work properly, now an
additional regulating rule must be given. In this rule, the regulating objectives can be the LP (or HP) rotor speed, or the power
ratio of LP to HP compressor, or the ratio of LP to HP compressor
pressure ratio. Studies [17] show that the above mentioned two
ratios have the significant effects on the performance of the multistage turbocharging propulsion system. So the regulating objectives in this paper are chosen as the power ratio of LP to HP
compressor, while the regulating means are chosen as the LP
and HP turbine exhaust bypass ratios, the values of which can
be obtained by solving the propulsion system joint-working
equations.
Engine PL Mode Regulating Rule. With the altitude increasing, two compressor pressure ratios, namely, their rotation speeds,
need to be increased constantly, until the maximum allowable
speeds and corresponding maximum pressure ratios are achieved
at altitude H2 , which is the propulsion system FPH altitude.
Ascending higher than H2 , the engine must work in PL mode in
which the power output is allowed reducing. The regulating rule
chosen in this mode is to limit the LP and HP compressor pressure
ratios as the values at the FPH altitude.
Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power

Propulsion System Component Model

Intercooler. See intercooler model Eq. (4) with its explanation.
Compressor. The compressor model is defined by the steady
approach. Equations (5) and (6) are the compressor characteristic
maps. By the corrected mass flow m_ cor;k and total pressure ratio
pk , on the digital maps, the compressor model interpolates the corrected speed ncor;k and the adiabatic efficiency gk .


ncor;k fk;1 m_ cor;k ; pk
(5)


(6)
gk fk;2 m_ cor;k ; pk
Turbine. Despite there is much more intense pulse flow and
unsteadiness in turbine side than in compressor side [19,20], turbine performance estimation usually adopts the quasi-steady
approach in the component-level model. By experiments, Chen
et al. [21] show that this approach has a certain accuracy. So the
quasi-steady approach is used in this paper for turbine performance calculation.
Equations (7) and (8) are the turbine characteristic maps. By
the corrected speed ncor;t and total expansion ratio pt , on the digital maps, the turbine model interpolates the corrected mass flow
m_ cor;t and the adiabatic efficiency gt . The simplified turbine characteristic maps containing no speed variable are used temporarily
in this paper.


(7)
m_ cor;t ft;1 ncor;t ; pt


gt ft;2 ncor;t ; pt
(8)
Turbine Exhaust Confluence Loss Model. The turbine
exhaust combiner mixes the turbine exhaust flow and the turbine
bypass flow. This causes an entropy generation due to the heterogeneous of the flows. Further, this mixing changes also the value
of enthalpy and the amount of the exhaust mass flow entering into
the next turbine. These factors impact strongly the regulating
result of the next turbocharger.
According to the mass flow, energy and momentum conservation laws associating with the flows of two inlets and one outlet of
the combiner, a confluence flow equations can be written as
Am At Ab
m_ m m_ t m_ b
m_ m cp;g Tm m_ t cp;g Tt m_ b cp;g Tb

9
>
>
>
>
>
>
=

>
>
>
m_ m acr;m zkm m_ t acr;t zkt m_ b acr;b zkb >
>
>
;
pm Acr;m f km pt Acr;t f kt pb Acr;b f kb

(9)

where A is the cross-sectional area of a tube, k, acr , z, f is separately the dimensionless velocity coefficient, the critical sound
speed, two aerodynamic functions. They are found in textbooks of
Gasdynamics, e.g., Ref. [22]. The subscripts b, t, and m denote,
respectively, the bypass flow, turbine exhaust flow, and the
combiner outlet flow. By Eq. (9), the total pressure pm of the
mixed flow is obtained after solving km .
CI Engine Simplicity Black-Box Model. Based on the CI
engine ground characteristic map, a simplified black-box model
for its altitude characteristic is placed. First, Eq. (10) represents
the ground characteristic map seen in Fig. 2. By the given rotational speed and the throttle position, this engine model interpolates from the map to obtain the effective power Ne;r and the
specific fuel consumption SFCr of the engine on the ground. This
ground state serves as the reference state. Second, according to
the engine effective power correction relations Eqs. (2) and (3)
and the specific fuel consumption correction relation Eq. (11)
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propeller operating point, it interpolates on the digital map by

given kp and Cp in the equation below:
)

kp V=3:6=np =60  D
Cp Np  1000=q1  np =603  D5

)
gp fp;1 kp ; Cp


up fp;1 kp ; Cp

(13)

(14)

Two-Stage Turbocharging Propulsion System

Joint-Working Equations

Fig. 2 Ground characteristic of gasoline engine Rotax 914 and

operating points

from Ref. [18], this model calculates the Ne;x and SFCx of the
engine at the given altitude on the same state as the reference
state. Finally, according to the mass flow and energy equations
and the CI engine mass flow relation Eq. (1), it forms Eq. (12) and
calculates the thermodynamic parameters at engine exhaust manifold outlet at given altitude.
Ne;r fN n; throttle
SFCr fSFC n; throttle

(10)

SFCx =SFCr K=L

m_ f Ne;x  SFCx =3600
m_ out m_ 0 m_ f

(11)
9
>
>
>
>
=

m_ out cp;g Tout m_ 0 cp Tin 1  ac m_ f Hu gcomb  Ni >

>
>
>
;
pout 120m_ out Rg Tout  rp =Vh n

Propeller propulsion system should be configured with a variable pitch propeller or a constant speed propeller for its wide operating range. When the speed and power vary within a range, the
propeller is able to absorb the engine power completely by adjusting the propeller pitch. Therefore, from the view of solving the
operating point of the propulsion system, the solutions of the turbocharging CI engine and the propeller can be decoupled. It
means the solving of the system operating point can be divided
into two successive steps for convenience. This paper solves first
the operating point of the engine then that of the propeller.
For the propulsion system shown in Fig. 1, seen from Fig. 3, by
the opinion of the variations of the thermodynamic parameters
along the stream from entering into the LP compressor intake to
exhausting out of the LP turbine combiner exhaust tube, there are
seven variables must be solved to obtain one operating point.
They are m_ 0 , LP, HP stage pressure ratios pkl , pkh , HP, LP stage
turbine bypass ratios bth , btl , turbine expansion ratios pth , ptl .
Their values should make the components meet the mass flow,
power, and rotational speed balance. By these principles, the
joint-working equations of two-stage turbocharging CI engine system are presented in Fig. 3.
Turbocharger and CI engine mass flow equilibrium
m_ 0 Vh ngv ps =120RTs

(15)

(12)

where ac rp is separately the ratio of the heat loss amount and cylinder cooling amount to the combustion heat release, the modifying factor for considering the effect of pulse to mean effective
pressure at the exhaust manifold outlet.
Propeller. Propeller characteristic map, seen in Fig. 16, is represented by Eq. (14). For obtaining the values of np and / on the

CI engine maximum power output requirement

m_ 0 m_ 0;r H  H2 ; FPH mode
NoneH > H2 ; PL mode


(16)

Regulating rules of ratio of compressor powers

Wkl =Wkh cH < H2
pkl pkl;H2 ; pkh pkh;H2 H > H2


(17)

Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of the component level simulation method of two-stage turbocharging CI engine

051201-4 / Vol. 137, MAY 2015

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Power balance between LP compressor and LP turbine

Wkl Wtl  gml

(18)

Power balance between HP compressor and HP turbine

Wkh Wth  gmh

(19)

Mass flow balance between LP turbine outlet and inlet

m_ 62 m_ 54  btl

(20)

Mass flow balance between HP turbine outlet and inlet

m_ 52 m_ 4  bth

(21)

The equations are closed to seven variables.

Solving of the Joint-Working Equations

The solving of joint-working equations in FPH mode and PL
mode are similar in this paper, the only difference is the regulation
rule. For the FPH mode, first, use the component models Eqs.
(4)(14), with the guessed values of above seven variables, to calculate the operating point and inlet and outlet flow parameters of
each component. Then, check each components mass flow,
power, rotational speed at its operating point, to see whether the
joint-working relations Eqs. (15)(21) are meet. If not meet,
adjust the guessed values of vector X of seven variables (see Eq.
(22)) according to the amounts of the residual vector of the descending equation FX 0 (see Eq. (23)), until the residual vector decreases to 0. The difference in PL mode is that the residuals
in Eqs. (25) and (26) which reflect the joint working requirement
Eqs. (16) and (17) in the situation H < H2 disappeared. So in this
case X is reduced to five dimensions.
Any kind of step-down method can be used to descend the
joint-working equations. In this paper, Newton iteration method is
used to solve the descending equations FX 0.
X m_ 0 ; pkl ; pkh ; bth ; btl ; pth ; ptl T
T

FX f1 ; f2 ; f3 ; f4 ; f5 ; f6 ; f7 0
Vh ngv qs
120m_ 0
m_ 0;r
f2 X 1 
m_ 0
c
f3 X 1 
Wkl =Wkh
f1 X 1 

Wtl gml
Wkl
Wth gmh
f5 X 1 
Wkh
f4 X 1 

(23)
(24)
(25)
(26)
(27)

(32)

for one to solve the flying characteristic of an integral propellerCI engine propulsion system. During the solving process of one
operating point of the propulsion system, when it takes propeller
pitch as an independent variable, Newton method may cause some
engine speeds varying at so great a range that it exceeds the boundaries of the engine map. This boundary overstepping must be
confined by the code for the convergence.
This paper adopts another level of iteration, the dichotomy, for
matching Eq. (32). In it, if the boundaries of the engine power
map are overstepped to match the propeller power, it is announced
and the calculation marches to the next point.

Propulsion System Flying Characteristics With

Four Independent Variables Altitude-Velocity-Engine
Speed-Throttle
Using the above mentioned method, the propulsion system
flying characteristics with four independent variables were calculated. Since the propulsion system altitudevelocity characteristics
are similar at different engine power states specialized by engine
rotational speed and throttle position, the characteristics at the
maximum continuous power state corresponding speed 5500 rpm
and throttle position 100% spanning altitudes H0 H3 and velocities 0250 km/h are discussed only.
The altitudevelocity characteristics of the propulsion system
have a closed relationship with the loss of ducts connecting components. Table 1 shows the duct r variations with height in simulation. They are kept the same or a linear decrease with altitude
increasing below H2 , then kept unchanged above H2 . Those r are
achievable in practice.
The Effects of Compressor Power Ratio to Two-Stage Turbocharging System. Three kinds of power ratio regulating plans
(Fig. 4) are studied here. Their altitude characteristics show,
below 12.5 km, all two-stages pressure ratios increased with the
increasing of altitude, while the LP compressor pressure ratio
increased faster than that of HP one (Fig. 5), which can be
explained as the rising of total temperature makes the compression more difficult in HP compressor. Plan 1 (case 1) shows that
two pressure ratios reach the same amount at about 6 km. Beyond
12.5 km, two pressure ratios remain constants.
Figure 6 shows the altitude characteristics of the operating
points of two compressors on their maps. With the altitude
increasing, the operating points of both compressors move toward

(28)
(29)

m_ 54 btl
m_ 62

(30)

Table 1 Duct total pressure recovery coefficients

r
Duct

where the residuals of Eqs. (24)(30) correspond to Eqs.

(15)(21). The descending iteration formulae are
)
@F=@Xk DX FXk
(31)
Xk1 Xk DX
In them the 7  7 Jacobin matrix @F=@Xk is determined by a
local numerical test process. The iteration stops when the twonorm of vector FXk is less than the given error tolerance. For
Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power

Ne Np Ng

(22)

m_ 4 bth
f6 X 1 
m_ 52
f7 X 1 

the convergence of Newton method is second-order, the calculation

processes show that after 56 steps the iteration converges, as long
as the guessed values of seven variables are not far off the mark.
Obviously, the joint-working equations Eqs. (15)(21) should
be added with the shaft power matching equation below:

Inlet
LP compressor exhaust
LP intercooler inlet
HP compressor inlet
HP compressor exhaust
HP intercooler inlet
Engine intake manifold
Engine exhaust manifold
HP turbine inlet
HP turbine exhaust
LP turbine inlet
LP turbine exhaust

H1

H2

0.97
0.93
0.95
0.95
0.95
0.94
1.0
0.96
0.96
0.96
0.96
1.0

0.97
0.93
0.94
0.94
0.93
0.93
1.0
0.96
0.96
0.96
0.96
1.0

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Fig. 4 Three cases of prescribed regulating plans of real compressor power ratios Wkl =Wkh

Fig. 5 Altitude characteristics of total pressure ratios under

three cases of prescribed real compressor power ratios

the upper right region in maps. Seen also, the compressor power
ratio affects both turbochargers operating lines, especially that of
the LP turbocharger (Fig. 6(a)). At a certain altitude, while the
propulsion system working in FPH mode, the corrected mass flow
of the LP compressor is kept constant. When the gas power distributed to the LP turbocharger reducing, the pressure ratio of LP
compressor decreases, and its operating point moves down and
away from the surge line. The power ratio affects the HP turbocharger operating line little (Fig. 6(b)). At a certain altitude, when
the gas power distributed to the HP turbocharger increasing, the
operating point moves along the operating line toward the direction with higher mass flow and pressure ratio.
Also noticeable in Fig. 7 that, most of the HP compressor operating points locate in the high efficiency region of map, indicating
a good matching of the HP turbocharger with the system. Again
apparently, the LP compressor operating points at lower altitudes
in smaller engine speeds and throttles are near the surge line, corresponding to the natural off-design performance of a compressor.
Altitude Characteristics of Turbocharging CI Engine. Due
to the altitudevelocity characteristics of the propulsion system
with its components are similar for different power ratio regulating
plans, only plan 2 (case 2) is discussed here. Seen in Fig. 8, the two
rotors speed up steadily and the HP rotor reaches first its mechanical speed limitation of nearly 130,000 rpm at 12.5 km, so in Fig. 9,
the actual FPH altitude of this system achieves 12.5 km. Ascending
continuously, the system operates in PL mode, in which the engine
mass flow and power decrease rapidly, eventually to about 36% of
051201-6 / Vol. 137, MAY 2015

Fig. 6 Operating point variations on compressor maps under

three regulating rules of compressor power ratio (a) LP compressor and (b) HP compressor

the ground full power at the altitude 18 km. The specific fuel consumption of the engine keeps unchanged below the FPH altitude
and increases rapidly with the altitude increasing.
Altitude Characteristics of Turbocharging System. Figure 5
(case 2) shows the altitude characteristics of two compressor pressure
ratios. Figure 10 shows the altitude characteristics of two turbine
expansion ratios and bypass ratios. It is seen that the turbine bypass
ratios steadily decrease with the altitude increasing within the FPH
altitude, since turbines must meet the increasing demand of compressor power. Notice that the values of both bypass ratios are determined
by the physical constraints of the system joint-working equations
rather than are prescribed as two independent design variables.
Figures 11 and 12 show the variations of total pressures and
total temperatures in main sections of the turbocharger system.
Seen that both total pressure and total temperature of the flow
entering engine intake manifold declines with altitude increasing
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Fig. 8 Altitude characteristics of the rotational speeds and

similar rotational speeds of two compressors

Fig. 9 Altitude characteristics of power and specific fuel consumption of the engine
Fig. 7 Compressor operating points in regulating plan two for
engine power states from speed 4300 to 5800 rpm, throttle 55 to
115%, altitude 0 to 18 km (a) LP compressor and (b) HP
compressor

below the FPH altitude, as a result it ensures a constant density,

i.e., mass flow in intake manifold.
The LP compressor inlet Mach number MinL reaches the maximum value 0.53 (Fig. 13) at the FPH altitude H2 . After that with
altitude increasing and the ambient density decreasing rapidly,
this Mach number no longer changes. This is due to that, according to the principle of the regulating plan, the inlet variables nL ,
resulting in the unchanged similarTinL , pKL are keptpunchanged,

p
ity variables nL = TinL , m_ 0 TinL =pinL , and MinL of the LP compressor. This also means the compressor mass flow m_ 0 is
proportional to pinL in the PL mode when with the above regulating plan. Therefore, before reaching the thermodynamic ceiling
H3 , Mach numbers MinL , MinH will not exceed their values at H2 ,
so that the compressors can work safely and effectively. Otherwise, a practical ceiling of the system should be set up, at which
Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power

one of MinL , MinH reaches its critical value causing a steep efficiency drop. The turbine outlet Mach numbers should also be considered like this.
Figure 12 also reflects the effect of the thermal removing of
two intercoolers. In this simulation, the reduced total temperatures
were about 108 K and 102 K for LP and HP intercooler separately,
while both cooling ratios of two intercoolers were prescribed as
ecool 0:93 at 12.5 km. It is noted that the detailed heat transfer
model was not introduced here. How to realize the heat transfers
deserve a further study.
For all flying height, Fig. 14 shows that HP and LP turbine operate both in the subcritical state, and Fig. 15 shows that with the altitude increasing, two-stage total pressure ratio increases faster than
two-stage expansion ratio. These are due to the reasons that there is
enough energy in the exhaust flows to drive the compressors, and
with the altitude increasing, the turbine bypass ratios decrease or
the amounts of the working exhaust mass flows increase.
AltitudeVelocity Characteristics of the Propeller. Figure 16
is the map of power coefficient Cp and propulsion efficiency gp of
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Fig. 10 Variations of turbine expansion ratios and turbine

bypass ratios with altitude

Fig. 12 Total temperature variations of engine system main

sections with altitude

Fig. 11 Total pressure variations of engine system main sections with altitude

Fig. 13 Compressor inlet, turbine outlet Mach number variations with altitude

the propeller, as well as the simulating propeller characteristic

expressed by 40 altitude  26 velocity operating points of propeller. Results show that, with altitude increasing, the Cp first
increase due to density drop, then decrease rapidly due to the regulation of the PL mode. The altitude of this transition is H2
12.5 km. Figure 17 is the altitudevelocity characteristic of the
propeller pitch, which first increases then decreases with altitude
increasing. As to the velocity characteristic of the chosen propellers propulsion efficiency gp , it increases with velocity increasing
before the advance ratio kp reaching two.

ambient density leading to a larger momentum difference, a

smaller Cp and a higher gp of the propeller (Fig. 16). For the altitude characteristic, the thrust at lower altitude declines faster
with velocity increasing, at higher altitude keeps unchanged basically. Being known from the thrust formula F Np gp =V, it is
due to that, at lower altitude, gp rises slower than does flying
velocity, and at higher altitude, they rise proportionally. The
efficiency is discussed second. Seen from Fig. 19, below H2
12.5 km, gp decreases with altitude increasing. Above 12.5 km,
gp increases instead with altitude increasing. Being known from
Eq. (13), it is due to that, the system first regulates in FPH mode
in which CP rises, then regulates in PL mode in which engine
PLs and CP declines. To the overall performance, the system
thrust is 88.4 daN and gp is 0.81, when cruising at 10 km,
230 km/h.
Figure 20 is the altitude-velocity characteristic of the specific
fuel consumption SFC of the propulsion system. For the altitude
characteristic, SFC increases with the altitude increasing at lower
altitude and keeps nearly unchanged at above H2 12.5 km. For the

AltitudeVelocity Characteristics of Two-Stage Turbocharged

Propulsion System. Figures 18 and 19 are the altitudevelocity
characteristics of the propeller thrust and propulsion efficiency at
the engine maximum continuous power state after deducted the
generator power. The thrust is discussed first. For the velocity
characteristic, the thrust at lower altitude is greater than that at
higher one. It is due to that at lower altitude, there is higher
051201-8 / Vol. 137, MAY 2015

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Fig. 16 Propeller performance map and operating points

Fig. 14 Turbine operating point variations in turbine maps

with altitude (a) HP turbine and (b) LP turbine

Fig. 17 Altitudevelocity characteristic of the propeller pitch

Fig. 15 Two-stage total pressure ratio, total temperature ratio,

expansion ratio, temperature drop ratio variation with altitude

Fig. 18 Altitudevelocity characteristic of propeller thrust

Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power

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Fig. 19 Altitudevelocity characteristic of propeller efficiency

Fig. 21 Altitudevelocity characteristic of total efficiency of

propulsion system

altitude, the characteristic of gtotal resembles that of the propulsion

efficiency.
There exists a blank area which looks like a dormer in Figs.
1721. It means the propeller and engine are mismatching in
power in this area. Specifically in this paper, it means, even using
the largest available pitch of 40deg, the propeller cannot absorb
the power output of the engine in the maximum continuous power
state. It is noted that the flying characteristic simulations should
have this kind of abilities to place those mismatching states or no
fly states. In practice, there are many ways to deal with these dormer, such as throttle reducing, dormer bypassing from the region
with higher flying velocity to climb up (Fig. 18), or replacing the
propeller by a powerful one.

Conclusions

Fig. 20 Altitudevelocity characteristic of the specified fuel

consumption of propulsion system

velocity characteristic, SFC increases, first slower then faster,

with velocity increasing at lower altitude. SFC decreases slowly
instead with the velocity increasing at above 12 km.
Furthermore, SFC shows a wide range of change with the variations of flying velocity and altitude. It is simply explained as follows. First, the altitude characteristic below 12.5 km is discussed.
The fuel mass flow must be constant for the FPH mode. The rapidly increasing of SFC with the altitude increasing in a wide altitude range at small flying velocity is due to the thrust decline.
Then at higher velocity, the increasing of SFC becomes slow due
to the slower decline of the thrust caused by increasing of gp . Second, the altitude characteristic beyond 12.5 km is discussed. The
rapid reducing of the fuel mass flow is owing to the regulating of
PL mode. The slight decreasing of SFC is due to the slower
decline of thrust than the decline of fuel mass flow.
Figure 21 is the altitudevelocity characteristic of gtotal of the
propulsion system. gtotal is the product of the combustion, engine
thermal-cycle, and propeller propulsion efficiencies. Since the
thermal-cycle efficiency holds not to change below the FPH
051201-10 / Vol. 137, MAY 2015

A characteristic simulation method of component level used in

gas turbine engine is introduced to design and analyze the aerial
two-stage turbocharging CI engine propeller propulsion system.
The component performance maps and algebraic equations are
used to set up the component models. Both the joint-working equations of this kind of propulsion system and its altitudevelocity
characteristic are placed. The studies show
(1) Newton method is used to solve the joint-working equations. This simulation method converges fast that usually
after 56 iterations the system operating point is obtained.
(2) A numerical example is available. The regulation scheme
of two gas-bypass valves cannot only meet the design
objectives, but also allow an effective adjusting to the operating points of the turbochargers. A power mismatching
area of CI engine and propeller may be found in the overall
altitudevelocity range.
(3) The power ratio of LP to HP compressors can serve as one
of the convenient regulating objectives, while in the practice, its value can be calculated through the real-time measurements of compressor pressure ratios and rotational
speeds. Different compressor power ratios, which are prescribed by regulating plan, have an impact on the
coworking line of the LP compressorturbine set, while this
impact is greater than that on the HP one. In FPH mode,
SFC of the propulsion system varies with a wide range,
while in PL mode, SFC varies with a narrow range.
(4) To more complex turbocharging arrangements with multistage series-to-parallel junctions, from the view of the
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mathematical model, the same component models as used

here can be used, and any kind of step-down operation
method such as Newton method, n 1 point residual
method, etc., can be used. The only difference is the system
joint-working equations which based on the actual connections between components. Certainly the control strategies
and their impacts on those systems will be envisaged as the
more complicated problems.

Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank MT-Propeller Entwicklung
GmbH for the instructions.

Nomenclature
Cp propeller power coefficient
cp ; cp;g specific heat at constant pressure of the air, of the
exhaust (J=kg  K)
D propeller diameter (m)
H altitude (km)
Hu low heat value of the fuel (kJ/kg)
m_ 0 ; m_ f engine mass flow, fuel mass flow (kg/s)
Ma Mach number
n, np engine, propeller rotational speed (rpm)
Ne effective power of engine (kw)
Ng extra loads of engine shaft, e.g., generators (kw)
NP propeller power (kw)
p total pressure (Pa)
R; Rg gas constant of the air, of the exhaust (J=kg  K)
SFC specific fuel consumption (for CI engine kg=kw  h,
for propulsion system kg=daN  h)
T total temperature (K)
V flight velocity (km/h)
Vh engine displacement (m3 )
b turbine bypass ratio m_ bypass =m_ 0 m_ f
c prescribed compressor power ratio
e engine compression ratio
ecool intercooler cooling ratio
gcomb engine combustion efficiency
gi indicated efficiency of engine
gm mechanical efficiency
gp propeller propulsion efficiency
gtotal system total efficiency
gv volumetric efficiency
kp advance ratio of propeller
pk total pressure ratio of compressor
pt total pressure ratio of turbine
q density (kg=m3 )
r total pressure recovery coefficient
/ propeller pitch (deg)

Subscripts
cor
in; out
k; t
l; h
r
s

corrected
inlet, outlet cross section
compressor, turbine
low, high pressure stage
reference state of engine
engine intake manifold inlet

Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power

x actual state of engine

1 undisturbed atmosphere

Abbreviations
CI
FPH
HP
LP
PL

compression ignition
full-power holding
high pressure
low pressure
power lapse

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