A hybrid engine concept for multi-fuel blended wing body

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a novel hybrid engine concept for a multi-fuel blended wing body (MFBWB) aircraft and assess the performance of this engine concept. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed hybrid engine concept has several novel features which include a contra-rotating fan for implementing boundary layer ingestion, dual combustion chambers using cryogenic fuel (liquefied natural gas [LNG] or liquid hydrogen [LH2]) and kerosene in the inter-turbine burner (in flameless combustion mode) and a cooling system for bleed air cooling utilizing the cryogenic fuel. A zero-dimensional thermodynamic model of the proposed hybrid engine is created using Gas Turbine Simulation Program to parametrically analyse the performance of various possible engine architectures. Furthermore, the chosen engine architecture is optimized at a cycle reference point using a developed in-house thermodynamic engine model coupled with genetic algorithm. Findings – Using LH2 and kerosene, the hybrid eng...