Abstract
This study presents an exergetic and sustainability analyses to assess the performance of a genuine medium scale turboprop engine (m-TPE) used on the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The exergy efficiency of the engine is obtained to be 17.24% whereas the exergy efficiencies of the compressor, the combustor, the gas generator turbine, the gas generator turbine mechanical shaft, the power turbine, the power turbine mechanical shaft and the exhaust duct are found to be 87.21%, 52.51%, 98.53%, 98.60%, 97.40%, 98.00%, and 94.29%, respectively. From the viewpoint of thermodynamics, the combustor is determined to be the bad factor on the engine performance among the engine components. According to overall engine analysis, the environmental effect factor, exergetic sustainability index, sustainable efficiency factor and ecological effect factor of m-TPE are found to be 4.80, 0.21, 1.21, and 5.80, respectively.
Highlights
Rapid developments and significant progress in aerospace engineering is observed in the present era
Turbine engines are candidate to serve as propulsion system of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as well as commercial and fighter aircrafts in spite of electromotor known with their characteristics such as light weight, durability, and low cost
Turbine engines are commonly preferred in military UAVs such as MQ-9 Reaper, RQ-4 Global Hawk, TAI ANKA, General Atomics Avenger and so on [5,6,7,8,9,10,11]
Summary
Advances in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developments for specific requirements and demands play a determining role. Turbine engines are widely used devices to generate required thrust for most of the aerial vehicles due to their features. If the weight of an armed UAV is considered in company with flight range and envelope, an electromotor is insufficient to power the UAV. For this reason, turbine engines are commonly preferred in military UAVs such as MQ-9 Reaper, RQ-4 Global Hawk, TAI ANKA, General Atomics Avenger and so on [5,6,7,8,9,10,11]
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