Improved Mission Capability and Economy via Regeneration

The mission capability of some gas turbine powered vehicles can be greatly enhanced by the application of regeneration to the engine thermodynamic cycle. The application of regeneration to aircraft propulsion presents many unique design problems to the designer as a result of the need for very lightweight components and high performance. The many design parameters that must be evaluated, and the many tradeoff studies that must be accomplished to arrive at the best regenerator and gas turbine design are discussed. Also, the results of a series of studies are presented to graphically portray the fuel economy which results from the use of regenerative engines.