Ram air turbine enhancement for auxiliary power unit replacement

Fossil fuels are currently the primary energy source of aircraft and cause harm to the environment. This study highlights the use of clean energy instead of fossil fuels in aircraft. This work aimed to study the possibility of dispensing auxiliary power unit (APU) in aircraft powered by fossil fuels...

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Main Author: M. Saad, Magedi Moh
Format: Thesis
Language:English
English
English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/338/
http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/338/1/24p%20MAGEDI%20MOH%20M.%20SAAD.pdf
http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/338/2/MAGEDI%20MOH%20M.%20SAAD%20COPYRIGHT%20DECLARATION.pdf
http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/338/3/MAGEDI%20MOH%20M.%20SAAD%20WATERMARK.pdf
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author M. Saad, Magedi Moh
author_facet M. Saad, Magedi Moh
author_sort M. Saad, Magedi Moh
building UTHM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Fossil fuels are currently the primary energy source of aircraft and cause harm to the environment. This study highlights the use of clean energy instead of fossil fuels in aircraft. This work aimed to study the possibility of dispensing auxiliary power unit (APU) in aircraft powered by fossil fuels to reduce air pollution and the total fuel cost used in aircraft. Multiple drawbacks were recorded from APU usage, such as relatively high operating cost, undesired emissions, and noise. In this project, ram air turbine (RAT), which are already equipped in aircraft, was enhanced to generate the amount of energy produced by APU. Two approaches were adopted in order to achieve the goal. The number of RAT units in the aircraft body were increased, and the classical RAT design was improved by adding a counter-rotating system (counter-rotating RAT - CRRAT). The design of RAT blades was based on blade element momentum (BEM) theory. The performance of RAT and CRRAT was analyzed using FLUENT software. The adopted numerical scheme was the Navier–Stokes equation with k–ω (SST) turbulence modeling. In order to numerically simulate the actual turbine operation, the dynamic mesh and user define function (UDF) were used to revolve the rotor turbine via wind. This study was performed in two stages. The first stage was conducted to evaluate the power produced from a single-rotor RAT. Three RATs were required to fulfill the APU power output, and the best location for RAT placement was under the wings and the belly of the aircraft. The second stage aimed to evaluate the amount of power generated from CRRAT and select the optimum axial distance of CRRAT. Results indicated that the optimum axial distance was 0.087 of rotor diameter, and the efficiency increased to 81.63% compared to that of the single-rotor RAT (conventional RAT). The power output of CRRAT placed at the optimum axial distance was assessed. The power produced by CRRAT was in positive agreement with simulation results. Thus, CRRAT could be used for all aircraft equipped with traditional RAT.
first_indexed 2025-11-15T19:50:02Z
format Thesis
id uthm-338
institution Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
English
English
last_indexed 2025-11-15T19:50:02Z
publishDate 2017
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling uthm-3382021-07-22T07:18:27Z http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/338/ Ram air turbine enhancement for auxiliary power unit replacement M. Saad, Magedi Moh TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery TA174 Engineering design TJ266-267.5 Turbines. Turbomachines (General) Fossil fuels are currently the primary energy source of aircraft and cause harm to the environment. This study highlights the use of clean energy instead of fossil fuels in aircraft. This work aimed to study the possibility of dispensing auxiliary power unit (APU) in aircraft powered by fossil fuels to reduce air pollution and the total fuel cost used in aircraft. Multiple drawbacks were recorded from APU usage, such as relatively high operating cost, undesired emissions, and noise. In this project, ram air turbine (RAT), which are already equipped in aircraft, was enhanced to generate the amount of energy produced by APU. Two approaches were adopted in order to achieve the goal. The number of RAT units in the aircraft body were increased, and the classical RAT design was improved by adding a counter-rotating system (counter-rotating RAT - CRRAT). The design of RAT blades was based on blade element momentum (BEM) theory. The performance of RAT and CRRAT was analyzed using FLUENT software. The adopted numerical scheme was the Navier–Stokes equation with k–ω (SST) turbulence modeling. In order to numerically simulate the actual turbine operation, the dynamic mesh and user define function (UDF) were used to revolve the rotor turbine via wind. This study was performed in two stages. The first stage was conducted to evaluate the power produced from a single-rotor RAT. Three RATs were required to fulfill the APU power output, and the best location for RAT placement was under the wings and the belly of the aircraft. The second stage aimed to evaluate the amount of power generated from CRRAT and select the optimum axial distance of CRRAT. Results indicated that the optimum axial distance was 0.087 of rotor diameter, and the efficiency increased to 81.63% compared to that of the single-rotor RAT (conventional RAT). The power output of CRRAT placed at the optimum axial distance was assessed. The power produced by CRRAT was in positive agreement with simulation results. Thus, CRRAT could be used for all aircraft equipped with traditional RAT. 2017-10 Thesis NonPeerReviewed text en http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/338/1/24p%20MAGEDI%20MOH%20M.%20SAAD.pdf text en http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/338/2/MAGEDI%20MOH%20M.%20SAAD%20COPYRIGHT%20DECLARATION.pdf text en http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/338/3/MAGEDI%20MOH%20M.%20SAAD%20WATERMARK.pdf M. Saad, Magedi Moh (2017) Ram air turbine enhancement for auxiliary power unit replacement. Doctoral thesis, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia.
spellingShingle TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
TA174 Engineering design
TJ266-267.5 Turbines. Turbomachines (General)
M. Saad, Magedi Moh
Ram air turbine enhancement for auxiliary power unit replacement
title Ram air turbine enhancement for auxiliary power unit replacement
title_full Ram air turbine enhancement for auxiliary power unit replacement
title_fullStr Ram air turbine enhancement for auxiliary power unit replacement
title_full_unstemmed Ram air turbine enhancement for auxiliary power unit replacement
title_short Ram air turbine enhancement for auxiliary power unit replacement
title_sort ram air turbine enhancement for auxiliary power unit replacement
topic TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
TA174 Engineering design
TJ266-267.5 Turbines. Turbomachines (General)
url http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/338/
http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/338/1/24p%20MAGEDI%20MOH%20M.%20SAAD.pdf
http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/338/2/MAGEDI%20MOH%20M.%20SAAD%20COPYRIGHT%20DECLARATION.pdf
http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/338/3/MAGEDI%20MOH%20M.%20SAAD%20WATERMARK.pdf