Advanced Supersonic Component Engine for Military Applications

A 1500 kWe Brayton cycle engine is in development that has the efficiency of a diesel, but with the size, weight and maintenance attributes of a gas turbine. The Advanced Supersonic Component Engine (ASCE) combines many of the proven features of shock wave compression and expansion systems, commonly used in supersonic flight inlet and nozzle designs, with turbo-machinery practices employed in conventional axial flow gas turbines. The superior efficiency of the ASCE is a result of high pressure shock wave compression and supersonic expansion phenomena that produce high component efficiencies and a unique engine configuration that minimizes flow stream turning losses throughout the system. The engine employs a two stage counter-rotating configuration to achieve a 30:1 pressure ratio and a 42% simple cycle efficient engine to drive a high-speed direct drive permanent magnet (PM) electric motor/generator for all electric power and propulsion applications. The system promises a specific fuel consumption equal to or better than current reciprocating diesel engines in this size range, but with a 10:1 weight reduction and a 4:1 improvement in time-between-overall compared to marine diesel systems in this size range. This is a 2:1 increase in fuel efficiency at full power over existing gas turbines in this size range.© 2007 ASME