Heat Exchanger for Waste Heat Recovery of an Aircraft Gas Turbine Engine (Gold Team)

Discipline: MAE

Advisor: Rhett Jefferies

Aircraft gas turbine engines release thermal energy through their exhaust that is currently wasted. This project aims to recover a portion of this energy by developing a compact microtube heat exchanger to be integrated into a supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power cycle for onboard power generation. By capturing waste heat from the engine’s exhaust, the system reduces the need to extract mechanical power from the main turbine shaft and improves aircraft efficiency while reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions. The annular heat exchanger uses an array of microtubes that allow sCO2 to flow inside the tubes while exhaust gas passes over the tubes in a crossflow configuration. The design is optimized for maximum heat transfer performance and minimum pressure drop and weight so that it can successfully integrate with aircraft engines and surpass current power solutions. The full-scale heat exchanger is designed for integration with the LEAP-1B engine. To validate the design, a scaled prototype is manufactured and tested using a J85 engine. Testing evaluates thermal performance, pressure drop, and structural integrity under representative conditions. The design is scalable to different engine sizes, operating conditions, and heat output requirements, allowing for application to a wide range of gas turbine engines.

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