New technology could help high-performance aircraft turbine engines stay cool, perform better

High-performance aircraft turbine engine manufacturers are facing unprecedented increases in the amount of heat that must be released in order to maintain acceptable temperatures in supersonic engines that is required for the aircraft to operate at optimum levels.

Issam Mudawar, professor in Purdue's School of Mechanical Engineering, has developed a device that could use aircraft fuel to cool hot engine components in order to alleviate the increasing temperatures.

Mudawar said hot engine components are generally cooled by air that is bled from the engine's compressor, but this type of system does not work for high-performance engines.

"Cooling an engine with air from the aircraft's compressor is not viable for high-performance engines since the compressor air at supersonic speeds is too hot itself," he said. "My technology uses the aircraft fuel to cool the compressor air before it is used to cool the hot engine components in the aircraft."

Mudawar said aircraft engine manufacturers could benefit greatly from the heat exchanger device.