Eugene M. Gluhareff's Pressure Jet Engine

Eugene M. Gluhareff’s Pressure Jet Engine

The Gluhareff Pressure Jet Engine

Richard Bramlette

University of Kansas

Spring 2012

1

The Gluhareff Pressure Jet Engine 2

Engine Overview

The Conventional Turbojet Engine


Compressor

Diffuser / Inlet Combustion

Chamber

Turbine

Nozzle

Advantages

• High Thrust-to-Weight

• Component Tailoring

• Sub/Supersonic Operation

Disadvantages

• High Temperature/Stress Conditions

• High Maintenance

• Some Exotic Materials

The Pulse Jet Engine


Valved Pulsejets

Valveless Pulsejets

• Valves open/close inlet

• Fuel injection and combustion

• Nozzle length must be tuned

• Valves need to be replaced often

• No moving parts

• Low maintenance

• Nozzles double as inlets

• Ram-air not available

Valved

Inlet

Fuel Injection

Combustion

Chamber

Tuned-Pipe

Nozzle

Tuned Inlet &

Sec. Exhaust

Tuned-Pipe

Nozzle & Inlet http://www.home.no/andreas.sunnhordvik/English/mechanical/valveless_e.htm

The Pressure Jet Engine: A Subsonic Ramjet


Gluhareff Pressure Jet Principles

• Fuel-Rich Air is Progressively Mixed

• Near-Stoichiometric Fuel/Air Ratio in Combustion Chamber

• Fuel Preheat Increases Temp. & Press.

• Resonance in Inlet Stages

Cold Liquid Fuel

Preheated Gaseous

Fuel

Ambient Air

Ambient Air

All Stainless Steel Construction

- Weldable, rust- and temp-resistant

The Pressure Jet Engine: Brayton-Gluhareff Cycle


Specific Volume, ν

Pre

ssu

re, P

Brayton-Gluhareff

Brayton Cycle

• Liquid fuel heated into high-temp. gas

• Added fuel pressure

• High temp. combustion

• Increased expansion

• Inlet Compression

• Combustion

• Exhaust to Ambient

• Conv. Ramjet Cycle

0

1 2

3

2a 1a

Inlet Compression

Nozzle/Exhaust Expansion

Added Fuel Pressure from fuel injection

Pressure-Augmented Engine Cycle P-v Diagram

Video of G8-2-130 Engine


G8-2-N Commercial Engines


G8-2 Series Engines

• N = Rated Thrust in Pounds

• Engines scaled up very well

• Sold engines & kits worldwide

• Available in -5, -15, -20, -40, -80, -130, and even -350 & -700 models

• Engine thrust was proportional to nozzle pressure

• Increased speed increased fuel efficiency using ram air


Gluhareff History

Eugene M. Gluhareff: Personal History


Family Background/Life

Selected Engineering Career

• 1916 – Born in St. Petersburg, Russia

• 1942 – B.S. AE – Rensselaer (RPI)

• 1994 – Died

• 1947 – Sikorsky – Develop Pulsejet Heli

• 1950s – Pressure Jet Invented

• 1953 – EMG Engineering Started

• 1960 – USN – Work on Rotary Drones

• 1964 – Douglas – Apollo S-IVB

• Early 1990s – EMG-300 Flies

EMG: Early Engine Development


Research into Rotorcraft Propulsion

Early Research for Igor Sikorsky

• Worked on VS-300 and R-4

• Solved many control issues

• Pioneered balanced single-blade rotors

• Foundational rotorcraft patents

• 1949 – Left Sikorsky to pursue tipjets

• 1950 – His first “tipjet” rotor flies

• 1955-56 – Research with NACA Langley

• 1970s onward – Selling engines and kits

EMG: Government Contracts


EMG Engineering

• 1953 - Started his own company

• MEG-1X, -2X Developed

• MEG-3X – Developed for USAF

• NACA Langley Research

EMG: Tipjet Research with NACA – Langley (1955-56)


Analysis & Testing of Pressure Jet System

• Applied design to a transport helicopter

• Wind-tunnel testing of design

• Developed theory & experimental data

• NACA RM E54L23 & L56B17

EMG: 1970s - A Kit You Can Build


EMG Engineering Kits

• Sold engines for a variety of projects

• Finished engines and kits available

• Kits required a good shop and welding experience


Pressure Jet Applications

Intended Purpose: Tipjet Helicopters


Advantages over Conventional Helicopters

• Very low torque transmission to body

• No tail-rotor required

• Lower engine weight

• Overall reduction in Take-Off Weight

http://www.aviastar.org/ helicopters_eng/hiller.html



Propeller-Driven Rotors

Hiller Ramjet-Driven Rotors

• Conventional thrust generation

• Limited maximum tip speed

• Abandoned as torque problem was mitigated.

• Very simple design

• Allowed high tip-speeds

• Very high fuel consumption

• Low efficiency at low tip speeds http://www.aviastar.org/ helicopters_eng/hiller.html

http://www.hubschraubermuseum.de/exponate/nagler-rolz-nr-54



MEG-1X: Single-Rotor Balanced Backpack

MEG-2X: Dual-Rotor Backpack

• Proved concept of Backpack Helicopter

• Used his balanced single-rotor design

• Successfully flew with no problems

• Remarked to have less vibration than dual-rotors

• 1950 – His first “tipjet” rotor flies

• More conventional twin-blades

• More power but shorter endurance

• Test flown several times

MEG-3X Flying Platform


MEG-3X

• Two G8-2-15 Engines used

• Gross weight of 408 lb (with Pilot)

• Low Rotor had inherent stability

• Controlled by shifting C.G.

Pressure Jet-Powered Bikes & Go-Carts


http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/kart.html

Jet-Powered Bikes

Jet-Powered Go-Carts

• G8-2-20 Engine used

• Reached speeds of ~28 mph

• G8-2-20 Engine used

• Reached speeds of ~15 mph

BD-5J Modified with Pressure Jets


Modified BD-5J

• Two G8-2-130 Engines used

• 1984 - Installed by Leland Macrorey

• C.G. and volume limitations hurt range

• Problems with asymmetric thrust

Pressure-Jet Flying Platform “Space Ranger”


Jet-Powered Bikes

• Four G8-2-130 Engines used

• Max Gross weight of 520 lb (with Pilot)

• Built by Richard Timewell

• Controlled by shifting C.G.

GTS-15: An Engineering Teaching Stand


A Teaching Tool

• 15 lb thrust engine installed

• Measured Variables:

• Exhaust Speed & Temp.

• Exhaust Fuel/Air Ratio

• Nozzle & Tank Press. & Temp.

• Thrust Force

• Heated Propane Tank

• Fuel flow and ignition control

EMG-300: “The Flying Motorcycle”


References & More Information


Irina Gluhareff – http://www.gluhareffhelicopters.com

Gluhareff Pressure Jet Engine: Past, Present, and Future Dr. Ron Barrett, University of Kansas

Irina Gluhareff, Gluhareff Helicopters, LLC Presented at 2008 AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit (AIAA-2008-867)

Watch us run the G8-2-80 during Engineering EXPO!


Questions?

Eugene M. Gluhareff's Pressure Jet Engine

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