Preliminary analysis of thermodynamic cycle of an intercooled recuperated turbofan engine

Intercooled recuperated aero-engine (IRA) is built based on conventional engine while intercooled and recuperated cycles are incorporated. It can utilize effectively engine's heat, improve the thermal efficiency and reduce the specific fuel consumption. The intercooled recuperated aero engine presents a new concept about ″green″ engine. On the MATLAB platform, an overall performance simulation model has been developed on the intercooled recuperated tri-spool turbofan engine with split exhaust. Then, performance simulation and thermal cycle analysis was carried out under this model. The result indicates that, with the same thermal cycle parameters and specific thrust, the specific fuel consumption of the IRA is less than that of the conventional turbofan engine.