Electromagnetic Air Compressor for Gas Turbine Applications

In the process of improving the performance of a normal turbofan engine to meet the new European norms, a German company Bauhaus Luftfahrt is developing a new generation of engines which is a hybrid of piston and jet engine. In this prototype engine, the high-pressure compressor stages are replaced with a 3-piston system where each consists of 12 cylinders in total 8 for compression and 4 for combustion. This piston system enables the engine to achieve hectopressure ratio and thus improving the performance of the engine. These 3 piston systems are mounted along the circumference of the main shaft of the engine, this indirectly increases the weight of the engine. As there isnumber of stages in the piston system to transmit the energy from one stage to another a mechanical linkage such as a crankshaft is required which is one of the heaviest components in the assembly of the compression system. In aircraft design reducing the weight of the components is a key consideration, hence any method of reducing the weight of the piston system will improve the efficiency of the entire system. While researching solutions for this problem, possibly a new method of air compression was discovered by utilizing the electromagnetic force generated by copper coils. Based on this basic principle, a new system of air compression is being developed which uses electromagnetic force from coils rather than the mechanical force from a motor to compress the air for a system. As this is a new concept the designing had to be done from a top to bottom approach considering the output is fixed at 0.2 MPa pressure. For the design, a double-acting cylinder was considered as it increases the output volume for the same dimensions as a normal piston air compressor.