"The Enlightenment" wrote in message
...
Water Cooled Jet Engines: a possibility then and now?


At the present steam cooling is used on stationary power turbines. If
water cooling extended operating temperature such that fuel efficiency
rose 5% for a jumbo jet would we see it on a commercial airliner?


It seems unlikely given the weight penalty and rise in complexity the
water cooling system represents. This was looked at by most
of the gas turbine manufacturers in the late 1940's and the
consensus was that it wasnt viable. Given the increased
performance of high temp alloys since then I doubt thats
likely to change. Stationary turbines might utilise such a
system but most are derivatives of aircraft turbines.

One scheme that is being looked at for land based turbines
is using the waste heat from the turbine exhaust to produce
steam in a waste heat boiler. This steam is then used to drive
a chiller that cools the gas turbine intake air. This can improve
performance by as much as 20% in hot climates

Keith