Design and CFD analysis of a regenerator for a turboshaft helicopter engine

A possible provision of a regenerator is examined with an attainable effectiveness, least pressure drop and small weight for a modified veteran turboshaft helicopter engine. From the thermal analysis it is known that considerable amount of heat energy exists in the turbine exhaust gas. It is thought that the heat energy can be recovered to preheat the compressor discharge air as it is in the large power plant gas turbine engines. The regenerator is chosen to be a suitable device to recover the waste heat because of its high heat transfer surface area per unit volume. The regenerator is designed using the standard and proven design procedures. The weight and space limitations are taken into account while designing the regenerator. The performance of the designed regenerator is assessed by the CFD tool CFX. The obtained results are compared with the results of other regenerators of three different engines. It is observed that the thermal efficiency can be improved by 5% and specific fuel consumption (SFC) can be reduced by 23% of the total energy supplied. The pressure drop in the gas ducts is also evaluated using CFD Tool. The entire analysis results indicate that the designed regenerator is most suitable to the turboshaft helicopter engine.