Bleed Air

System
Aircraft
Prepared By : Bismil Rabeta, ST, MT
Engine Bleed Air

• "Engine Bleed" is referring to the tapping of pressurised air from the compressor
at various stages. Usually there are three positions along the compressor from
which air is tapped as the diagram below shows. The different temperatures
and/or pressures of the three tappings make the air useful for different things.
• Generally air is tapped for different reasons as follows:
• Airframe customer bleed air e.g. :
1. ECS
2. Main Engine Starter
3. Air Driven Hydraulic Pumps
 And engine requirements:
• Internal Engine Cooling Air
• Active Clearance Control
• Hot Air Anti Icing
It should be noted that the above are
Con’t all parasite airflows and are
detracting from total thrust.
NB : This section does not refer to
compressor control by the use of
Bleed Valves and IGVs.
 Customer Bleed Air
• Customer bleed air is usually tapped from the HP compressor. In
the engine above it is tapped from 10th stage. It is cooled and
pressure regulated before it passes into the aircraft pneumatic
system to supply air as required throughout the airframe.
• Some larger engines bleed air from 2 stages of the HP compressor
for customer bleed, an early stage and usually the last stage In
Engine Bleed this case if the pressure drops in the bleed air duct the last stage
will supply if not the early stage will supply, thus conserving high

Air Distribution
pressure Compressor Delivery Pressure air.
• Air is drawn from the compressor at various places to provide air
for Airframe needs such as cabin pressurisation and wing and tail
anti/de ice. It can also be used within the fuel control system to
meter fuel, and in the compressor bleed valve system to control
the bleed valves. It can provide heating air for fuel heaters and
muscle air to drive air motors in pumps (both for the engine and
the airframe) and it can power thrust reversers.
 • Air is tapped from various compressor
stages and from the fan air supply in the
case of high bypass air to provide
cooling and sealing to the internal parts
of the engine. It is important that very
hot surfaces are not cooled by cold air
Internal Engine as the thermal shock can cause
structural failure.
Cooling • Note that in addition to the bleeds
shown above fan air is tapped from
holes in two of the fan outlet struts and
are ducted into the bore of the engine
passing to the LP turbine discs.
 Turbine Blades and Nozzle Guide Vanes
As we have already seen, the thrust of the engine is
determined by the maximum allowable RPM of the engine.
Centrifugal force is one limit to the RPM, but before this
limit is reached, the maximum turbine temperature limit is
normally reached, due to the quantity of fuel being burned.
Clearly then, if the turbine components could be
manufactured from a more heat resistant material, or they
Cooling could be cooled more effectively, then an increase in fuel
could be scheduled, which would result in an increase in
RPM. and hence thrust.
Cooling allows the components to operate in a thermal
environment 600 to 800°F above the melting points of the
alloys used in their construction. With cooled blades the
maximum Turbine Inlet Temperature (TIT) is currently
3000°F. The following cooling methods are utilised:-
Convection cooling
• Convection Cooling - is the passing of compressor bleed air through
hollow portions of the turbine blade or vane. The cooling air either
exits from the top to join the main gas flow, or exits via gill holes to
become film cooling.
 • Film Cooling is an external film of
compressor bleed air which carries away
the hot gasses before they have time to
make contact with the surface of the
blade or vane.
• It is usually associated with convection
cooling. The use of film cooled
Film Cooling components, manufactured by modern
investment casting techniques, have
enabled a complete turbine assembly to
be built which never comes into contact
with the hot engine gasses.
 • It has been found that cooling air
which is simply "passing over"
the hot surface is not as efficient
as cooling air which "hits" or
impinges the surface at 90 ° to it.
Impingement Therefore, very complex designs
Cooling of blades and vanes have been
developed which direct the
cooling air at 90° to the internal
surface of the blade or vane
 • It is often necessary to cool the exhaust

Exhaust section of the gas turbine engine. A

common method of doing this is an
Insulation Blanket and Cooling Film.
 Cooling of the external skin of an aero-engine is
achieved by suitable design of the aircraft airframe;
the layout will depend upon where the engine is
fitted and what kind of engine compartment is
used. Normally, the cooling and ventilating of an
engine bay or pod is achieved by ducting
atmospheric air round the engine and spilling it
External Skin of back to atmosphere through suitably placed
outlets (see figure 12.6.). The air is usually taken
Engine from a ram inlet but provision is also made to
provide a cooling and ventilating airflow during
ground running periods. Another function of the
cooling airflow is to remove flammable vapours
from the engine compartment to reduce the fire
risk.
 • A number of aircraft accessories produce
sufficient heat in normal use to require a cooling
system to prevent overheating. A good example
is the aircraft electrical generator, which
produces considerable heat under normal
operating conditions. Such accessories can be
cooled by ram airflow when the aircraft is flying,
but will require an alternative cooling airflow
Cooling of when the aircraft is on the ground. For ground
running and taxiing, the generator for example,
Accessories is cooled by an airflow that is taken from
the'engine compressor. This air is blown through
nozzles to produce a venturi effect area of low
pressure. The low pressure then induces a
continuous cooling flow of atmospheric air
through the normal ram air passages. This is
adequate for cooling most accessories during
ground running. Figure 12.7 illustrates a
generator cooling system. These are sometimes
referred to as ejectors or eductors
 • Engines vary as to the number
of external air tappings and
their usage. The following
notes are taken from the Pratt
and Whitney JT9D but have
External Air been simplified to provide a
more generic coverage.
Tappings
 • Utilised for the pre-cooling of
air conditioning air, cooling the
ignition system and on some
engines, the Passive and Active
tip clearance control.
Fan Air
 • Utilised for pneumatic cabin
bleeds at concise RPM's on the
JT9D, this can also supply air for
nose cowl anti-icing on other
HP Compressor engines. The nose cowl anti-icing
may have a separate manifold
-- IP Air (8th and from another compressor stage.
9th Stage)
Pressure Relief Valve

• Should the high pressure stage bleed valve fail in the open position, a
pressure relief valve is provided to protect the pre-cooler from
overpressure damage. The valve normally would include a pressure
switch connected to a PRESS RELIEF warning on the pneumatics display
on the flight deck. The operating pressure would be in the region of 100
psi. If the valve opens the vented air escapes through a spring-loaded
door on the cowl (blow out panel).
Temperature Control
• The system normally consists of a pre-cooler
temperature sensor and controller, pre-cooler and
control valves. This system stabilises the air going to
the airframe system, by keeping it constant at a value
that the engine can achieve at all power settings. The
valves are normally part of the pre-cooler and flow of
the fan air is regulated by the opening or closing of
the valves. When temperature at the bleed air outlet
of the pre-cooler exceeds its limit (160°-180°C) the
pneumatic pressure is vented from the actuators to
move the cooling air valves toward the open position.
 Abraidable Lined Labyrinth Seal
Consist of a set of teeth bearing upon a honeycomb
lining. The gap between the honeycomb and the
teeth is constantly varying with temperature and
sometimes they make contact with each other. For

Internal this reason the honeycomb is abraidable and

replaceable at major overhauls. High pressure
compressor bleed air is used to force back any oil

Sealing which tries to escape past the seal.

Seals between two rotating shafts are more likely to
come into contact with each other due to flexing of
the shafts - this would produce large amounts of
heat due to friction. Here the abraidable lining is
replaced by a film of oil, which does not produce as
much friction.
 • Like the name implies, this
Thread consists of a thread, which, as the
thread rotates, compressor bleed

Type
air is fed outwards by the thread
action (similar to a rifle barrel)
whilst any oil trying to escape is

Seal repelled. The opposing surface

may also be abraidable and
replaceable.
 • Hydraulic seals are formed by a seal fin

Hydraulic
immersed in an annulus of oil which has
been created by centrifugal forces Any
difference in air pressure inside and

Seals
outside of the bearing chamber is
compensated by a difference in oil level
either side of the fin. Air does not pass
across this seal.
Other Seals
• Ring Type Seal This consists of a metal ring inside a housing
that allows the ring to move radially. Although this is not
the best type of seal as far as actual "sealing" is concerned,
it is not affected by radial movements of the rotating
assembly, as are the previous examples of seal.
• Carbon Seal A common type of seal which is abraidable and
replaceable at major overhauls. The presence of particles of
carbon in an oil filter is an indication of one of the carbon
seals breaking up.
Clearance Control
• Since the efficiency of the turbine depends a large extent
upon the clearance between the turbine blade tips and
their shroud, it has been found possible on some engines to
control this gap within certain limits.
• The system works by a system of pipes known as the
"cooling manifold" as shown. Bleed air is channelled
through the pipes in varying amounts in order to cool the
turbine casing and thus reduce the turbine blade tip
clearance as necessary. The system is sensitive to turbine
temperature and a valve will automatically channel the
desired rate of cooling air depending upon the turbine
temperature.
Control
• Engine shafts experience varying axial
gas loads which act in the forward
direction on the compressor and in a

of Axial
rearward direction on the turbine. The
shaft between them is therefore
always under tension and the

Bearing
difference between them is carried by
a single thrust bearing. To remove the
excessive loading from this bearing in

Loads
extreme rearward thrust conditions,
compressor bleed air acts on a
forward area as shown:-
Hot Air Anti Ice Systems
• Large Gas Turbine Engines
usually use hot air to
prevent icing. It is
controlled from the flight
deck and is used when
icing conditions prevail.
Icing conditions are
defined as a temperature
below +10°C with visible
moisture (fog, mist etc)
Hot Air Anti Ice Systems
• The hot air system provides surface heating of the engine and/or powerplant where ice is likely to form.
The protection of rotor blades is rarely necessary, because any ice accretions are dispersed by centrifugal
action.
• If stators are fitted upstream of the first rotating compressor stage these may require protection. If the
nose cone rotates it may not need anti-icing if its shape, construction and rotational characteristics are
such that likely icing is acceptable. Rolls Royce use a flexible rubber tip to their spinners that stop ice
forming.
• The hot air for the anti-icing system is usually taken from the high pressure compressor stages. It is ducted
through pressure regulating valves, to the parts requiring anti-icing. Spent air from the nose cowl anti-
icing system may be exhausted into the compressor intake or vented overboard. If the nose cone is anti-
iced its hot air supply may be independent or integral with that of the nose cowl and compressor stators.
• For an independent system, the nose cone is usually anti- iced by a continuous unregulated supply of hot
air via internal ducting from the compressor. The pressure regulating valves are electrically actuated by
manual selection, or automatically by signals from the aircraft ice detection system. The valves prevent
excessive pressures being developed in the system, and act also as an economy device at the higher
engine speeds by limiting the air off take from the compressor, thus preventing an excessive loss in
performance. The main valve may be manually locked in a pre-selected position prior to take-off in the
event of a valve malfunction, prior to replacement.