UW Aeronautics & Astronautics 2023-2024 Distinguished Speaker Series with Karen Thole
Abstract
Commercial aviation is responsible for between 2.0 and 2.5 percent of the total global CO 2 emissions of which 90 percent comes from large single-aisle and twin-aisle aircraft. In response to the International Civil Aviation Organization’s pledge to support an aspirational net zero aviation goal by 2050, a number of directions have been identified by the aviation industry. With the exception of fully electric, the majority of the future aviation propulsion systems use a gas turbine as the power plant. Given this need, it is imperative that if we are to reduce our CO 2 emissions, significant research attention is needed for improving the overall efficiency of gas turbine engines, which is the product of the propulsive efficiency (conversion of shaft power to propulsive power) and motor thermodynamic efficiency (conversion of fuel flow power to shaft power), which is often referred to as thermal efficiency. Today’s aircraft operate with propulsive efficiencies of up to 70 percent and thermal efficiencies of up to 55 percent, both of which have steadily improved over many decades given innovations, significant testing, and improved design tools. To achieve these efficiencies, today’s turbine engines operate at temperatures much above the melting temperatures of the turbine components through the use of highly advanced cooling technologies. This presentation will discuss a few approaches that are being taken to move forward in gas turbine research to reduce the carbon footprint.
Bio
Dr. Karen A. Thole is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University where she also previously served as the Department Head. Dr. Thole’s expertise is heat transfer, additive manufacturing, and instrumentation development. She directs the Steady Thermal Aero Research (START) Lab where experimental and computational studies are conducted to advance aviation sustainability and power generation through highly efficient turbines. She is a Fellow of ASME and AIAA. She has been a member of several National Academy of Engineering studies; has served on NASA advisory committees; and is a member of the Department of Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. Her work has been recognized by ASME’s R. Tom Sawyer, George Westinghouse Gold, Edwin F. Church and Heat Transfer Memorial Awards. From AIAA, she has been awarded AIAA’s Air Breathing Propulsion and Thermophysics Awards. Dr. Thole received her BSME and MSME from the University of Illinois and her PhD from the University of Texas.
