HOW HOT IS

THAT
ENGINE!

FLIGHT OPERATIONS STUDY CORNER

Winters are just over the horizon and as we
welcome hot and sometimes a bit too hot
days, engine exceedances are just a few
pounds of thrust away. Lets see, in the
edition what causes EGT exceedances and
how we can avoid them.

How hot is that engine!

How hot is that engine!

FLIGHT OPERATIONS STUDY CORNER

HOW IT'S MANAGED

All engines are designed to provide a rated thrust upto a certain flat rated
temperature, also known as corner point (CP). As shown in figure 1, the takeoff
power management schedule is designed to provide increasing N1 as the OAT
increases, due to the reducing density in order to
provide the rated thrust upto the CP.
After CP, the N1 reduces with increasing OAT as
the EEC now reduces the thrust produced in order
to maintain a constant EGT.
The CFM 56-7 engines installed on our 737 fleet
are flat rated to ISA + 15 degrees Celsius, which
means that when departing from a sea level
airport, the engines produce the rated thrust upto
15 + 15 i.e. 30 degrees Celsius OAT after which
the thrust produced reduces.
Also, on the CFM 56-7s, at a constant takeoff
thrust, every 1 degree C increase in OAT increases
FIGURE 1
EGT by approximately 3 degrees C.

WHAT'S EGT MARGIN (EGTM)

EGT margin is a very good indicator of an engine's health, which is routinely
monitored through engine condition monitoring (ECM) programmes. As indicated
by figure 1, it is the difference between the EGT redline and the actual EGT
reached during full thrust takeoffs at or above flat rating temperatures.
A larger margin, seen on new engines or ones fresh out of the shop after
performance restoration, is an indication of good engine health.
EGT margin reduces due to a large number of factors- Foreign Object Damage (FOD)
- Compressor aero foil erosion

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How hot is that engine!

- Dirty compressor blades

- Increased clearance between rotor and stator blade tips due to erosion and
rubbing.
On the CFM 56-7s, a decrease of about 15 degrees in the EGT margin increases
SFC by about 1%.

WHAT'S OATL
Outside Air Temperature Limit is another measure of an engine's health.
OATL is the highest OAT at which the engine will give maximum rated
thrust without exceeding the EGT redline limit.
OATL and EGTM are related in the sense that OATL greater than CP
implies a positive EGTM. As the engine deteriorates, the EGTM as well as
the OATL reduce. At an OATL equal to CP, EGTM is zero and EGT
exceedance can occur. A negative OATL also implies a negative EGTM.
Let's take for example a departure from Mumbai, approximately sea level
with an OAT of 32 degrees Celsius in one of our old workhorses with
engines dating to your supernumerary days. As we know, CFM 56-7s are
flat rated at ISA + 15 for
takeoff thrust. OATL is
determined to be 29 degrees
Celsius, giving us a negative
EGT margin of about 3
degrees C (remember 1 deg
OAT is about 3 deg EGT).
FIGURE 2
The flight is loaded to the
brim and you can just takeoff
at full thrust.
"V1" "rotate" and after a few
seconds the EGT dial flashes red. Theoretically, the EGT should reach 953
degree C.

HOW DID WE GET THAT 950 DEG C LIMIT?

Engine certification tests require the engine to run across a varied list of situations

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How hot is that engine!

and conditions. One of the more torturous ones is the over temperature test,
wherein the engine is made to run for 150 hours in 25 blocks of 6 hours each.
This test demonstrates that the engine is capable of running 42 deg C above the
EGT redline for 5 minutes with the N1 and N2 at their redline RPMs (104* and 105
% respectively). After engine shutdown, all parts are required to be serviceable.
Maintenance tasks for exceedances are defined according to the magnitude and
duration of the excursion over the redline limit. Figure 3 shows a typical AMM
extract showing specific actions depending on the exceedances.

FIGURE 3
A short EGT excursion of EGT with other parameters within normal limits should not
adversely impact engine integrity.

HOW CAN WE END UP CROSSING THAT 950 DEG C

LIMIT?
Several reasons can cause an EGT excursion-

- engine hardware or or system malfunction

A rapid reduction in EGTM can be due to an EEC malfunction or a hardware
damage/failure. For example, a variable bleed valve (VBV) struck open during
takeoff causes a 10 deg higher EGT.

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How hot is that engine!

- normal engine deterioration

The reduction in EGTM is gradual for engines and depending on the initial EGTM, an
engine can stay on-wing for over 5 years before requiring a shop visit due EGT
exceedance.
Reduced takeoff thrust is the best method to improve EGTM deterioration trend.

- foreign object damage (FOD) very obviously results in quick engine

deterioration

- insufficient warmup times

Surprisingly, high takeoff EGTs can be experienced on the first flight of the day,
when the engine is comparatively coldest. An engine is defined as cold if it has
been shut down for approximately 6 hours or more. An extended warmup time is
especially helpful at hot and high airfields where EGTM is known to be very low. A
10 minute warmup time on a cold engine reduces the takeoff EGT by about 10 deg
C.

- dirty compressor airfoils

Environmental conditions result in the fan, booster and high pressure compressor
gaining dust over a period of
time, which results in
reduced airflow capacity and
efficiency. Timely water
washes of the engine
improve EGTM from 0 to 20
deg C.

- air leakage
A leakage in the air systems
such as Variable Bleed
Valves (VBVs), High Pressure
Turbine Clearance Control Valve (HPTCCV) or engine bleeds can result in an EGT
exceedance, especially when EGTM is low.
A little word on bleeds off takeoff - at full takeoff thrust operations, EGT levels
are almost similar for both bleeds on as well as bleeds off takeoffs. However,
choosing a bleeds off takeoff when using assumed temperature results in an
increase of about 3 deg C in the assumed temperature, which reduces the takeoff
EGT by approximately 8 deg C.
- as

a point of interest, older engines without electronic engine control maintain a

constant N1K, which is a N1 value corrected for temperature. An inversion after
takeoff would thus require a higher N1K for the same thrust, resulting in a potential

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How hot is that engine!

EGT overshoot.
Engines on our NG fleet have full authority digital controls, which maintain rated
thrust below CP by increasing N1. Above CP, there would be some loss of thrust
which is considered insignificant for performance calculations.

WHAT TO KEEP IN MIND

A takeoff EGT exceedance is not indicative of an engine failure. Like all modern
turbofan engines, the CFM 56-7s are designed and certified for operation in
extreme conditions. Deteriorating engine health can result in the EGT running
higher but thrust still remains available.
Proper respect for EGT redline limit does not mean blindly pulling back on the
thrust levers. Evaluate the situation, let the flight path stabilise at least 400 ft
above the runway before starting the engine limit or surge or stall non normal
checklist.
An EGT exceedance occurs on engines with reduced EGTMs during high thrust
operations
- on hot days
- at high altitude airports
- without proper engine warmup times
To minimise exceedance occurrences, aircrafts with known reduced EGTMs should
not be deployed on 'hot routes'. Consider bleeds off takeoff. Maintenance staff
should conduct a regular engine water wash. A longer warm-up time, including
taxi, will reduce the EGT peak during takeoff.

All queries, additions and corrections can be

addressed to
Tapesh Kumar
First Officer B737
10617495@crewmail.jetairways.com

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