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The past 15 years of concept development leading to today s aircraft regenerative turbine engine are broadly reviewed. With this as background, current regenerative turboprop engine technology is discussed. Comparisons are made of the range and endurance capabilities of aircraft equipped with simple and regenerative cycle engines; projections of further development potential are made. The application of regeneration in turbofans, particularly in the moderate to high bypass engines, is considered. Performance characteristics are shown for various flight conditions and bypass ratios to illustrate the potential gains from regeneration. The question is one of determining whether the associated weight and drag penalties offset the reduction in fuel consumption. The problem offers a major challenge to the ingenuity of the engine designer.

The mission capability of some gas turbine powered vehicles can be greatly enhanced by the application of regeneration to the engine thermodynamic cycle. The application of regeneration to aircraft propulsion presents many unique design problems to the designer as a result of the need for very lightweight components and high performance. The many design parameters that must be evaluated, and the many tradeoff studies that must be accomplished to arrive at the best regenerator and gas turbine design are discussed. Also, the results of a series of studies are presented to graphically portray the fuel economy which results from the use of regenerative engines.