Combustion chamber design and reaction modeling for aero turbo-shaft engine

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to formulate a structured approach to design an annular diffusion flame combustion chamber for use in the development of a 1,400 kW range aero turbo shaft engine. The purpose is extended to perform numerical combustion modeling by solving transient Favre Averaged Navier Stokes equations using realizable two equation k-e turbulence model and Discrete Ordinate radiation model. The presumed shape β-Probability Density Function (β-PDF) is used for turbulence chemistry interaction. The experiments are conducted on the real engine to validate the combustion chamber performance. Design/methodology/approach The combustor geometry is designed using the reference area method and semi-empirical correlations. The three dimensional combustor model is made using a commercial software. The numerical modeling of the combustion process is performed by following Eulerian approach. The functional testing of combustor was conducted to evaluate the performance. Findings The results obtained by the numerical modeling provide a detailed understanding of the combustor internal flow dynamics. The transient flame structures and streamline plots are presented. The velocity profiles obtained at different locations along the combustor by numerical modeling mostly go in-line with the previously published research works. The combustor exit temperature obtained by numerical modeling and experiment are found to be within the acceptable limit. These results form the basis of understanding the design procedure and opens-up avenues for further developments. Research limitations/implications Internal flow and combustion dynamics obtained from numerical simulation are not experimented owing to non-availability of adequate research facilities. Practical implications This study contributes toward the understanding of basic procedures and firsthand experience in the design aspects of combustors for aero-engine applications. This work also highlights one of the efficient, faster and economical aero gas turbine annular diffusion flame combustion chamber design and development. Originality/value The main novelty in this work is the incorporation of scoops in the dilution zone of the numerical model of combustion chamber to augment the effectiveness of cooling of combustion products to obtain the desired combustor exit temperature. The use of polyhedral cells for computational domain discretization in combustion modeling for aero engine application helps in achieving faster convergence and reliable predictions. The methodology and procedures presented in this work provide a basic understanding of the design aspects to the beginners working in the gas turbine combustors particularly meant for turbo shaft engines applications.