Heat transfer and cooling
NCCAT boasts world-class heat transfer testing facilities, delivering cutting-edge experimental insights into combustor liner cooling performance - driving innovation for next-generation aero engines.
NCCAT has long established heat transfer testing facilities used for experimental measurement of combustor liner cooling performance. Temperatures present within a gas turbine combustor are sufficient to cause significant damage to the walls lining the combustor.
As it is impractical to carry additional coolant, the liner walls are passively cooled throughout engine operation, using colder air drawn from within the engine itself. This air is used to cool the outer, cold-side of the wall, before being fed through the wall to form a protective air-film, shielding the inner, hot-side of the wall from the high combustion temperatures. Whilst cooling of the liner is essential, excessive cooling air can weaken overall engine efficiency.
The research conducted within the NCCAT laboratories is primarily focused on investigation of novel cooling methodologies, capable of providing improved cooling performance with a reduced amount of cooling air.
Using the suite of facilities that we have at our disposal, we are capable of evaluating performance through measuring non-dimensional heat transfer performance parameters such as film cooling effectiveness and Nusselt number (non-dimensional heat transfer coefficient). Additionally, a novel test facility has been developed which enables combustor liner wall temperatures to be determined under scaled convective and radiative heat loads. Through accurate scaling of engine aerothermal conditions; measured rig temperatures may be converted directly to equivalent operational engine temperatures.