Final Report Summary - ELECT-AE (European Low Emission Combustion Technology in Aero-Engines)
The conclusion was that the optimisation of the combustion process is an essential means to reducing NOx production from aero-engines. It has to be noted that advanced low NOx combustion technology contributes to fuel burn reduction by enabling cycles with higher pressures and bypass ratios, with higher turbine entry temperatures and by reducing cooling air and combustor pressure losses. Research on highly innovative architectures has to be carried out to reduce complexity, size and weight of ultra-low NOx combustion systems. Due to the extremely complex nature of this technological field and the fact that the development of ultra-low NOx technology has by far not yet reached production readiness level, it will not be possible to down-select the successful combustion technology in the near future.