Periodic Reporting for period 1 - INSPIRE (INSpiring Pressure gain combustion Integration, Research, and Education)
Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2022-12-31
1. Gain a deeper understanding of the impact of turbine integration on the specific combustion issues within both PGC solutions, including pressure effects, turbine interaction, performance losses, and ignition. This will be done for zero-carbon hydrogen combustion but also for hydrocarbon fuels;
2. Investigate innovative turbine aerodynamics and cooling technologies designed to address the specific issues and unsteadiness associated with PGC, with the additional potential for spill-over applications in traditional combustion technology;
3. Explore the application of PGC cycles in existing, as well as novel, power generation and propulsion applications, including the provision of targets for the highest potential PGC applications for future research targets. Highlight the importance of gas turbine and PGC applications within the energy context;
4. Raise the global awareness of the potential of PGC applications and communicate to the research community the coupled effects of the above objectives on existing and future technologies;
5. Raise and prepare a new generation of researchers, equipped with the skills to pursue such interdisciplinary problems as in PGC. It is an equally important objective to instill in this new generation an awareness of their global impact on the environment as well as their local impact on social responsibility.
The network is organized into 15 ESR projects spread across 4 technical work packages. The structure of the project is shown in Figure 1.
The first reactive tests on the CV2 Constant Volume Combustion vessel at ENSMA were carried out. Fully premixed propane test was carried out (see figure 2).
ESR2 - Numerical analysis of the interaction between a Rotating Detonation Combustor and an axial turbine (Gregory Uhl, SAFRAN)
A first set of CFD calculations using AVBP code and boundary conditions provided by a 1D model were carried out on a first co-flow mixer configuration based on preliminary SAFRAN internal studies (see figure 3).
ESR3 - Simulation of CVC combustor (Nicola Detomaso, CERFACS)
A wide set of LES calculations of the ENSMA CV2 combustor have been carried out using AVBP code linked to an ad-hoc developed reduced 2-step mechanism for propane. A good agreement with experiments was achieved (see figure 4).
ESR4 - Experimental characterization of ignition events in CVC like conditions (Maria Clara De Jesus Vieira, ENSMA)
A modified design of the TUMBLE combustor at ENSMA was realized to improve the control of turbulence intensities so as to optimize the ignition sequences. Figure 5 reports the PIV measure flow field just before ignition event.
ESR5 - Control and impact of RDC wave direction (Provence Barnouin, TUB)
The Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) measurements technique was setup to gain better understanding of the fundamental processes inside real RDC. A low-order model was also developed to support understanding (Figure 6).
ESR6 - LES of flow and combustion in a rotating detonation engine coupled to a turbine (Patrick Strempfl, CERFACS)
A set of preliminary sensitivity studies for the LES modelling of the TUB RDC rig with AVBP code have been carried out (see Figure 7).
ESR7 - Experimental investigation of rotating detonation combustors including ignition processes and turbine-integration effects (Hongyi Wei, TUB)
A first step to better understand the impact of increasing combustion chamber pressure on RDC operation by building a pressure field map throughout the combustor was achieved (see Figure 8).
ESR8 - Computational aeroacoustics of the exhaust flow for noise assessment and control (Thomas Golliard, KTH)
Computational aeroacoustics calculations of the RDC exhaust plume and radiated noise were carried out for relevant operating conditions (see Figure 9).
ESR9 - Deflagration-Autoignition-Detonation transition (DADT) (Roseline Ngozi Ezekwesili, TUB)
A 1-D model capable of modelling DADT processes consisting of data generation and post processing was setup starting from an existing tool (Figure 10)
ESR10 - Numerical modelling and optimization of cooling solutions for PGC concepts (Shreyas Ramanagar Sridhara, UNIFI)
During the first reporting period the main aspect of research was based on the estimation of heat loads for different combustor pressure conditions (see Figure 11)
ESR11 - Experimental study of cooling solutions for PGC concepts (Umberto Sandri, UNIFI)
A comprehensive study to assess fundamental cooling requirements for RDC combustors was carried out using low-order modelling (see Figure 12).
ESR12 - Unsteady numerical simulation of the interaction between pressure-gain combustors and high-pressure turbine stages (Panagiotis Gallis, POLITO)
A CFD study was carried out to develop a transition piece geometry for the CVC combustor available at ENSMA (Figure 13)
ESR13 - Power plant analysis and cycle thermo-economic optimization (Abhishek Dubey, UNIGE)
A complete thermodynamic analysis of gas turbine cycle with a CVC combustor was carried out with WTEMP code (Figure 14a)
ESR14 - Propulsion application with part load and dynamic analysis (Sreenath Purshothaman, UNIGE)
Modelling of a conventional aircraft engine (CFM56-3 high bypass turbofan engine) using TRANSEO simulation tool and preliminary analysis with a PGC combustor (Figure 14b)
ESR15 -Full gas dynamic and exergetic analysis of PGC cycles with rotating detonations (Gokkul Raj Varatharajulu Purgunan, TUB)
Development of a 1D-Euler based tool for turbine modelling (Figure 15)