Project Number: 051
Category: Aircraft Technology Innovation, Combustion Products
The purpose of this project is to identify future aircraft engine designs that could increase aircraft efficiency. Historically, aircraft engine design has been a sequential process. Fixed fuel characteristics are used as an input to create the thermodynamic cycle for which performance and fuel consumption can be determined. Based on these results, a combustor is designed that satisfies operability requirements.
However, there is a range of engine technologies for which interactions between fuel, cycle, and combustor can be exploited to improve system efficiency. In this project, we plan to develop engine concepts with promising new technologies including water injection, exhaust gas recirculation and plasma assisted combustion. We will determine and compare performance characteristics associated with these technologies and will leverage detailed combustion chemistry models to understand how changes in fuel composition effect engine performance and combustion products. This project will provide novel capabilities to efficiently evaluate the performance of aircraft engine designs that involve the co-optimization of fuel, combustor, and engine cycle. This includes developing simulation models which can be used to evaluate different concepts and applying these models to quantify the potential benefits of selected new combustion technologies.