SBIR 95-1 SOLICITATION

PROJECT SUMMARY

Contract Id:

NAS 3 27731

Proposal Number:

01.01-0333A

Project Title:

PLANAR IMAGING AND LIF FOR QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF MIXING OF JETS ISSUING INTO A CROSSFLOW

Technical Abstract:

An innovative program using Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF) and planar imaging to examine passive scalar concentration field (indicative of thermal field) is proposed. One of the IHPTET (Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology) goals is to operate turbines at 2200-2500 K inlet temperatures, maintain efficiencies in the 88-94% range and require total cooling flows of only 5% of the engine air flow rate. To attain these goals, a thorough understanding of the factors which control the attachment of film jets to the wall is mandatory. Effusion cooling offers a relatively simple technique for the efficient cooling of gas turbine combustor and turbine blade walls. Effusion cooling is strongly influenced by the number of holes, hole size, coolant flow rate, injection angle and pressure drop across the holes. The ability to evaluate the effectiveness of a design can improve design and reduce design cycle time. A fluores- cence dye will be seeded in the coolant flow. The flow configuration tested will be of direct practical relevance to state-of-the-art designs. In Phase I, passive scalar characteristics will be obtained to establish feasibility. Phase II will use the technique to evaluate the effectiveness of various designs.

Potential Commercial Applications:

Planar imaging and LIF provide a quantitative assessment of mixing of jets issuing into a crossflow, which is of primary relevance in many engineering applications. Examples include chemical processing, gas injection in combustors, film cooling for turbine and combustor, V/STOL transition flight aerodynamics, pollutant dispersion. The technique can trace several jet paths simultaneously and efficiently, and would find application in many industries. The design of a more effective film cooling system for turbines and combustors presents a second potential commercial product.

Name and Address of Offeror:

Scientific Research Associates Inc.
Box 1058, 50 Nye Road,
Glastonbury, CT, 06033.