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Isothermal flow in a gas turbine combustor — a benchmark experimental study

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Abstract

An experimental investigation of the three-dimensional flow field within a water model of a can-type gas turbine combustion chamber is presented. Flow visualisation demonstrated that internal flow patterns simulated closely those expected in real combustors. The combustor comprised a swirl driven primary zone, annulus fed primary and dilution jets and an exit contraction nozzle. LDA measurements of the three mean velocity components and corresponding turbulence intensities were obtained to map out the flow development throughout the combustor. Besides providing information to aid understanding of the complex flow events inside combustors, the data are believed to be of sufficient quantity and quality to act as a benchmark test case for the assessment of the predictive accuracy of computational models for gas-turbine combustors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Dep., Fluids Section, Imperial College of Science and Technology, Exhibition Road, SW7 2BX, London, UK

    P. Koutmos & J. J. McGuirk

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  1. P. Koutmos
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  2. J. J. McGuirk
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Koutmos, P., McGuirk, J.J. Isothermal flow in a gas turbine combustor — a benchmark experimental study. Experiments in Fluids 7, 344–354 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00198453

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00198453

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