AN INNOVATIVE CAN COMBUSTOR CONFIGURATION HAS BEEN DEVELOPED FOR GAS TURBINE ENGINES WHICH HAS THE POTENTIAL OF BURNING FUELS RANGING FROM GASOLINE TO COAL/OIL SLURRIES AT HIGH EFFICIENCIES.

AN INNOVATIVE CAN COMBUSTOR CONFIGURATION HAS BEEN DEVELOPED FOR GAS TURBINE ENGINES WHICH HAS THE POTENTIAL OF BURNING FUELS RANGING FROM GASOLINE TO COAL/OIL SLURRIES AT HIGH EFFICIENCIES. THE DESIGN IS BASED ON A VARIABLE RESIDENCE TIME (VRT) CONCEPT WHICH ALLOWS LARGE AND AGGLOMERATED FUEL PARTICLES ADEQUATE TIME TO COMPLETELY BURN. HIGH DURABILITY OF THE COMBUSTOR IS ACHIEVED BY DUAL FUNCTION USE OF THE INCOMING AIR. FOR APPLICATIONS WHICH REQUIRE THE BURNING OF COAL/OIL SLURRIES, THE DESIGN HAS THE CAPABILITY OF REMOVING THE ASH PARTICLES DIRECTLY FROM THE PRIMARY ZONE OF THE COMBUSTOR. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT BECAUSE OF THE SMALL SIZE REQUIREMENT OF THIS COMBUSTOR DESIGN, EXISTING GAS TURBINE ENGINES COULD BE RETROFITTED WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THE CURRENT ENGINE ENVELOPE. THE PRESENT PROPOSAL IS FOR EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL PROGRAM TO DETERMINE THE PERFORMANCE OF THE COMBUSTOR DESIGN. THE SUPPORTS OF A MAJOR GAS TURBINE ENGINE MANUFACTURER AND A WORLD RENOWNED AUTHORITY ON COMBUSTION HAVE ALREADY BEEN OBTAINED FOR THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS REQUIRED FOR THIS PROGRAM.