Advanced Wave Rotor, Fluid-Fluid Energy Exchanger

A gas turbine engine concept is proposed that provides the technical innovation needed to increase specific power, thermal efficiency, and overall performance and reliability without need for development in material technologies. This advanced fluid-fluid energy exchange device can serve as the core of high performance gas generators to meet a variety of land/air applications. This unique system is based on unsteady flow phenomena which produces the functional equivalent of a coupled gas turbine and compressor by continous expansion of one gas stream while extracting energy which is used to compress another gas stream. The wave processes occur within one rotor which features canted blades that are alternately exposed to hot and cold fluids resulting in material temperatures much lower than peak cycle values. The proposed program features the modification of an existing CFD code, that has been developed to investigate the wave processes within a rotor cell, to include blade angel and cell area change effects, and exercise the code to determine optimum rotor and performance characteristics suitable for laboratory test rig. A unique concept will be difined for a cold flow laboratory test rig that features flexibililty, modularization, ability to acommodate test diagnostics, and be economical. Moreover, the design will allow for first and second stages of the expansion/compression processes to be investigated without need for high temperature combustor gases.