Low Emissions, Affordable Fuel Injector for High Performance Military Gas Turbines

"CFD Research Corporation (CFDRC) will develop an advanced low emissions fuel injector for military engines that is based on CFDRC's lean direct fuel injector technology. The design produces a unique flame pattern caused by a bifurcated flow pattern, inwhich the pilot airflow separates from the main airflow and a recirculation zone is created between the pilot and main airflows. This design has the potential of greatly reducing NOx, CO, and smoke at full power compared to current JSF designs. Inaddition, the proposed design is affordable, and provides good thermal protection of the fuel. In Phase I, CFDRC will show the feasibility of the proposed fuel injector. First, validated CFD analysis will be used to predict emissions at various power points provided by our selected subcontractor, Rolls-Royce, Indianapolis. Second, prototypehardware will be fabricated and tested at ambient pressure conditions, to establish the design's potential for meeting LBO goals. In Phase II, the fuel injector will be further developed and tested in a single injector high pressure rig at Georgia Tech.The complete thermal design will be completed and design prints finalized for an engine-quality fuel injector for JSF application. In Phase III, a full set of injectors will be fabricated and tested in an annular combustor rig at Rolls-Royce. Ifsuccessful, the fuel injector will be used to reduce NOx, CO, UHC, and smoke emissions to levels on par with