DUAL AIRBLAST FUEL INJECTOR FOR SMALL GAS TURBINE ENGINES

AN ADVANCED FUEL INJECTOR WITH IMPROVED ATOMIZATION AND MIXING CHARACTERISTICS IS NEEDED FOR CURRENT AND ADVANCED SMALL GAS TURBINE ENGINES. IN ADDITION, DUE TO HIGHER COMBUSTOR TEMPERATURE RISE AND HEAT SINK DEMANDS, THE ADVANCED INJECTOR MUST BE CAPABLE OF OPERATING AT HIGHER FUEL TEMPERATURES WITHIN PLUGGING. THIS PROJECT PROPOSES TO DEVELOP AN ADVANCED DUAL AIRBLAST INJECTOR BY: 1) FULLY INTEGRATING THE COMBUSTOR DOME SWIRLER AND TWO AIRBLAST AROMIZERS (PRIMARY AND SECONDARY) INTO A SINGLE FUNCTIONAL UNIT:; 2) MAINTAINING MINIMUM FUEL FLOW PASSAGES GREATER THAN 0.018 INCH; AND 3) OPTIMIZING THE SPRAY DISTRIBUTION AND AERODYNAMIC FLOW PATTERNS WITHIN THE COMBUSTOR FRONTEND TO WIDEN COMBUSTOR TURNDOWN FUEL-AIR RATIOS AND REDUCE PATTERN FACTOR. IN THE PROOF-OF-CONCEPT PHASE I EFFORT, RESEARCH VERSIONS OF THE INJECTOR WILL BE DESIGNED, FABRICATED AND TESTED IN A THREE-INJECTOR COMBUSTOR FRONT-END. ATOMIZATION AND IGNITION TESTS WILL BE PERFORMED AT AMBIENT AND COLD (-400F) CONDITIONS. IN PAHSE II, THE ADVANCED INJECTOR DESIGN WILL BE OPTIMIZED BY USING ADVANCED CDF AND ATOMIZATION ANALYSES. THE FINAL DESIGN WILL BE TESTED IN A FULL ANNULAR COMBUSTOR PROVIDED BY GARRETT ENGINE DIVISION. TESTS WITH JP8 FUEL WILL BE PERFORMED AT VARIOUS OPERATING CONDITIONS (E.G. START UP, IDLE, SLTO, ETC.) TO FULLY DEMONSTRATE ITS POTENTIAL TO THE US ARMY.