Experimental Investigation of Annular Twin Cavity Trapped Vortex Combustor

Reliable operation of small turbojet engines is particularly challenging due to relatively low compression ratio, short fuel residence time, and greater heat loss. To address these challenges, this study experimentally investigated a F-24 jet fuel-powered annular twin cavity trapped vortex combustor (TVC), which is expected to provide longer fuel residence time. The measurements of inlet/outlet temperature, pressure, and high speed OH* chemiluminescence were conducted. With these measurements, the combustion performance is characterized by combustion efficiency under different fuel flow rates and air splits. The results show maximum combustion efficiency of 76% with the presence of fuel flow non-uniform distribution along the annulus. These findings demonstrate practical challenges present in the annular TVC and will provide an insight into the development and optimization of a small-scale gas turbine combustor.