Low Emissions Combustion for the Regenerative Gas Turbine: Part 2—Experimental Techniques, Results, and Assessment

This second part, of a two part paper, describes an experimental program to demonstrate the low emissions turbine combustor concept developed in Part 1. The paper discusses the combustor test rigs and instrumentation used as well as the experimental combustor hardware. A summary of the lean homogeneous combustion concept is presented along with a brief discussion of the requirement for variable combustor geometry. Test data are presented comparing the emissions from the experimental combustor with those from a conventional can-type combustor. These results show that, over a wide range of engine conditions, the steady-state emissions of NO_x, CO, and UHC are below the numerical levels specified in the Federal standards applicable to 1976 and subsequent model year light duty vehicles. The results are related to theoretical calculations and an assessment of progress and remaining problems is made.