Optimisation

Testing on the broad aerodynamics of the combustion that has taken place over the past couple of weeks led us to the decision to improve the swirler to bring the flame a little further away from the thin sheet metal walls.

It has now been redesigned, ready for manufacture and further testing next week. Then we can test the new nozzle strategy which gives us the full range of fuel flow capability we need with the new swirler and great atomisation properties to get all the flame stability parameters just where we want them.

Ready for the final stage

Next step is to connect up the emissions measurement equipment so that we can run the combustor through its full operating range and measure all the unburned hydrocarbons , to make sure it is working properly as a complete system. Understandably we are happy with the progress being made in this area.