The recent trends in turbomachinery design push towards the usage of greener solutions for the abatement of CO2 and NOx emissions. In the power generation field, the redesign of Secondary Air Systems aimed at increasing Turbine Entry Temperature along with the usage of Natural Gas/Hydrogen blends in non-premixed type combustion chambers are the most promising solutions, especially for Life Time Extension of existing plants.
The redesign of High-Pressure Turbine stages as well as of fuel injectors to cope with hydrogen characteristics are also fundamental to reduce Specific Fuel Consumption. In aviation, changing the thermodynamic cycle by moving to Pressure-Gain Combustion may provide a relevant increase in overall efficiency for small and medium range flights using hydrogen as fuel. Still, enabling technologies to make such solutions feasible in a realistic environment (e.g., transition duct, film cooling, flow control) are at low Technology Readiness Level in the European framework.
The research group is actively involved in such research fields by using both in-house CFD solver and commercial solutions. (ANSYS, CONVERGE) through collaborations with aeroengine developers (AVIO AERO), service providers (EthosEnergy), and research centres (https://www.vki.ac.be/) as well as by participating in research projects funded by the EC (https://inspire.cerfacs.fr/en/home/).
Contatti:
Prof. Daniela MISUL: http://www.pt-erc.polito.it/
Dr. Simone SALVADORI: http://www.pt-erc.polito.it/