Numerical Investigation of a 3 kW Microturbine Combustion Chamber

Numerical simulation is crucial the development of microturbines because it allows to investigate the combustion process in the combustion chamber without the need of manufacturing expensive physical prototypes at early stages of development. This paper presents a numerical investigation of the combustion process occurring in a 3 kW microturbine combustion chamber. First, a computational model of an existing 30 kW microturbine combustion chamber design was developed. The results obtained were compared with experimental data to ensure the adequacy of the results obtained. After validation, a computational model of the 3 kW microturbine combustion chamber was developed. Three configurations of the 3 kW microturbine combustion chamber with different locations and numbers of dilution holes were investigated. Configuration 3 of the 3 kW microturbine combustion chamber showed the lowest standard deviation in outlet temperature (48.4 K) and velocity (29.7 m/s), indicating a more uniform temperature and velocity profile at the outlet compared to the other two configurations. While Configuration 3 had a higher pressure loss (1059 Pa) than the other configurations (939 and 836 Pa), the priority at this stage of development was placed on achieving optimal uniform temperature and velocity profiles at the combustion chamber outlet. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52783/pst.912