DATE:                        Thursday, 11.2.23 

TIME:                         4:00pm

LOCATION:              31-270

SPEAKER:                Masha Folk, Ph.D., Royce

TOPIC:                      The Impact of Combustor Turbulence on Turbine Loss Mechanisms

ABSTRACT:

This seminar will discuss an important aspect of combustor-turbine interaction in a typical gas turbine. It will show that the extremely high levels of turbulence created in the combustion chamber of a jet engine increase the loss in a turbine blade row located downstream of it by 47%. This contrasts to industry design methods which predict no increase in loss. The talk will explain the physical mechanism responsible for this change, allowing it to be modelled, and exploited, in the design of jet engines. Future designs of an integrated combustor-turbine system can result in a reduction of up to 1% specific fuel consumption, which is important for saving resources and reducing emissions in aviation.

BIO:
Dr. Folk began her career with Rolls-Royce as turbine designer where she identified combustor turbulence as a gap in industry knowledge. She then spent five years at the University of Cambridge conducting experiments to address this topic and then returned to Rolls-Royce to implement the findings into industry practice and designs.