ON THE FEASIBILITY OF GAS-TURBINE PRESSURE-GAIN COMBUSTORS

The principles of pressure-gain combustors based on the wave rotor and pulse-combustor concepts are reviewed. A study, based on experimental data, in which current-technology pressure-gain combustors were applied to three aircraft engine derivative industrial gas-turbines, covering a power range from 275 kW (370 hp) to 29 MW (39,000 hp) showed that engine power increased by 6.5% to 9.6% with corresponding reductions of equal magnitude in specific fuel consumption. It is concluded that pressure-gain combustors appear to offer sufficient improvements in performance without incurring crippling installational penalties, although decreases in engine power/weight ratios are noted, to warrant further research and development.