Fundamental Combustion Research Challenged to Meet Designers’ Expectations

Authors in recent publications shared their personal “gripe” for the modeling capabilities not reasonably calibrated before the start of their application in gas turbine combustion technology programs conducted since 1973. Concurrently, the supporting fundamental research results did not provide the insight needed for making critical design decisions during the technology and/or product development phase. Therefore, a joint effort was kicked off in 2012 on fundamental research to gauge what it takes to calibrate or validate the models while in parallel support hypothesis-based technology development approach specifically targeted for developing swirl-venturi lean direct injection (SV-LDI) technology. As summarized in this paper, based on this pilot project’s output to date, for a properly formulated applicable fundamental research with limited resources, it takes much longer than what Mongia had wished for since 1973.