Emission Characteristics Through Rich–Lean Combustor Development Process for Small Aircraft Engine

Following increasing awareness of aircraft emissions and demand for technologies to reduce NOx emissions, experimental research has been conducted to develop a combustor for a small aircraft engine in the TechCLEAN of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency project. The combustor was tuned to produce rich–lean combustion behavior through combustion tests, including full annular combustion experiments, under atmospheric and actual operating conditions of the target engine. Excellent combustion performance was observed. The final, optimized full annular combustor achieved a reduction of NOx emissions below 40% of the standard regulated by Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection/4 of International Civil Aviation Organization while maintaining low CO and total hydrocarbon emissions and showing superior exit temperature profiles and lean blow-out performance. Through the combustor development process, the dependence of combustion characteristics on combustor configuration was also clarified.