Combustor testing is being carried out at the Environment Canada facility located on River Road in Ottawa. The combustor occupies four rooms: the blower room, the gas turbine room, the combustor test room and the control room.

The gas turbine is comprised of a modified Allison 250 turbine. It supplies compressed air, which is bled off from the compressor stage at 7 atmospheres and sent to the combustor. The turbine was modified by removing the blades of the third and fourth stages of the turbine thus eliminating the mechanical power outputted. By doing this a dynamometer is no longer needed.

The compressed air from the gas turbine is sent to the combustor where it is mixed with diesel fuel from the fuel system. Ideally our combustor would use O₂ and CO₂ as the working fluids and natural gas as the fuel but this can create safety issues. Since our goal is to use the combustor to verify our design tools the diesel and air mixture will suit our purposes.

Fuel Delivery System

Air Delivery System

Combustor Testing

An important part of the combustor test rig is the actual combustor. It is comprised of several key components including the secondary flow, the pre-mixer and the combustion zone. The purpose of the secondary flow is to dilute the combustion products as well as to provide cooling for the liner.  The purpose of the pre-mixer is to mix the air and the diesel together so that when they are ignited in the combustion zone they combust entirely.

The final part of the combustor test rig is the control room. Since safety is extremely important no one is allowed to be in the room when testing is taking place. The control room is comprised of two computer monitors that allow all the pressures and temperatures in the test rig to be monitored. There is also another computer monitor that displays information on the gas turbine. In addition, the control room consists of a control panel that allows for various devices like the butterfly valve, solenoid, fuel pumps and Allison gas turbine to be controlled.