Research on Advanced Technologies for CO2 Reduction Using High Temperature Demonstrator Engine

Abstract

Research and Development of Environmentally Compatible Propulsion System for Next-Generation Supersonic Transport (ESPR Project), commenced in 1999, has its key objective for the reduction in CO2 emissions. To achieve this objective, fewer fuel consumption must be realized by increasing turbine inlet temperature and reducing cooling air flow, along with engine weight reduction. The use of new heat resistant materials may be of benefit in solving these issues. In addition, highly sophisticated temperature monitoring techniques capable of accurately measuring high temperature regions can reduce the cooling air consumption to the minimum levels. In this study, components were developed to evaluate for the possible application of new heat resistant materials — ceramics matrix composites, single crystal super-alloy, and powder metallurgy super-alloy — to hot parts of an engine. In addition, a smart sensor was developed, which can accurately measure the surface temperature distributions for all the turbine rotor blades. Finally, these components were assembled in a high-temperature demonstrator engine. And the engine was run at turbine inlet temperature of 1,923K to demonstrate the satisfactory function of these components. This paper reports about the developments, and discusses the results of the running test on the high-temperature demonstrator engine.