Design methodology for combustor in advanced gas turbine engines: a review

Purpose A combustor design is a particularly important and difficult task in the development of gas turbine engines. During studies for accurate and easy combustor design, reasonable design methodologies have been established and used in engine development. The purpose of this paper is to review the design methodology for combustor in development of advanced gas turbine engines. The advanced combustor development task can be successfully achieved in less time and at lower cost by adopting new and superior design methodologies. Design/methodology/approach The review considers the main technical problems (combustion, cooling, fuel injection and ignition technology) in the development of modern combustor design and deals with combustor design methods by dividing it into preliminary design, performance evaluation, optimization and experiment. The advanced combustion and cooling technologies mainly used in combustor design are mentioned in detail. In accordance with the modern combustor design method, the design mechanisms are considered and the methods used in every stage of the design are reviewed technically. Findings The improved performances and strict emission limits of gas turbine engines require the application of advanced technologies when designing combustors. The optimized design mechanism and reasonable performance evaluation methods are very important in reducing experiments and increasing the effectiveness of the design. Originality/value This paper provides a comprehensive review of the design methodology for the advanced gas turbine engine combustor.