Structural design and performance experiment of a single vortex combustor with single-cavity and air blast atomisers

The adoption of vortex combustion technology is a relatively recent phenomenon. Among such technology is the trapped vortex combustor, which demonstrates a wide range of stable combustion and low pollutant emissions and accordingly has good application prospects in the field of aeroengines. A new type of single-cavity vortex combustor with air blast atomisers is introduced in this paper. This study conducted a combustion experiment that detailed the influence of the mainstream parameters, fuel parameters and combustion organisation on the combustion characteristics of the liquid-fuelled combustor. The results of this experiment suggest that this new type of vortex combustor has a reasonably designed structure and demonstrates good combustion performance. In addition, pollutant emissions under a low power state are predicted using a semi-empirical formula in which the effects of flow parameters, fuel parameters and atomisation characteristics of the fuel supply equipment are considered. Furthermore, the predicted value obtained is consistent with the experimental value. The results of this study provide a reference for the structural design and engineering application of the vortex combustor.