An Engineering Office for Advanced Combustion Management

Combined Optic-Acoustic Monitoring of Combustion in a Gas Turbine (Journal Publication)

A compact, high temperature- and pressure-resistant probe was developed with success in the frame of the FFG / Take Off / emo(o)tion projects. This probe combines acoustic and optical sensors for a better description of the gas turbine combustion, in-situ.

The results of the probe are published in the International Journal of Turbomachinery for Propulsion and Power. The article is open access. The reference is:

Giuliani, F.; Andracher, L.; Moosbrugger, V.; Paulitsch, N.; Hofer, A.
Combined Optic-Acoustic Monitoring of Combustion in a Gas Turbine.
Int. J. Turbomach. Propuls. Power 2020, 5, 15.

Open access: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijtpp5030015

Read more: Combined Optic-Acoustic Monitoring of Combustion in a Gas Turbine (Journal Publication)

S3R: Safe, Smooth, Smart & Reliable Ignition

If Billy Joel did not make it to start the fire, we did! :)

Ignition is a crucial function in thermal systems. One counts on it when one needs it. This is even more true for set-ups where starts and stops are seldom.

As experts in technical combustion, we happen to have a large experience in ignition. Poor ignition can in the worst case provoke a detonation: the combustor has filled with reactants near the stoichiometry, the energy kernel of the ignition happens to be to high and generates unwillingly a deflagration-to-detonation transition. And boom! And at best the combustor is damaged... This cannot happen. One needs to rely 100% on the ignition, for a smooth and well-controlled start.

In the frame of the emo(o)tion projects, we developed an all-rounder ignition device that connects well with this project because it partly relies on an optical-based flame monitoring. The principle is based on a separated, autonomous premixed flame commanded by a remote central. The device can operate under atmospheric or under elevated pressure conditions. The central can be used for protection, where it prevents the main power source from starting as long as the safe start-up conditions are not reunited, exactly like in a rocket launch sequence.

Click here to read more about the S3R ignition specifics.

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Forcing Pulsations by Means of a Siren for Gas Turbine Applications (Journal Publication 2020)

An article summarizing 20 years of experience about CBOne's pulsation Technology and focusing on the very latest developments has been published in the International Journal of Turbomachinery for Propulsion and Power. To this point, we wish to thank the Board of the EVI-GTI Conference for their recommendation for journal publication.

CBOne developed a special actuator, able to generate with precision airflow modulations over the 0-6000 Hz range, with amplitudes achieving up to 150 dB SPL. The article describes into details:

• The siren technology
• The generation of a precision airflow modulation, for dynamic sensor calibration purpose
• The drive of flow dynamics, for laboratory applications
• The drive of thermoacoustics, for gas turbine applications

Forcing Pulsations by Means of a Siren for Gas Turbine Applications 
by Fabrice Giuliani, Markus Stütz, Nina Paulitsch, and Lukas Andracher. 
Int. J. Turbomach. Propuls. Power 2020, 5(2), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijtpp5020009

Link to the online open-access full-text

EnInnov 2020: From the Dawn of Mankind to the Digital Fire

Rare and precious 

Rabelais wrote in "Gargantua"  that what distinguishes Man from other creatures is its ability to laugh. If this say has recently been proven wrong - apes laugh, maybe bees too - one so far unchallenged trademark of Mankind is our ability to make fire! However, the fact that the extensive use of fire has a negative impact on the climate is nothing to laugh about.  The decarbonisation of our society is an ongoing process and this is a very good thing.

Fire will therefore become rare 

- and precious.

Digitalisation for Decarbonisation

While decarbonisation takes place in an ordered manner (energy, transport, heating...), some specific sectors will take longer to decarbonise because they need high temperatures, a lot of power and before all a safe process. Combustion Bay One e.U. focuses on the improvement of these thermal facilities (energy, process engineering, metallurgy, aviation) in order to improve the efficiency on the one side and reduce the environmental impact on the other side, until climate-friendly alternatives can be deployed. The proper management of the remaining fossil resources shall also be kept in mind. In a word, we have to buy time. 

In a hypothetical future world where combustion is indeed rare and precious, we intend to become the Guardians of Fire. Any improvement in combustion technology is therefore good to take. Recent progress shows that purely mechanical thermal systems have reached their limits. New progress involve better sensing and faster actuation, which is not straightforward in the direct proximity of a flame. Still, this is what we do, this is the digitalisation of combustion technologies.  These are the missions of Combustion Bay One e.U., an Engineering Office specialised in Advanced Combustion Management.

EnInnov 2020!

We will be present at the Energy Innovation Conference 2020 at TU Graz (12-14.02.2020) where we present commonly with FH Joanneum our progress in precision monitoring of combustion processes:

The project emootion is financed by the BMVIT and the FFG in the frame of the Take-Off program, contract 861004. This is also the occasion for us to reveal our latest S3R ignition system (S3R=Safe, smooth, smart and reliable) as well as our newest pressurised combustion test rig.

Read more: EnInnov 2020: From the Dawn of Mankind to the Digital Fire