Oxford Tip Leakage (OTL)

The OTL project is looking at new ways of improving the thermal efficiency of gas turbines by actively controlling the leakage of air. The aim is to research a highly innovative combination of plasma arcs with classic fluidic flow control devices for application to the high pressure, high temperature and high speed flows within engines. The active control of such flows is challenging but would save fuel through improved matching of engine state to load, optimised control of leakage routes and deliberate aerodynamic modulation of running clearances. We will be researching a novel class of flow control devices with no moving parts which offer high bandwidth, at the pressures and temperatures encountered in gas turbines.

The project will utilise the Oxford Rotor Facility (ORF) shown in the first figure. The second figure shows the jet and Coanda effect using large-eddy simulation. The third image is a fluidic device switched by suction tubes using a RANS simulation.