Experimental investigation on a single-cavity trapped vortex combustor

A rectangular single-cavity trapped vortex combustor (STVC) comprising casing and diffuser is designed, and a series of performance experiments are accomplished at atmospheric pressure. In all the operating conditions, inlet temperature varies from room temperature to 473 K, and Mach number varies from 0.15 to 0.35, and overall. And overall excess air ratio altered between 1.5 and 13 covering very extensive operating conditions. Ultra low fuel air ratios of LBO (below 0.005) and ignition (below 0.01) are achieved in the single-cavity trapped vortex combustor due to the segregation of cavity flow from mainstream. Also, the LBO data is found to correlate linearly with the combustor operating parameter. However, the combustion efficiencies are observed to be moderate (~ 85–90%) particularly for cases with mainstream fueling. This indicates that achieving uniform fuel distribution and good mixing of cavity products with the mainstream is still a challenge for a STVC operating with liquid fuel. Finally, visual appearances of flames are consistently well with the analysis about exit temperature profile.