Ever wondered what powers the lights inside the flight when you are waiting to take off? Would it be possible to charge batteries on the flight? What if there was no power or if, mid-flight, the engine snags?
At the National Centre for Combustion Research and Development in the Indian Institute of Technology - Madras, researchers are currently trying to find ways to address these challenges.
It is one thing to study such problems as a college student but completely another to be able to observe a machine function and understand what makes it tick in its natural environment. The IIT-M is offering its students a real-time feel by providing them actual machines.
The institute has received a first-of-its kind 3D printed gas turbine that is used in an aircraft.
An international aviation company has supplied the turbine and combuster to enable students work on real-time problems and come up with solutions.
The Department of Science and Technology and the Defence Research and Development Organisation have provided 75% of the funding for this cutting-edge research.
“We are studying the emission, temperature, and pressure inside the engine. We are testing the flow field inside the gas turbine,” says K.P. Shanmugadas, a Ph D student at the Aerospace Engineering department. His goal is to find ways to improve efficiency of the engine which could ultimately lead to an improvement in the design.
Shanmugadas studies the flow of water spray inside the turbine rig using laser beams to understand how the fuel injector works. His guide and professor S.R. Chakravarthy says Shanmugadas’ research would lead to technology development.
Some questions that the research will answer are: Can a compact combuster be used to charge the battery when the aircraft is in motion? Is it possible to develop a micro gas turbine that is only the size of a small table top instead of a room-sized turbine?
The research is expected to help develop a combuster that is 20% smaller in size than what it is now, Mr. Chakravarthy says.
Another issue that the research expects answers for is reducing the noxious gas emissions, and improve fuel emission norms for aircraft sometime in the future?
