SILOET 2: Project 7 Robust Low Cost Combustion

Gas turbine engines waste a significant fraction of their fuel as heat that escapes through the combustor walls. This project aims to plug that leak by developing new alloys and cooling designs that let engines run hotter without melting their own components. The problem is that current combustors must be cooled with large volumes of air, which bypasses the combustion process and reduces efficiency. Engineers lack accurate tools to predict how long hot-section parts will last, and existing cooling designs are expensive to manufacture. Without better materials and validated models, engine makers cannot safely push temperatures higher to extract more work from each litre of fuel. If the research succeeds, it will deliver validated cooling designs that reduce both manufacturing and lifecycle costs, along with software tools to optimise those designs early in the development process. The work also aims to improve the interface between the combustor and turbine modules, cutting overall fuel consumption. For the aviation industry, this means lower operating costs and reduced CO₂ emissions per flight. For passengers, the change is invisible but real: the same journey burns less fuel.