Performing Member Contact:

Thomas H. Fletcher

Brigham Young University
Chemical Engineering Department
350 CB
Provo, UT  84602
801-422-6236/FAX 801-422-0151
tom_fletcher@byu.edu

• Dr. Fletcher is the Director of the Advanced Combustion Engineering Research Center (ACERC), initiated by the NSF in 1986.  This center involves up to 22 faculty at BYU working on combustion-related projects in many fields, one of which is gas turbines. University computer facilities include the Ira & Mary Lou Fulton Supercomputing Center, which includes a 316 processor (@375 MHz) IBM Sp-2 machine, an IBM Linux cluster with 256 Pentium Xeon processors (@2.4 GHz), an SGI Origin 3800 with 64 processors, an SGI Origin 2000 with 24 processors, and an SGI 3900 with 128 processors (See http://marylou.byu.edu/resources.htm) . We have performed CARS, LDA, and PLIF-OH experiments on an atmospheric, lab-scale gas turbine combustor.  We currently are equipped with an accelerated deposition facility that can experimentally reproduce the particle deposition mechanisms expected in land-based turbines.  We have appropriate SEM, TEM, and other particle characterization facilities at BYU after years of working in coal combustion.  We also have  lab-scale burners for biomass and co-fired coal/biomass (up to 40 lbs/hr of coal), with the associated gas and particle sampling and analysis systems.

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is the largest private university in the nation, with over 30,000 students. The College of Engineering and Technology consists of over 3500 students in five departments. Combustion research is a major activity, coordinated through the Advanced Combustion Engineering Research Center (ACERC) initiated by the NSF in 1987. Fluid dynamics and heat transfer are also major research activities. Professors involved in gas turbine-related research are:

• Thomas H. Fletcher (ChE) combustion modeling, pollutant formation, solid fuel combustion, laser diagnostics
• Jeffrey P. Bons (MechE) turbine cooling and surface roughness, turbine applications of flow control
• Brent W. Webb (MechE) radiative and convective heat transfer
• Larry L. Baxter (ChE) deposition and corrosion from coal and biomass, boiler modeling
• Dale R. Tree (MechE) combustion in engines, lab-scale reactor measurements, pollutant formation

Past BYU gas turbine research contributions have been in the areas of:

• turbulence chemistry modeling with computational fluid dynamics
• reduced mechanisms for combustion chemistry under high pressure lean-premixed conditions
• lean-premixed reactor mapping for model evaluation using advanced laser diagnostics (CARS for temperature, PLIF for OH, and LDA for velocities)
• surface roughness measurements of turbine blades

A list of recent publications is found at http://www2.et.byu.edu/~tom/gas_turbines/Relevant_Publications.html

Facilities available for gas turbine research include:

• The Ira and Mary Lou Fulton Supercomputing Center (http://marylou.byu.edu), which currently includes a 316 processor (@375 MHz) IBM Sp-2 machine, an IBM Linux cluster with 256 Pentium Xeon processors (@2.4 GHz), an SGI Origin 3800 with 64 processors, an SGI Origin 2000 with 24 processors, and an SGI 3900 with 128 processors.
• An accelerated deposition facility that can experimentally reproduce the particle deposition mechanisms expected in land-based turbines. Representative coupons with thermal barrier coatings are obtained from various manufacturers and impacted with particles traveling at 200 m/s at 1150 º C to form deposits, which are characterized for roughness and thermal conductivity.
• Particle and deposit characterization facilities, including scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), elemental characterization (organic and mineral), cross-section analysis of deposits, and surface roughness characterization.
• Two low-speed wind tunnels (including one low pressure turbine linear cascade) for turbine aero-heat transfer measurements.
• Pressurized storage systems for air and natural gas for use with lab-scale combustors
• Optical diagnostics capability for:
  
  CARS measurements of temperature and major gas species
  PLIF measurements of OH, CH, and NO
  LDA and PIV measurements of all 3 components of velocity (point and planar measurement respectively).
  
• IR Cameras for surface heat transfer measurement.