Aerodynamics and Energetics Modeling
LACOM
Multiphase combustion laboratory
Lacom bench
Teams from ONERA, the French aerospace research
center, have been carrying out fundamental
research on combustion in the Midi-Pyrenees
region of Southwest France for a number of years.
This region is one of the aerospace hubs of Europe,
and offers a community of scientists specialized
in advanced combustion research. The recent
construction of a major facility like LACOM – the
Multiphase Combustion Laboratory – will ensure
the continuity of this research, while meeting
the current and future needs of turbine engine
manufacturers.
LACOM will focus on basic experimentation,
meaning the in-depth investigation
of physical phenomena occurring during
multiphase combustion in turbine engines,
especially aircraft jet engines.
By better
understanding the underlying physics,
this work will help meet two key goals:
- Improve the performance of aircraft
engines: higher compression pressure
and turbine entry temperature, to increase
efficiency and reduce specific
fuel consumption.
- Reduce polluting emissions (greenhouse
gases, oxides of nitrogen).
Initial studies at LACOM have already
generated results that will help improve
the premix systems to be used in turbine
engine combustion chambers.
ONERA built this facility in partnership
with the Fluid Mechanics Institute of
Toulouse (IMFT), and with financial support
from the Midi-Pyrenees region and
the European Regional Development Fund.
Lacom is a
pole of excellence
integrated into the "National Centre for Technological Research in Aeronautics and Space" (CNRT-AE).
Scientific objectives
- Study of injection phenomena in actual conditions (up to 1000K, 50 bar, 1 kg/s)
- Dense and unsteady two-phase flows
- Construction and validation of models in laboratory experiments
- Validation of model matching in
realistic conditions experiments
- Development of measurements methods for two-phase flows: LIF, PIV...
Applications
-
Improved supply lines in injection systems
- Enhanced internal flows in injection systems
- Modeling of the primary atomization of thin liquid sheets and liquid jets
- Fundamental studies of the interaction between liquid
and gaseous phases in simplified configurations
- Basic studies to validate models under realistic
conditions
- Part of INCA, the Advanced Combustion Initiative
led by Snecma, ONERA and the French scientific
research agency, CNRS
- Within the scope of the French Center of Competitiveness
for Aerospace and Onboard Systems
European connections
- TLC program: Towards Lean Combustion
- NEWAC program: New Aero-engine Concepts
- Projects within the scope of the European
Commission’s 7th R&D Framework Program
Lacom buildings
