Department of Engineering / Research / Academic Divisions / Energy Fluid Mechanics and Turbomachinery / Research Facilities in Energy, Fluid Mechanics and Turbomachinery

Department of Engineering

Research Facilities in Energy, Fluid Mechanics and Turbomachinery

Research Facilities in Energy, Fluid Mechanics and Turbomachinery

The division has a number of state-of-the-art test facilities. These include subsonic and supersonic wind-tunnels, large-scale rigs for turbomachinery research, many with unique features, and gas-turbine combustion and IC engine test rigs. Many of these rigs include advanced laser-based techniques for gas species and velocity measurements. These rigs are constantly being updated with the best available test equipment.

Recent updates include:

  • A new Energy Laboratory for research into nano-particles, lean burn combustion, fluidised bed combustion and carbon capture processes;

  • Two unique axial flow rigs have been designed and built for studying unsteady flow effects in compressors and turbines, mimicking the leakage and seal flows found in modern aero engines;

  • A computer-controlled force measurement system for our largest wind tunnel, which uses a six-component, sting-based force balance, and gives a complete characterisation of the aerodynamic loads on a wind-tunnel model;

  • Aerosol analysis capabilities for in-situ particle and emissions analysis.