We are grateful to receive this award, as this work represents a huge effort between our research groups, and the new results obtained from experimental measurements and computational fluid dynamics are jointly published. We would like to thank the selection committee for choosing our article to receive this award.

Dr James Massey

Recirculation zones and vortex breakdown bubbles are present in gas turbine combustion systems, which contain complex flow configurations. These flow structures also influence the stability of flames in the combustion chamber. For the design of next-generation systems, which are expected to use upcoming “green” fuels, the flow field in the combustion chamber is highly sensitive to the influence of heat release from the flames, the strength of swirl and the blockage ratio.

In the award winning paper 'Influences of heat release, blockage ratio and swirl on the recirculation zone behind a bluff body', the team investigated the influences of the swirl number, blockage ratio and heat release on these flow structures. The simulations (performed at the Department of Engineering) and the measurements (undertaken by UCL) both showed the vortex breakdown bubble and central recirculation zone either remain separate or merge, as shown in the diagram below in (a) and (b) respectively. The study also showed there is a critical swirl number where these two flow structures merge.

Team member Dr Massey said "We are grateful to receive this award, as this work represents a huge effort between our research groups, and the new results obtained from experimental measurements and computational fluid dynamics are jointly published. We would like to thank the selection committee for choosing our article to receive this award." 

The research was part of Dimitrios Kallifronas’s PhD, he said “We are very pleased and honoured to receive this award. The paper presents some very interesting insights related to reacting swirling flows that have not been previously reported. I hope that it will inspire other researchers to further explore this topic as there are still unanswered questions."

Professor Swaminathan adds “It is a honour to be recognised in this way by experts and peers in this field and we are humble to receive this award.”. Professor Swaminathan and Dr Massey were also able to deliver the award to Emeritus Professor Ken Bray (also at the Department of Engineering), who was delighted to receive the award.

The research is a collaboration between the Department of Engineering Cambridge: Dimitrios Kallifronas, James Massey and N Swaminathan and UCL Mechanical Engineering: Pervez Ahmed; Midhat Talibi; Andrea Ducci and Ramanarayanan Balachandran (an alumnus of the Department of Engineering).