DLR - Institute of Combustion Technology

You are here: Home:Departments and Groups

Chemical Kinetics and Analytics

The Chemical Kinetics and Analytics department deals with the chemical composition of (alternative) fuels, the formation and release of pollutants, as well as experimental and numerical reaction kinetics. The institute integrates the systematic treatment of analytical and kinetic problems pertaining to combustion, from the fundamentals to the technical application.

Computer Simulation Department

Numerical simulation of the physical and chemical processes in low-emission combustion chambers of aircraft engines or industrial gas turbines requires advanced computation methods. Reliably and accurately predicting pollutant formation, wall heat load, noise emission, as well as the stability and efficiency of combustion are the paramount aims of numerical simulation research.

Gas Turbines Department

The focal areas of research activities for the Gas Turbines Department are the development, design optimisation, construction and testing of gas turbine based power plant micro-systems and combustion systems for decentralised power and heating supply. Both the optimisation of existing systems and the development of new innovative system concepts are under consideration.

Combustion Diagnostics Department

Advanced laser-based measurement techniques provide new insights into physicochemical combustion processes. These techniques can visualise flame structures, detect flow relations in the combustion chamber, and can measure how the concentrations of combustion-relevant species are distributed and what temperatures are present.

Multiphase Flow and Alternative Fuels Department

The focus of the Department of Multi-phase Flow and Alternative Fuels (MAT) is on the prediction of reacting multi-phase flows and the evaluation of new fuels. The research work ranges from the development of own computer codes (with state-of-the-art numerical methods and models) and the identification of promising fuel candidates to the coordination of flight tests evaluating the emissions and climate impact of alternative aviation fuels. Furthermore, the department supports the development of new technologies in a wide range of multi-phase flow applications.

High-pressure Experiments Group

Combustor testing at relevant operation conditions (pressure, temperature, flow field) is still a key in gas turbine combustor development. The “High-pressure Experiments” group is therefore operating the optically accessible high-pressure combustor rig Stuttgart (HBK-S). The research work of the group is focused on fuel flexible gas turbine combustors.