Session: 06-03 Pressure gain combustion and propulsion cycles I

Submission Number: 175998

Review of Combustor Cooling Approaches in Rotating Detonation for Gas Turbine Applications 

The paper presents a comprehensive review of the cooling approaches in Rotating Detonation Combustors (RDC) that have emerged as a highly promising next-generation combustion technology for more efficient and compact gas turbines. Unlike conventional constant-pressure combustors based on deflagration, RDC combustors burn fuel by a circumferentially rotating detonation wave, which theoretically reduces the combustor size significantly and provides pressure gain during combustion. However, practical RDC devices are constrained by significant thermal management challenges due to heat fluxes being an order of magnitude higher than conventional combustors, making combustor cooling critical for their realisation. This paper presents a system-level review of combustor cooling in RDC, in order to select the most promising solutions for the design of a practical gas turbine system. Firstly, the fundamental thermal loading characteristics of RDC combustors are outlined: in particular, severe heat fluxes and steep thermal gradients that exceed the limits of traditional cooling strategies. Ongoing experimental and numerical research efforts for thermal management of RDC are described and various proposed solutions are evaluated in terms of cooling effectiveness, integration feasibility and potential impact on the overall gas turbine. The feasibility of the conventional cooling approaches, such as film cooling, transpiration cooling and thermal barrier coatings, is also discussed. Attention is devoted to the system-level trade-offs between cooling effectiveness and cycle thermodynamic efficiency, as excessive cooling may compromise the theoretical performance gain from RDC. Subsequently, suitable cooling solutions and their reduced-order models for system-level performance evaluation are identified. Advanced materials with high thermal resistance and durability under detonation-driven conditions are also highlighted. Finally, the most promising gas turbine layouts for the successful incorporation of these cooling solutions are proposed. By addressing the combustor cooling challenge, this review aims to consolidate the knowledge on RDC integrated gas turbines for more efficient and sustainable power generation in future.

Presenting Author: Abhishek Dubey University of Genova

Presenting Author Biography: Abhishek is an aerospace engineer from India, and he received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Genova in 2025, having worked as an Early Stage Researcher-13 in the European Union INSPIRE Project on the topic of Pressure Gain Combustion. He obtained a Master's in aerospace propulsion from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India, in 2018 and subsequently worked at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore for three years before joining the INSPIRE program at the University of Genoa in January 2022. He has over five years of research experience in the fields of gas turbine combustion, emission reduction technologies, laser diagnostics, and the design of high-pressure, optically accessible test rigs. He is passionate about developing more efficient and clean gas turbine technologies for propulsion and power generation.

Authors:

Abhishek Dubey University of Genova
Mubashar Arshad University of Genova
Alessandro Sorce University of Genova
Alberto Traverso University of Genova