High fuel injection density combustion chamber for a gas turbine engine

Claim 1

Combustion apparatus for a gas turbine engine, said apparatus comprising: coaxially spaced casing and core structure forming an annular air supply passage, a hollow body positioned within said supply passage defining a combustion chamber therein, said hollow body including an upstream portion forming primary and secondary air passages communicating with said supply passage and with said combustion chamber, means for providing a fuel/air mixture to said combustion chamber, baffle means transversely positioned within said primary air passage and forming the upstream end of said combustion chamber, said baffle means forming at least two radially spaced rows of fuel injection points for said fuel/air mixture providing means, said baffle means further providing a plurality of openings through which primary air enters said combustion chamber, said openings surrounding each of said fuel injection points such that the combustion zone is broken up into a plurality of small reaction zones, and said primary air passage having a dimension such that a major portion of the air flow from said supply passage flows therethrough, whereby the velocity of the air flowing over said baffle means is sufficient to cause mixing of said fuel/air mixture to occur in a short axial length zone, and the volume of said primary air flow is sufficient to provide adequate oxygen in the shortened combustion zone to complete the reaction within the shortened zone and to substantially eliminate smoke from the engine exhaust.