The Notre Dame Turbomachinery Laboratory (NDTL) has entered a 19-month, US$2.5-million agreement with Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. Ltd. (DHI) to conduct compressor research and testing to support the development of a 300-MW gas turbine. Testing will occur at NDTL’s 10 MW compressor test cell, which is currently under construction with the goal of becoming fully operational this fall.
According to NDTL, the compressor test will study aerodynamic phenomena cannot be computer simulated. All design, analysis, fabrication, and assembly will take place at NDTL’s facility located at Ignition Park in South Bend, Indiana, USA.
Part of the University of Notre Dame, NDTL is focused on research, testing and workforce development for a wide range of applications that involve turbomachinery technology. NDTL’s 28,000-sq.ft. (2601-m2) facility offers experimental and numerical capabilities for the development of rotating machinery that requires high power levels and related specialized support. These capabilities create a shorter development path for new gas turbine engine technologies within any industry, NDTL said. The facility has 41 full-time employees.
The facility at Ignition Park operates with shaft powers from 700 to 12,000 hp (522 to 8952 kW) in a secured, export-controlled environment. Computational capabilities include a range of in-house and commercial software for structural and fluid-flow analysis as well as a dedicated, large-scale high-performance computing (HPC) cluster.
NDTL is currently involved in research and product development for a variety of sponsors and collaborators including Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, and Honeywell.