Oxford Flow Regulator enables the latest jet engine innovation

Oxford Flow, an innovative pressure and flow control equipment manufacturer, has enabled universities in the US and Korea to develop cutting edge jet-engine technology.

Pusan National University (Korea) and Virginia Tech (US), two of the largest gas turbine research laboratories in the world, invited Oxford Flow to offer a solution for controlling pressures in their latest jet engine research facilities.

Professor Changmin Son, Rolls- Royce Commonwealth Professor in Energy Engineering and Science at Virginia Tech, and formally of Pusan National University (PNU), explains the unique demands: “We were looking for a faster acting pressure regulator for our new transonic annular sector cascade. Conventional pressure regulators are not fast enough.”

The PNU blow-down facility is fed by a 10 bara air tank, which is discharged through the facility at 7 kg/s. The pressure at the test section must be maintained at 5 bara to within +/- 0.1%. The useful part of the test lasts no longer than 3 seconds, an incredibly short time to achieve stable and accurate pressure regulation.

This application was deemed too challenging for competitor pressure reducing valves (PRVs). The lack of any product on the market has resulted in reduced operational and cost effectiveness of the test facilities.

However, after seeing the success of Oxford Flow technology to control multimillion dollar jet-engine research facilities at the University of Oxford, a 6-month trial of the IHF Series PRV was approved.

The Oxford Flow team modelled the PNU research facility, devising a combination of 6” Oxford Flow IHF Series PRV and bypass nozzle in order to achieve the desired accuracy, stability and speed requirements. From day one, the performance was exceptional with the PRV able to achieve the required ultrahigh accuracy of +/- 0.1%, with inlet pressure decaying at a phenomenal 0.5 bar/s.

As a result, Oxford Flow’s technology was purchased after only 2 months of the trial. Following successful campaigns at PNU, the unit was transferred to a similar test facility at Virginia Tech.