Electrostatic enhancement of inlet particle separators for turbine engines*

Inlet particle separators only prevent 60-70% of fine dust particles (1-80 μm) from entering the core flow of the turbine engine. Therefore, operation of helicopters in dusty environments can cause significant damage to different sections of the turbine engines due to ingestion of fine dust particles. In this work, electrostatic enhancement of IPS performance was demonstrated for a vaneless IPS design for a standard test dust, without exceeding the limits on intake pressure loss, weight and power. The electrostatic enhancement was achieved by electrostatic enhancement was achieved by electrostatic charging of dust particles using corona discharge and their deflection into the scavenge flow path of the IPS. The dust ingestion tests were initially performed for sub-scale flow (0.6 lb/s) and then scaled-up to achieve full-scale flow (9.5 lb/s) at an engine manufacturer facility. A maximum improvement of 12% was achieved in dust separation efficiency by electrostatic enhancement.