HEATTOP PROJECT

HEATTOP (acronym for "Accurate High-temperature Engine Aero-Thermal measurements for gas Turbine life Optimization, Performance and condition monitoring") is a project funded by the European Community as part of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6).

The project targets the development and improvement of instrumentation to measure pressure, temperature (gas temperature, surface temperature, blade temperature), flow and tip clearance in gas turbines. The sensors studied in HEATTOP include both devices to be used during routine operation and in the development phase of the engine: more rugged and accurate sensors allow gas turbine manufacturers to measure more reliably physical parameters in region of the engine which are currently not instrumented and at the same time can provide crucial information currently unavailable for the design of improved new engines.

HEATTOP has originated from the need of measurement capability improvement underlined in the Lab Gap Matrix, a study which was undertaken few years ago from the EVI-GTI (European Virtual Institute for Gas Turbine Instrumentation). Further details on the Lab Gap Matrix can be found at the following web address:

http://www.evi-gti.com/default.asp?ContentID=14

The HEATTOP consortium involves several European partners, including gas turbine manufactures, sensors manufacturers, research institutes and universities. A full list of the partners is provided below:

• Rolls-Royce [United Kingdom]
• Siemens [Germany]
• Volvo Aero [Sweden]
• Vibro-Meter UK [United Kingdom]
• Vibro-Meter SA [Switzerland]
• KEMA Nederland B.V. [Netherlands]
• Auxitrol SA [France]
• Advanced Optics Solutions (AOS) [Germany]
• Oxensis Ltd [United Kingdom]
• Farran Technologies Limited [Ireland]
• von Karman Institute (VKI) [Belgium]
• CESI Ricerca [Italy]
• Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales (ONERA) [France]
• Institut für Physikalische Hoch-Technologie (IPHT) [Germany]
• Univeristy of Lund [Sweden]
• Univeristy of Oxford [United Kingdom]
• University of Cambridge [United Kingdom]

Further information on the HEATTOP project can be found at the following web sites:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/transport/projects/article_6499_en.html

http://ec.europa.eu/research/transport/news/article_8780_en.html

http://www.evi-gti.com/default.asp?contentid=1227