National Centre for Combustion and Aerothermal Technology (NCCAT)

The National Centre for Combustion and Aerothermal Technology (NCCAT) is the UK’s primary research hub for future low-emission aero gas turbine technologies. Prior to NCCAT, no single UK organisation possessed the facilities required for testing combustion systems in the extreme environments they would face during use on an aircraft.

NCCATs primary objective is to help meet the Net Zero carbon challenge faced by the UK aerospace industry. The centre is the UK’s primary research hub for future low-emission aero gas turbine combustion technologies and aims to ensure a flow of knowledge, talent, and new technologies into the industry.

A combustion system sits at the heart of every gas turbine and provides the thermal power to drive the turbine through high efficiency combustion of fuel. Gas turbine combustion systems are hugely challenging to develop as they operate at high temperatures and pressures and need to be continuously cooled when the gas turbine is operating. The extreme operating conditions also give rise to NOx byproducts which impact climate change and local air quality around airports and must be minimised.

Gas turbine combustors also need to be capable of being lit at high altitudes, should they ever be extinguished. Development of these complex systems requires R&D investment running into tens if not hundreds of millions of pounds and experimental facilities that can create extreme temperature and pressure conditions to study them.

Prior to NCCAT, no single UK organisation possessed the facilities required for testing combustions systems at elevated temperatures and pressures and high-altitude atmospheric conditions. Substantial UK government financial support through the ATI Programme, together with industry commitment, were critical in enabling NCCAT to be built, equipped, and operate on a broad range of fuels from kerosene to hydrogen. It has also created space that enables close academic and industry collaboration to take place alongside their experiments on a much larger scale than before. Thanks to these efforts, NCCAT is a truly world leading combustion technology facility, putting the UK at the forefront of sustainable aviation.

NCCAT builds on a long-standing strategic partnership between Rolls-Royce, one of the world’s leading suppliers of gas turbine engines, and Loughborough University. A national centre based at Loughborough is a logical extension beyond a proven partnership enabling cutting-edge research with partners ranging from SMEs to multinationals. For example, beyond aerospace, the centre has recently worked with Bladon Jets to support their development of its micro-turbine generator which will
supply reliable remote power around the world.

The presence of this world-class centre within the UK has safeguarded and created new jobs both within, and external to, the University. It provides a continuous pipeline of talent and supports numerous exchanges in both directions with industry. It has the capacity to employ 75 people and host the joint EPSRC CDT in Future Propulsion and Power, an exciting partnership between the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and Loughborough, which provides a unique whole engine, whole sector, training experience for masters and PhD students. The CDT has already trained over 55 students in partnership with Rolls-Royce, Siemens, Dyson, and Mitsubishi. NCCAT will ensure the skills and capabilities needed to develop and deliver competitive low emissions technology are there to support
the UK’s ability to successfully compete within the future aerospace market.

The centre has already made significant progress towards meeting the net zero carbon challenge by examining the use of hydrogen and low carbon impact Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs). Evidence of impact includes the submission of impact case studies to the Research Excellence Framework, the official system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. For example, the Trent XWB – “the world’s most efficient large aero-engine,” has benefited from several innovative technologies developed at Loughborough University. This has helped the XWB achieve a fuel burn saving equivalent to an annual CO2 reduction of approximately 71 million kg, resulting in a cost saving of approximately £15 million a year across the fleet of 379 Airbus A350 aircraft.