Budget
£40–70k
Duration
16 weeks
Closes
20 Sept 2026
Background
We have a client with a 2 MW natural-gas industrial turbine, a decarbonisation commitment and a board that has been told hydrogen is a drop-in fuel. It is not. The flame speed is higher, the flame sits differently, and the heat flux the liner experiences changes in ways that the existing cooling arrangement was never designed for.
We are not asking anyone to solve hydrogen combustion. We are asking for a liner concept, substantiated to the point where a foundry will quote it and a client will believe the risk register. The duty cycle is real and will be supplied, including the part-load operation that the client does rather more of than the original specification anticipated.
We have run the combustion analysis and have a view on flame position. What we do not have in-house is materials and cooling design at this temperature, nor anyone who has produced a manufacturable drawing set for a component of this kind.
Scope
- Review the existing 2 MW natural-gas liner and duty cycle.
- Propose materials, cooling and a geometry that can be manufactured in the UK.
- Deliver a risk register that mentions flashback without whispering.
- Assess thermal barrier coating options, including spallation risk under the revised gradients.
- Identify which risks require rig testing before any client commitment.
Constraints
The awkward facts, stated now rather than in week six.
- The turbine is an operating asset; the client will not accept a concept requiring a new machine
- Manufacture must be achievable by a UK foundry at single-unit quantities
- Part-load operation is substantial and cannot be excluded from the analysis
- We have combustion analysis but no rig, and no budget for one within this package
Deliverables
- Concept pack and preferred option
- Thermal and structural analysis summary
- Manufacturing drawing set (issue A)
- Risk register with rig-test recommendations ranked by consequence
- A short note we can put in front of the client's board without translation
Milestones
- Week 2Kick-off in Sheffield, duty cycle and existing design handed over
- Week 6Concept options presented, preferred option selected jointly
- Week 12Thermal and structural analysis complete, risk register drafted
- Week 16Drawing set at issue A, final report and board note delivered
Who should apply
- University group, research centre, or specialist consultancy
- Evidence of prior hot-section or industrial-burner work
- Access to thermal and structural analysis capability in-house
- Someone on the team who has produced a manufacturable drawing set before
How applications will be judged
In roughly this order.
- Demonstrated prior work on hot-section or burner components — evidence, not interest
- Realism of the proposed approach given the absence of rig testing
- Quality of the named individuals rather than the institution
- Whether the price reflects the drawing work as well as the analysis
Terms
- Background intellectual property remains with each party; foreground is jointly owned with a licence to us for commercial use
- Publication is permitted after twelve months, with the client anonymised and subject to our review
- The duty-cycle data is supplied under confidentiality and may not be redistributed
- Fixed price against the milestones above, paid on acceptance of each
Apply
Tell the publisher who you are and what you would do. We pass it on. The rest is between grown-ups.
We will answer technical questions before the deadline and would rather do that than receive a proposal built on a guess.