An unusual gas turbine engine with a spherical combustion chamber body has been developed in Russia. The novelty was registered in the database of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property (FIPS) in December 2025.
According to the published documentation, the new design is aimed at increasing the strength of the combustion chamber, increasing air pressure and increasing the energy efficiency of the engine.
The spherical shape of the combustion chamber instead of the traditional cylinder is of interest. This solution provides compactness, but is usually worse at withstanding internal pressure. This disadvantage has been eliminated in the new design.
In the new patent, the combustion chamber body is made spherical. An annular flame tube with nozzles and front devices will be placed inside. A cavity is provided between the body and the tube for the passage of cooling air from the compressor.
The consequence of making the combustion chamber body spherical will be to increase its strength, and therefore the reliability of both the combustion chamber unit and the entire gas turbine engine as a whole.
The authors of the development carried out comparative calculations. They proved that the spherical shape reduces the tensile load on the body walls and allows it to withstand higher pressure without loss of strength.
Thanks to this, engineers can increase the air pressure supplied to the combustion chamber, as well as expand the volume of the combustion zone. This increases the stability of the engine and improves fuel combustion parameters.
Another important advantage of the spherical combustion chamber body is the increase in the volume of the combustion zone. During operation, air flows into the compressor, where it is compressed and sent to the diffuser, and then separated.
One part enters the combustion chamber and mixes with fuel. The other passes through the cavity inside the spherical body and cools the flame tube. Hot gases are directed to the gas turbine, which drives the rotor and compressor. This scheme ensures stable operation of the unit under high loads.
Preliminary, the development can be used in aircraft engines, ship power plants and industrial gas turbine complexes.