The Combustion and Fire Research Laboratory (CFRL) is located in the industrial district of Cincinnati, surrounded by lush green forests. It is part of the University of Cincinnati’s Center Hill Campus. The CFRL was established in the late 1990s to cater to the needs of the local aviation industry. CFRL has two centers, the Combustion Research Center (CRC) and the Fire Test Center (FTC). Our industrial clients include GE Aviation, GE-GRC, GE-Power and Water, Parker Hannifin, NASA, FAA, AFRL, Unison, MRAS, Boeing.

The CRC conducts state-of-the-art research on advanced aero propulsion devices. The primary focus of our research is on applied combustion, which includes research on fuel atomization, combustion dynamics, turbulent combustion, plasma combustion, and fire research. The design and development activities include novel fuel injectors for next generation low NOx combustors, methods to reduce combustion instabilities, and research and development of advanced Lean Direct Injection (LDI) and Dry Low NOx (DLN) combustor technologies. Our test facilities provide diagnostic testing services to improve industrial hardware, including spray diagnostics and spray analysis, injector aerodynamics measurements, 3D velocity mapping, fuel-air mixing measurements, Lean Blow-Out (LBO) and ignition limit studies, combustion dynamics evaluations, and emission measurements on engine hardware.

The FTC provides engineering fire tests and FAA certification fire tests on aerospace components and materials. Two burners, propane and NexGen, are available for conducting tests per FAA standards. FTC has several test fixtures available and can develop custom test fixtures upon request. We provide consultancy in design modifications as a part of our contractual obligation with our clients.