Micro-grooved heat transfer combustor wall

A gas turbine engine hot section combustor liner is provided a non-film cooled portion of a heat transfer wall having a hot surface and a plurality of longitudinally extending micro-grooves disposed in the portion of the wall along the hot surface in a direction parallel to the direction of the hot gas flow. The depth of the micro-grooves is very small and on the order of magnitude of a predetermined laminar sublayer of a turbulent boundary layer. The micro-grooves are sized so as to inhibit heat transfer from the hot gas flow to the hot surface of the wall while reducing NOx emissions of the combustor relative to an otherwise similar combustor having a liner wall portion including film cooling apertures. In one embodiment the micro-grooves are about 0.001 inches deep and have a preferred depth range of from about 0.001 inches to 0.005 inches and which are square, rectangular, or triangular in cross-section and the micro-grooves are spaced about one width apart.