Thèses sur le sujet « Gas Turbine Nozzle »

This thesis presents a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) study of high pressure gas turbine blade design with different realistic inlet temperature and velocity boundary conditions. The effects of blade shaping and inlet conditions can only be fully understood by considering the aerodynamics and heat transfer concurrently; this is in contrast to the sequential method of blade design for aerodynamics followed by cooling. The inlet boundary conditions to the NGV simulations are governed by the existence of discrete fuel injectors in the combustion chamber. An appreciation of NGV shaping design under engine realistic inflow conditions will allow for an identification of the correct three dimensional shaping parameters that should be considered for design optimisation. The Rolls-Royce efficient Navier-Stokes solver, HYDRA, was employed in all computational results for a transonic turbine stage. The single passage unsteady method based on the Fourier Shape Correction is adopted. The solver is validated under both rich burn (hot steak only) and the case with swirl inlet profiles for aerothermal characteristics; good agreement is noted with the validation data. Post processing methods were used in order to obtain time-averaged results and blade visualisations. Subsequently, a surrogate design optimisation methodology using machine learning combined with a Genetic Algorithm is implemented and validated. A study of the effect of NGV compound lean on stage performance is carried out and contrasted for uniform and rich burn inlets, and subsequently for lean burn. Compound lean is shown to produce a tip uploading at the rotor inlet, which is beneficial for rich burn, but detrimental for lean burn. It is also found that for rich burn, fluid driving temperature is more dominant than HTC in determining rotor blade heat transfer, the opposite sense to the uniform inlet. Also, for a lean burn inlet, there is another role reversal, with HTC dominating fluid driving temperature in determining heat transfer. A novel NGV design methodology is proposed that seeks to mitigate the combined effects of inlet hot streak and swirling flow. In essence, the concept two NGVs in a pair are shaped independently of each other, thus allowing the inlet flow non uniformity to be suitably accommodated. Finally, two numerical NGV optimisation studies are undertaken for the combined hot streak and swirl inlet for two clocking positions; vane impinging and passage aligned. Due to the prohibitive cost of unsteady CFD simulations for an optimisation strategy, a suitable objective function at the NGV exit plane is used to minimise rotor tip heat flux. The optimised shape for the passage case resulted in the lowest tip heat flux distribution, however the optimum shape for the impinging case led to the highest gain in stage efficiency. This therefore suggests that NGV lean and clocking position should be a consideration for future optimisation and design of the HP stage.

Heat transfer study on gas turbine blades is very important due to the resultant increase in cycle thermal efficiency. This study is focused on the heat transfer effects on a reference nozzle guide vane and test rig component preparation in heat and power technology division at KTH. In order to prepare the current test rig for heat transfer experiments, some feature should be changed in the current layout to give a nearly instant temperature rise for heat transfer measurement. The heater mesh component is the main component to be added to the current test rig. Some preliminary design parameters were set and the necessary power for the heater mesh to achieve required step temperature rise was calculated. For the next step, it is needed to estimate the heat transfer coefficient and the other parameters for study on the reference blade using numerical methods. Boundary layer analysis is very important in heat transfer modeling so to model the reference blade heat transfer and boundary layer properties, a 2D boundary layer code TEXSTAN is used and the velocity distribution around the vane was set to an input dataset file. After elements refinement to ensure the numerical accuracy of TEXSTAN code, various turbulence modeling was check to predict the heat transfer coefficient and boundary layer assessments. It was concluded from TEXTAN calculations that both suction and pressure side have transition flow while for the suction side it was predicted that the flow regime at trailing edge is fully turbulent. Based on the Abu-Ghannam –Shaw Transition model and by the aid of shape factor data, momentum Reynolds number and various boundary layer properties, it was concluded that the pressure side remains in transient region.

The possibility of misalignments at interfaces would be increased due to individual parts' assembly and external factors during its operation. In actual engine representative conditions, the upstream misalignments have effects on turbines performance through the nozzle guide vane passages. The current experimental aerodynamic investigation over the nozzle guide vane passage was concentrated on the backward-facing step of upstream misalignments. The tests were performed using two types of vane endwall platforms in a 2D linear cascade: flat endwall and axisymmetric converging endwall. The test conditions were a Mach number of 0.85, Re_ex 1.5*10^6 based on exit condition and axial chord, and a high freestream turbulence intensity (16%), at the Virginia tech transonic cascade wind tunnel. The experimental results from the surface flow visualization and the five-hole probe measurements at the vane-passage exit were compared with the two cases with and without the backward-facing step for both types of endwall platforms. As a main source of secondary flow, a horseshoe vortex at stagnation region of the leading edge of the vane directly influences other secondary flows. The intensity of the vortex is associated with boundary layer thickness of inlet flow. In this regard, the upstream backward-facing step as a misalignment induces the separation and attachment of the inlet flow sequentially, and these cause the boundary layer of the inlet flow to reform and become thinner locally. The upstream-step positively affects loss reduction in aerodynamics due to the thinner inlet boundary layer, which attenuates a horseshoe vortex ahead of the vane cascade despite the development of the additional vortices. And converging endwall results in an increase of the effect of the upstream misalignment in aerodynamics, since the inlet boundary layer becomes thinner near the vane's leading edge due to local flow acceleration caused by steep contraction of the converging endwall. These results show good correlation with many previous studies presented herein.
Master of Science

The primary requirements for a modern industrial gas turbine consist of a continuous trend of an increasing efficiency combined with very low emissions in a robust, cost-effective manner. To fulfil these tasks a high turbine inlet temperature together with advanced dry low NOX combustion chambers are employed. These dry low NOX combustion chambers generate a rather flat temperature profile compared to previous generation gas turbines, which have a rather parabolic temperature profile before the nozzle guide vane. This means that the nozzle guide vane endwall heat load for modern gas turbines is much higher compared to previous generation gas turbines. Therefore the prediction of the nozzle guide vane flow field and endwall heat transfer is crucial for the engineering task of the design layout of the vane endwall cooling system. The present study is directed towards establishing new in-depth aerodynamic and endwall heat transfer knowledge for an advanced nozzle guide vane of a modern industrial gas turbine. To reach this objective the physical processes and effects which cause the different flow fields and the endwall heat transfer pattern in a baseline configuration, a combustion chamber variant, a heat shield variant without and with additional cooling air and a cavity variant without and with additional cooling air have been investigated. The variants, which differ from the simplified baseline configuration, apply design elements which are commonly used in real modern gas turbines. This research area is crucial for the nozzle guide vane endwall heat transfer, especially for the advanced design of the nozzle guide vane of a modern industrial gas turbine and has so far hardly been investigated in the open literature. For the experimental aerodynamic and endwall heat transfer research of the baseline configuration of the advanced nozzle guide vane geometry a new low pressure, low temperature test facility has been developed, designed and constructed, since no experimental heat transfer data exist in the open literature for this type of vane configuration. The new test rig consists of a linear cascade with the baseline configuration of the advanced nozzle guide vane geometry with four upscaled airfoils and three flow passages. For the aerodynamic tests the two middle airfoils and the hub and the tip endwall are instrumented with pressure taps to monitor the Mach number distribution. For the heat transfer tests the temperature distribution on the hub endwall is measured via thermography. The analysis of these measurements, including comparisons to research in the open literature shows that the new test rig generates accurate and reproducible results which give confidence that it is a reliable tool for the experimental aerodynamic and heat transfer research on the advanced nozzle guide vane of a modern industrial gas turbine. Previous own research work together with the numerical analysis performed in another part of the project as well as conclusions from a detailed literature study lead to the conclusion that advanced Navier-Stokes CFD tools with the v2-f turbulence model are most suitable for the calculation of the flow field and the endwall heat transfer of turbine vanes and blades. Therefore this numerical tool, validated against different vane and blade geometries and for different flow conditions, has been chosen for the numerical aerodynamic and endwall heat transfer research of the advanced nozzle guide vane of a modern industrial gas turbine. The evaluation of the numerical and experimental investigations of the baseline configuration of the advanced design of a nozzle guide vane shows the flow field of an advanced mid-loaded airfoil design with the features to reduce total airfoil losses. For the hub endwall of the baseline configuration of the advanced design of a nozzle guide vane the flow characteristics and heat transfer features of the classical vane endwall secondary flow model can be detected with a very weak intensity and geometric extension compared to the studies of less advanced vane geometries in the open literature. A detailed analysis of the numerical simulations and the experimental data showed very good qualitative and quantitative agreement for the three-dimensional flow field and the endwall heat transfer. These findings, together with the evaluations obtained from the open literature, lead to the conclusions that selected CFD software Fluent together with the applied v2-f turbulence model exhibits a high level of general applicability and is not tuned to a special vane or blade geometry. Therefore the CFD code Fluent with the v2-f turbulence model has been selected for the research of the influence of the several geometric variants of the baseline configuration on the flow field and the hub endwall heat transfer of the advanced nozzle guide vane of a modern industrial gas turbine. Most of the vane endwall heat transfer research in the open literature has been carried out only for baseline configurations of the flow path between combustion chamber and nozzle guide vane. Such a simplified geometry consists of a long, planar undisturbed approach length upstream of the nozzle guide vane. The design of real modern industrial gas turbines however requires often significant variations from this baseline configuration consisting of air-cooled heat shields and purged cavities between the combustion chamber and the nozzle guide vane. A detailed evaluation of the flow field and the endwall heat transfer shows major differences between the baseline and the heat shield configuration. The heat shield in front of the airfoil of the nozzle guide vane influences the secondary flow field and the endwall heat transfer pattern strongly. Additional cooling air, released under the heat shield has a distinctive influence as well. Also the cavity between the combustion chamber and the nozzle guide vane affects the secondary flow field and the endwall heat transfer pattern. Here the influence of additional cavity cooling air is more decisive. The results of the detailed studies of the geometric variants are applied to formulate guidelines for an optimized design of the flow path between the combustion chamber and the nozzle guide vane and the nozzle guide vane endwall cooling configuration of next-generation industrial gas turbines.
QC 20100917

In this study, the influence of inlet flow incidence on the aerodynamic and thermal performance of a film cooled linear nozzle vane cascade is fully assessed. Tests have been carried out on a solid and a cooled cascade. In the cooled cascade, coolant is ejected at the end wall through a slot located upstream of the leading edge plane. Moreover, a vane showerhead cooling system is also realized through 4 rows of cylindrical holes. The cascade was tested at a high inlet turbulence intensity level (Tu1 = 9%) and at a constant inlet Mach number of 0.12 and nominal cooling condition, varying the inlet flow angle. In addition to the reference incidence angle (0°), four other cases were investigated: +20°, +10°, -10° and -20°. The aero-thermal characterization of vane platform was obtained through 5-hole probe, endwall and vane showerhead adiabatic film cooling effectiveness measurements. Vane load distributions and surface flow visualizations supported the discussion of the results. On the vane, a significant movement in stagnation point happened when incidence angle varied, resulted in changing of the coolant distribution pattern between SS and PS of the cooled vane; which adversely affects the efficiency for both negative and positive inlet flow incidence angles. On the platform, however, a relevant negative impact of positive inlet flow incidence on the cooled cascade aerodynamic and endwall thermal performance was detected. A negligible influence was instead observed at negative incidence, even at the lowest tested value of -20°.

The goal of a gas turbine engine designer is to reduce the amount of coolant used to cool the critical turbine surfaces, while at the same time extracting more benefit from the coolant flow that is used. Fan-shaped holes offer this opportunity, reducing the normal jet momentum and spreading the coolant in the lateral direction providing better surface coverage. The main drawback of fan-shaped cooling holes is the added manufacturing cost from the need for electrical discharge machining instead of the laser drilling used for cylindrical holes. This research focused on examining the performance of fan-shaped holes on two critical turbine surfaces; the vane and endwall. This research was the first to offer a complete characterization of film-cooling on a turbine vane surface, both in single and multiple row configurations. Infrared thermography was used to measure adiabatic wall temperatures, and a unique rigorous image transformation routine was developed to unwrap the surface images. Film-cooling computations were also done comparing the performance of two popular turbulence models, the RNG-kε and the v2-f model, in predicting film-cooling effectiveness. Results showed that the RNG-kε offered the closest prediction in terms of averaged effectiveness along the vane surface. The v2-f model more accurately predicted the separated flow at the leading edge and on the suction side, but did not predict the lateral jet spreading well, which led to an over-prediction in film-cooling effectiveness. The intent for the endwall surface was to directly compare the cooling and aerodynamic performance of cylindrical holes to fan-shaped holes. This was the first direct comparison of the two geometries on the endwall. The effect of upstream injection and elevated inlet freestream turbulence was also investigated for both hole geometries. Results indicated that fan-shaped film-cooling holes provided an increase in film-cooling effectiveness of 75% on average above cylindrical film-cooling holes, while at the same time producing less total pressure losses through the passage. The effect of upstream injection was to saturate the near wall flow with coolant, increasing effectiveness levels in the downstream passage, while high freestream turbulence generally lowered effectiveness levels on the endwall.
Ph. D.

Over the last two decades, most developed countries have reached a consensus that greener energy production is necessary for the world, due to the climate changes and limited fossil fuel resources. More efficient turbine is desirable and can be archived by higher turbine-inlet temperature (TIT). However, it is difficult for nozzle guide vane (NGV), which is the first stage after combustion chamber, to withstand a very high temperature. Thus, cooling methods such as film cooling have to be implemented. Film-cooled NGV of an annular sector cascade (ASC) is studied in this thesis, for getting comprehensive calculation of vorticity, and analyzing applicability of existing loss models, namely Hartsel model and Young & Wilcock model. The flow-field calculation methods from previously published studies are reviewed. Literatures focusing on Hartsel model and Young & Wilcock model are studied. Measurement data from previously published studies are analyzed and compared with the loss models. In order to get experience of how measurements take place, participation of a test run experiment is involved. Calculation of flow vector has been evaluated and modified. Actual flow angle is introduced when calculating velocity components. Thus, more exact results are obtained from the new method. Calculation of vorticity has been evaluated and made more comprehensive. Vorticity components as well as magnitude of total streamwise vorticity are calculated and visualized. Vorticity is higher and more extensive for fully cooled case than uncooled case. Highest vorticity is found at regions near the hub, tip and TE. Axial and circumferential vorticities show similar patterns, while the radial vorticity is relatively simpler. Compressibility is introduced as a new method when calculating circumferential and radial vorticities, resulting more extensive and higher vorticities than results from incompressible solutions. Hartsel model and Young & Wilcock model have been evaluated and compared to the ASC to see the applicability of the models. In general, Hartsel model cannot agree with the ASC to a satisfactory level and thus cannot be applied. Coolant velocity is found to be the dominant factor of Hartsel model. Young & Wilcock model may match SS1 and SS2 cases, or even PS and SH4 cases, but cannot match TE case. The applicability of Young & Wilcock model is much dependent on the location of cooling rows.

While the gas turbine research community is continuously pursuing development of higher cyclic efficiency designs by increasing the combustor firing temperatures and thermally resistant turbine vane / blade materials, a simultaneous effort to reduce the emission levels of high temperature driven thermal NOX also needs to be addressed. Lean premixed combustion has been found as one of the solutions to these objectives. However, since less amount of air is available for backside cooling of liner walls, it becomes very important to characterize the convective heat transfer that occurs on the inside wall of the combustor liners. These studies were explored using laboratory scale experiments as well as numerical approaches for several inlet flow conditions under both non-reacting and reacting flows. These studies may be expected to provide valuable insights for the industrial design communities towards identifying thermal hot spot locations as well as in quantifying the heat transfer magnitude, thus aiding in effective designs of the liner walls. Lean premixed gas turbine combustor flows involve strongly coupled interactions between several aspects of physics such as the degree of swirl imparted by the inlet fuel nozzle, premixing of the fuel and incoming air, lean premixed combustion within the combustor domain, the interaction of swirling flow with combustion driven heat release resulting in flow dilation, the resulting pressure fluctuations leading to thermo-acoustic instabilities there by creating a feedback loop with incoming reactants resulting in flow instabilities leading to flame lift off, flame extinction etc. Hence understanding combustion driven swirling flow in combustors continues to be a topic of intense research. In the present study, numerical predictions of swirl driven combustor flows were analyzed for a specific swirl number of an industrial fuel nozzle (swirler) using a commercial computational fluid dynamics tool and compared against in-house experimental data. The latter data was obtained from a newly developed test rig at Applied Propulsion and Power Laboratory (APPL) at Virginia Tech. The simulations were performed and investigated for several flow Reynolds numbers under non-reacting condition using various two equation turbulence models as well as a scale resolving model. The work was also extended to reacting flow modeling (using a partially premixed model) for a specific Reynolds number. These efforts were carried out in order investigate the flow behavior and also characterize convective heat transfer along the combustor wall (liner). Additionally, several parametric studies were performed towards investigating the effect of combustor geometry on swirling flow and liner hear transfer; and also to investigate the effect of inlet swirl on the jet impingement location along the liner wall under both non-reacting as well as reacting conditions. The numerical results show detailed comparison against experiments for swirling flow profiles within the combustor under reacting conditions indicating a good reliability of steady state modeling approaches for reacting conditions; however, the limitations of steady state RANS turbulence models were observed for non-reacting swirling flow conditions, where the flow profiles deviate from experimental observations in the central recirculation region. Also, the numerical comparison of liner wall heat transfer characteristics against experiments showed a sensitivity to Reynolds numbers. These studies offer to provide preliminary insights of RANS predictions based on commercial CFD tools in predicting swirling, non-reacting and reacting flow and heat transfer. They can be extended to reacting flow heat transfer studies in future and also may be upgraded to unsteady LES predictions to complement future experimental observations conducted at the in-house test facility.
Ph. D.

Efficiency improvement in turbomachines is an important aspect in reducing the use of fossil-based fuel and thereby reducing carbon dioxide emissions in order to achieve a sustainable future. Gas turbines are mainly fossil-based turbomachines powering aviation and land-based power plants. In line with the present situation and the vision for the future, gas turbine engines will retain their central importance in coming decades. Though the world has made significant advancements in gas turbine technology development over past few decades, there are yet many design features remaining unexplored or worth further improvement. These features might have a great potential to increase efficiency. The high pressure turbine (HPT) stage is one of the most important elements of the engine where the increased efficiency has a significant influence on the overall efficiency as downstream losses are substantially affected by the prehistory. The overall objective of the thesis is to contribute to the development of gas turbine efficiency improvements in relation to the HPT stage.   Hence, this study has been incorporated into a research project that investigates leading edge contouring near endwall by fillet and external cooling on a nozzle guide vane with a common goal to contribute to the development of the HPT stage. In the search for HPT stage efficiency gains, leading edge contouring near the endwall is one of the methods found in the published literature that showed a potential to increase the efficiency by decreasing the amount of secondary losses. However, more attention is necessary regarding the realistic use of the leading edge fillet. On the other hand, external cooling has a significant influence on the HPT stage efficiency and more attention is needed regarding the aerodynamic implication of the external cooling. Therefore, the aerodynamic influence of a leading edge fillet and external cooling, here film cooling at profile and endwall as well as TE cooling, on losses and flow field have been investigated in the present work. The keystone of this research project has been an experimental investigation of a modern nozzle guide vane using a transonic annular sector cascade. Detailed investigations of the annular sector cascade have been presented using a geometric replica of a three dimensional gas turbine nozzle guide vane. Results from this investigation have led to a number of new important findings and also confirmed some conclusions established in previous investigations to enhance the understanding of complex turbine flows and associated losses.   The experimental investigations of the leading edge contouring by fillet indicate a unique outcome which is that the leading edge fillet has no significant effect on the flow and secondary losses of the investigated nozzle guide vane. The reason why the leading edge fillet does not affect the losses is due to the use of a three-dimensional vane with an existing typical fillet over the full hub and tip profile. Findings also reveal that the complex secondary flow depends heavily on the incoming boundary layer. The investigation of the external cooling indicates that a coolant discharge leads to an increase of profile losses compared to the uncooled case. Discharges on the profile suction side and through the trailing edge slot are most prone to the increase in profile losses. Results also reveal that individual film cooling rows have a weak mutual effect. A superposition principle of these influences is followed in the midspan region. An important finding is that the discharge through the trailing edge leads to an increase in the exit flow angle in line with an increase of losses and a mixture mass flow. Results also indicate that secondary losses can be reduced by the influence of the coolant discharge. In general, the exit flow angle increases considerably in the secondary flow zone compared to the midspan zone in all cases. Regarding the cooling influence, the distinct change in exit flow angle in the area of secondary flows is not noticeable at any cooling configuration compared to the uncooled case. This interesting zone requires an additional, accurate study. The investigation of a cooled vane, using a tracer gas carbon dioxide (CO2), reveals that the upstream platform film coolant is concentrated along the suction surfaces and does not reach the pressure side of the hub surface, leaving it less protected from the hot gas. This indicates a strong interaction of the secondary flow and cooling showing that the influence of the secondary flow cannot be easily influenced.   The overall outcome enhances the understanding of complex turbine flows, loss behaviour of cooled blade, secondary flow and interaction of cooling and secondary flow and provides recommendations to the turbine designers regarding the leading edge contouring and external cooling. Additionally, this study has provided to a number of new significant results and a vast amount of data, especially on profile and secondary losses and exit flow angles, which are believed to be helpful for the gas turbine community and for the validation of analytical and numerical calculations.
Ökad verkningsgrad i turbomaskiner är en viktig del i strävan att minska användningen av fossila bränslen och därmed minska växthuseffekten för att uppnå en hållbar framtid. Gasturbinen är huvudsakligen fossilbränslebaserad, och driver luftfart samt landbaserad kraftproduktion. Enligt rådande läge och framtidsutsikter bibehåller gasturbinen denna centrala roll under kommande decennier. Trots betydande framsteg inom gasturbinteknik under de senaste årtionden finns fortfarande många designaspekter kvar att utforska och vidareutveckla. Dessa designaspekter kan ha stor potential till ökad verkningsgrad. Högtrycksturbinsteget är en av de viktigaste delarna av gasturbinen, där verkningsgraden har betydande inverkan på den totala verkningsgraden eftersom förluster kraftigt påverkas av tidigare förlopp. Huvudsyftet med denna studie är att bidra till verkningsgradsförbättringar i högtrycksturbinsteget.   Studien är del i ett forskningsprojekt som undersöker ledskenans framkantskontur vid ändväggarna samt extern kylning, i jakten på dessa förbättringar. Den aerodynamiska inverkan av en förändrad geometri vid ledskenans ändväggar har i tidigare studier visat potential för ökad verkningsgrad genom minskade sekundärförluster. Ytterligare fokus krävs dock, med användning av en rimlig hålkälsradie. Samtidigt har extern kylning i form av filmkylning stor inverkan på verkningsgraden hos högtrycksturbinsteget och forskning behövs med fokus på den aerodynamiska inverkan. Av denna anledning studeras här inverkan både av ändrad hålkälsradie vid ledskenans framkant samt extern kylning i form av filmkylning av skovel, ändvägg och bakkant på aerodynamiska förluster och strömningsfält. Huvudpelaren i detta forskningsprojekt har varit en experimentell undersökning av en geometrisk replika av en modern tredimensionell gasturbinstator i en transonisk annulärkaskad. Detaljerade undersökningar i annulärkaskaden har gett betydande resultat, och bekräftat vissa tidigare studier. Detta har lett till ökad förståelsen för de komplexa flöden och förluster som karakteriserar gasturbiner.   De experimentella undersökningarna av förändrad framkantsgeometri leder till den unika slutsatsen att den modifierade hålkälsradien inte har någon betydande inverkan på strömningsfältet eller sekundärförluster av den undersökta ledskenan. Anledningen till att förändringen inte påverkar förlusterna är i detta fall den tredimensionella karaktären hos ledskenan med en redan existerande typisk framkantsgeometri. Undersökningarna visar också att de komplexa sekundärströmningarna är kraftigt beroende av det inkommande gränsskiktet. Undersökning av extern kylning visar att kylflödet leder till en ökad profilförlust. Kylflöde på sugsidan samt bakkanten har störst inverkan på profilförlusten. Resultaten visar också att individuella filmkylningsrader har liten påverkan sinsemellan och kan behandlas genom en superpositionsprincip längs mittsnittet. En viktig slutsats är att kylflöde vid bakkanten leder till ökad utloppsvinkel tillsammans med ökade förluster och massflöde. Resultat tuder på att sekundärströmning kan minskas genom ökad kylning. Generellt ökar utloppsvinkeln markant i den sekundära flödeszonen jämfört med mittsnittet för alla undersökta fall. Den kraftiga förändringen i utloppsvinkel är dock inte märkbar i den sekundära flödeszonen i något av kylfallen jämfört med de okylda referensfallet. Denna zon fordrar ytterligare studier. Spårgasundersökning av ledskenan med koldioxid (CO2) visar att plattformskylning uppströms ledskenan koncentreras till skovelns sugsida, och når inte trycksidan som därmed lämnas mer utsatt för het gas. Detta påvisar den kraftiga interaktionen mellan sekundärströmning och kylflöden, och att inverkan från sekundärströmningen ej enkelt kan påverkas. De generella resultaten från undersökningen ökar förståelsen av komplexa turbinflöden, förlustbeteenden för kylda ledskenor, interaktionen mellan sekundärströmning och kylflöden, och ger rekommendationer för turbinkonstruktörer kring förändrad framkantsgeometri i kombination med extern kylning. Dessutom har studien gett betydande resultat och en stor mängd data, särskilt rörande profil- och sekundärförluster och utloppsvinkel, vilket tros kunna vara till stor hjälp för gasturbinssamfundet vid validering av analytiska och numeriska beräkningar.

QC 20140909

Turbopower, Sector rig

The purpose of this research work was to develop a nozzle capable of depositing dense CoNiCrAlY coatings via cold gas dynamic spray (CGDS) as well as compare the oxidation performance of bond coats manufactured by CGDS, high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) and air plasma spray (APS) at temperatures of 1000°C and 1100°C. The work was divided in two sections, the design and manufacturing of a CGDS nozzle with an optimal profile for the deposition of CoNiCrAlY powders and the comparison of the oxidation performance of CoNiCrAlY bond coats. Throughout this work, it was shown that the quality of coatings deposited via CGDS can be increased by the use of a nozzle of optimal profile and that early formation of protective α-Al2O3 due to an oxidation temperature of 1100°C as opposed to 1000°C is beneficial to the overall oxidation performance of CoNiCrAlY coatings.

The object of this thesis was Proposal and Examination of Supercharging Alternatives of CI-engine with Exhaust Gas Recirculation according required engine power parameters. This goal was meet by use of Turbocharger with Variable Nozzles and Air-Air intercooler.

Increasing the combustion temperatures in a gas turbine engine to achieve higher efficiency and power output also results in high heat loads to turbine components downstream of the combustor. The challenge of adequately cooling the nozzle guide vane directly downstream of the combustor is compounded by a complex vortical secondary flow at the junction of the endwall and the airfoil. This flow tends to increase local heat transfer rates and sweep coolant away from component surfaces, as well as decrease the turbine aerodynamic efficiency. Past research has shown that a large fillet at the endwall-airfoil junction can reduce or eliminate the secondary flow. Also, leakage flow from the interface gap between the combustor and the turbine can provide some cooling to the endwall. This study examines the individual and combined effects of a large fillet and realistic combustor-turbine interface gap leakage flow for a nozzle guide vane. The first study focuses on the effect of leakage flow from the interface gap on the endwall upstream of the vane. The second study addresses the influence of large fillets at the endwall-airfoil junction, with and without upstream leakage flow. Both studies were performed in a large low-speed wind tunnel with the same vane geometry. Endwall shear stress measurements were obtained for various endwall-airfoil junction geometries without upstream leakage flow. Endwall heat transfer and cooling effectiveness were measured for various leakage flow rates and leakage gap widths, with a variety of endwall-airfoil junction geometries.

Results from these studies indicate that the secondary flow has a large influence on the coverage area of the leakage coolant. Increased leakage flow rates resulted in better cooling effectiveness and coverage, but also higher heat transfer rates. The two fillet geometries tested affected coolant coverage by displacing coolant around the base of the fillet, which could result in undesirably high gradients in endwall temperature. The addition of a large fillet to the endwall-airfoil junction, however, reduced heat transfer, even when upstream leakage flow was present.
Master of Science

The growing need for increased performance from gas turbines has fueled the drive to raise turbine inlet temperatures. This results in high thermal stresses especially along the first stage nozzle guide vane cascade as the hot combustion products exiting modern day gas turbine combustors generally reach temperatures that could endanger the structural stability of these vanes and greatly reduce the vane life. The highest heat transfer coefficients in the vane passage occurs near the endwall, particularly in the leading edge-endwall junction where vortical flows cause the flow of hotter fluid in the mainstream to mix with relatively lower temperature boundary layer fluid. This work documents the computational investigation of air injection at the end wall through a cylindrical hole placed upstream of the nozzle guide vane leading edge-end wall junction. The effect of the secondary jet on the formation of the leading edge horseshoe vortex and the consequent formation of the passage vortex has been studied. For the computations, the Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations were solved with the commercial software ANSYS Fluent using the SST k-ω model. Total pressure loss coefficient and kinetic energy loss Coefficient contour plots at the exit of the cascade to estimate the effect of the endwall fluid injection on loss profiles at the vane cascade exit. Swirling strength contours were plotted at several axial chord locations in order to track the path of the passage vortex in and downstream of the vane cascade. Two different hole-positions (located at 1 hole diameter and 2 hole diameters from the leading edge) along a plane parallel to the incident flow were considered in order to study the effect of the hole position with respect to the vane leading edge-endwall junction. Three different streamwise hole inclination angles with respect to the mainstream flow direction were studied to identify the best angle for the injection of fluid through the endwall. This angle was combined with five different compound angles (0°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 90°) in order to study the effect of varying the compound angle on the leading edge vortex and the passage vortex. Each of the above studies were conducted at two different injected fluid-to-mainstream mass flow ratios (0.5% and 1%) in order to study the effect of varying injected flow rate on the formation of the leading edge vortex and the vane passage vortex. From the results it was observed that suitable selection of the secondary injection mass flow rate, injection angle and hole-position caused an absence of the leading edge horseshoe vortex and delayed migration of the passage vortex across the guide vane passage. Heat Transfer studies were also conducted to observe the absence/weakening of the leading edge vortex and the delayed pitch-wise movement of the passage vortex.
Master of Science

This paper presents details of an experimental and computational investigation on the effect of misalignment between the combustor exit and nozzle guide vane endwall on the heat transfer distribution across an axisymmetric converging endwall. The axisymmetric converging endwall investigated was representative of that found on the shroud side of a first stage turbine nozzle section. The experiment was conducted at a nominal exit M of 0.85 and exit Re 1.5 x 10⁶ with an inlet turbulence intensity of 16%. The experiment was conducted in a blowdown transonic linear cascade wind tunnel. Two different inlet configurations were investigated. The first configuration, Case I, was representative of a combustor exit aligned to the nozzle platform, with a gap located at the interface of the tow components. The second configuration, Case II, the endwall platform was offset in the span-wise direction to create a backward facing step at the inlet. This step is representative of a misalignment between the combustor exit and the NGV platform. An infrared camera was used to capture the temperature history on the endwall, from which the endwall heat transfer distribution was determined. A numerical study was also conducted by solving RANS equations using ANSYS Fluent v.15. The numerical results provided insight into the passage flow field which explained the observed heat transfer characteristics. Case I showed the typical characteristics of transonic vane cascade flow, such as the separation line, saddle point, and horseshoe vortices. The presence of a gap at the combustor-nozzle interface facilitated the formation of a separated flow which propagated through the passage. This flow feature caused the passage vortex reattach to the SS vane at 0.44 x/C. The addition of the platform misalignment in Case II caused the flow reattachment region to occur near the vane LE plane. The separated flow which formed at the inlet step, merged with the recirculation region on the endwall platform, forming two counter-rotating auxiliary vortices. These vortices significantly delayed migration of the passage vortex, causing it to reattach on the SS vane at 0.85 x/C. These two flow features also had a significant effect on the endwall heat transfer characteristics. The heat transfer levels on the endwall platform, from -0.50 to +0.50 Cx relative to the vane LE, had an average increase of ~40%. However, downstream of the vane mid-passage, the heat transfer levels showed no appreciable heat transfer augmentation due to flow acceleration through the passage throat.
Master of Science

The study presented herein describes and analyzes a detailed experimental investigation of the effects of density ratio on endwall thermal performance at varying blowing rates for a typical nozzle guide vane platform purge jet cooling scheme. An axisymmetric converging endwall with an upstream doublet staggered cylindrical hole purge jet cooling scheme was employed. Nominal exit flow conditions were engine representative and as follows: {rm Ma}_{Exit} = 0.85, {rm Re}_{Exit,C_{ax}} = 1.5 times {10}^6, and large-scale freestream Tu = 16%. Two blowing ratios were investigated corresponding to the upper and lower engine extrema. Each blowing ratio was investigated amid two density ratios; one representing typical experimental neglect of density ratio, at DR = 1.2, and another engine representative density ratio achieved by mixing foreign gases, DR = 1.95. All tests were conducted on a linear cascade in the Virginia Tech Transonic Blowdown Wind Tunnel using IR thermography and transient data reduction techniques. Oil paint flow visualization techniques were used to gather quantitative information regarding the alteration of endwall flow physics due two different blowing rates of high-density coolant. High resolution endwall adiabatic film cooling effectiveness, Nusselt number, and Net Heat Flux Reduction contour plots were used to analyze the thermal effects. The effect of density is dependent on the coolant blowing rate and varies greatly from the high to low blowing condition. At the low blowing condition better near-hole film cooling performance and heat transfer reduction is facilitated with increasing density. However, high density coolant at low blowing rates isn't adequately equipped to penetrate and suppress secondary flows, leaving the SS and PS largely exposed to high velocity and temperature mainstream gases. Conversely, it is observed that density ratio only marginally affects the high blowing condition, as the momentum effects become increasingly dominant. Overall it is concluded density ratio has a first order impact on the secondary flow alterations and subsequent heat transfer distributions that occur as a result of coolant injection and should be accounted for in purge jet cooling scheme design and analysis. Additionally, the effect of increasing high density coolant blowing rate was analyzed. Oil paint flow visualization indicated that significant secondary flow suppression occurs as a result of increasing the blowing rate of high-density coolant. Endwall adiabatic film cooling effectiveness, Nusselt number, and NHFR comparisons confirm this. Low blowing rate coolant has a more favorable thermal impact in the upstream region of the passage, especially near injection. The low momentum of the coolant is eventually dominated and entrained by secondary flows, providing less effectiveness near PS, near SS, and into the throat of the passage. The high momentum present for the high blowing rate, high-density coolant suppresses these secondary flows and provides enhanced cooling in the throat and in high secondary flow regions. However, the increased turbulence impartation due to lift off has an adverse effect on the heat load in the upstream region of the passage. It is concluded that only marginal gains near the throat of the passage are observed with an increase in high density coolant blowing rate, but severe thermal penalty is observed near the passage onset.
Master of Science

The use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for modern turbine blade design requires the accurate representation of the effect of film cooling. However, including complete cooling hole discretization in the computational domain requires a substantial meshing effort and leads to a drastic increase in the computing time. For this reason, many efforts have been made to develop lower order approaches aiming at reducing the number of mesh elements and therefore computational resources. The simplest approach models the set of holes as a uniform coolant injection, but it does not allow an accurate assessment of the interaction between hot gas and coolant. Therefore higher order models have been developed, such as those based on localized mass sources in the region of hole discharge. It is here proposed an innovative injection film cooling model (which can be embedded in a CFD code) to represent the effect of cooling holes by adding local source terms at the hole exit in a delimited portion of the domain, avoiding the meshing process of perforations. The goal is to provide a reliable and accurate tool to simulate film-cooled turbine blades and nozzles without having to explicitly mesh the holes. The validation campaign of the proposed model is composed by two phases. During the first one, results obtained with the film cooling model are compared to experimental data and to numerical results obtained with the full meshing of the cooling holes on a series of test cases, ranging from single row to multi row flat plate, at varying coolant conditions (in terms of blowing and density ratio). Though details of the flow structure downstream of the holes cannot be perfectly captured, this method allows an accurate prediction of the overall flow and performance modications induced by the presence of the cooling holes, with a strong agreement to complete hole discretization results. In the second phase, a complete film-cooled vane test case has been studied, in order to consider a real injection system and flow conditions. In this case, film cooling model predictions are compared to an in-house developed correlative approach and full CHT 3D-CFD results. Finally, a comparison between film cooling model predictions and experimental data was performed on an actual nozzle of a GE Oil & Gas heavy-duty gas turbine as well, in order to prove the feasibility of the procedure.

碩士
國立成功大學
航空太空工程學系
84
Due to its low cost, heavy oil is frequently used as the fuel by the power industry as the dynamo-electric machine system is powered by the gas turbine. The use of heavy oil, however, usually yields depositions around the tip of the fuel spray system due to its complex ingredients and high viscosity. The depositions may block the gateway of the atomization air, thereby resulting in growing depositions. In the worst situation, the whole system has to be shut down in order to clean up the depositions. This thesis is thus devoted to the study of exploring the causes of the depositions by using fully numerical simulations. The software package CFDS-FLOW3D is employed in simulating the two-phase flow field of the atomization air and the spray around the fuel nozzle. The results obtained from the present extensive numerical simulations reveal that the following four situations may cause the depositions since under which some droplets of the spray are predicted to flow toward the wall around the tip of the fuel spray system. The first is to raise the pressure at the exit of the fuel spray system. The second is to aggrandize the spray droplets. The third is to enlarge the spray cone angle. Finally, partial blockage of the atomization-air gateway also deteriorates the depositions. The findings of these causes make the solid bases for the further investigation of preventing the fuel spray system from the depositions.

Modern aero-engine and industrial gas turbines typically employ lean-type combustors, which are capable of limiting pollutant emissions thanks to premixed flames, while sustaining high turbine inlet temperatures that increase the single-cycle thermal efficiency. In such technology gas-turbine first stage nozzles are characterised by a highly-swirled and temperature-distorted inlet flow field. However, due to several sources of uncertainty during the design phase, wide safety margins are commonly adopted, which can have a direct impact on the engine performance and efficiency. Therefore, with the aim of increasing the knowledge on combustor-turbine interaction and improving standard design practices, two non-reactive test rigs were assembled at the University of Florence, Italy. The rigs, both accommodating three lean-premix swirlers within a combustion chamber and a first stage film-cooled nozzles cascade, were operated in similitude conditions to mimic an aero-engine and an industrial gas turbine arrangements. The rigs were designed to reproduce the real engine periodic flow field on the central sector, allowing also to perform measurements far enough from the lateral walls. The periodicity condition was enforced by the installation of circular ducts at the injectors outlet section as to preserve the non-reactive swirling flow down to the nozzles inlet plane. For the aero-engine simulator rig and as part of two previous PhD works, of which the present is a continuation, an extensive test campaign was conducted. The flow field within the combustion chamber was investigated via particle-image velocimetry (PIV) and the combustor-turbine interface section was experimentally characterised in terms of velocity, pressure and turbulence fields by means of a five-hole pressure plus thermocouple probe and hot-wire anemometers, mounted on an automatic traverse system. To study the evolution of the combustor outlet flow through the nozzles and its interaction with the film-cooling flow, such measurements have been also replicated slightly downstream of the airfoils' trailing edge. Lastly, the film-cooling adiabatic effectiveness distribution over the airfoils was evaluated via coolant concentration measurements based on pressure sensitive paints (PSP) application. As far as the industrial turbine rig is concerned, the same type of measurements were carried out except for PIV. Within such experimental scenario, the core of the present work is related to numerical analyses. In fact, since the design of industrial high-pressure turbines historically relies on 1D, circumferentially-averaged profiles of pressure, velocity and temperature at the combustor/turbine interface in conjunction with Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) models, this thesis describes how measurements can be leveraged to improve numerical modelling procedures. Within such context, hybrid scale resolving techniques, such as Scale-Adaptive Simulation (SAS), can suit the purpose, whilst containing computational costs, as also shown in the literature. Furthermore, the investigation of the two components within the same integrated simulation enables the transport of unsteady fluctuations from the combustor down to the first stage nozzles, which can make the difference in the presence of film cooling.

In a typical modern gas turbine engine, the nozzle guide vanes (NGVs) endure the highest operating temperatures. There exists a great drive in the turbine industry to increase the turbine inlet temperatures leading to higher thermal efficiency. This has led to a drive to increase turbine vane- and blade-cooling. Numerical modelling has to a large degree replaced empirical codes and models as the main research tool regarding simulation of blade-cooling. Outdated empirical solvers have made way for commercial CFD solvers such as FLUENT, a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver. One such empirical solver, TACT1, has until recently still proved to yield acceptable results. A comparative study has been done using the T56 NGV blade to establish the differences, advantages and disadvantages of these 2 codes. The engine and subsequent NGV blade were analysed using NREC, STAN5, LOSS3D and TACT1. RANS simulations were found to be computationally expensive. TACT1 yielded acceptable results compared with computational cost. For modern-day designers, RANS would be the preferred tool.
Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2009.
Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering
unrestricted

An experimental apparatus was designed and built to study the thermal autoxidative carbon deposition, or coking, in the fuel injection nozzles of small gas turbine engines. The apparatus is a simplified representation of an aircraft fuel system, consisting of a preheating section and a test section, which is a passage that simulates the geometry, temperatures, pressures and flow rates seen by the fuel injection nozzles. Preliminary experiments were performed to verify the functionality of the apparatus. Pressure drop across the test section was measured throughout the experiments to monitor deposit buildup, and an effective reduction in test section diameter due to deposit blockage was calculated. The preliminary experiments showed that the pressure drop increased more significantly for higher test section temperatures, and that pressure drop measurement is an effective method of monitoring and quantifying deposit buildup.

In questa tesi sono riportati i risultati sperimentali di varie campagne di misura eseguite sia in condizioni statiche che rotanti su diverse geometrie di tipo matrix per il raffreddamento interno di palettature di turbina a gas. Sono stati quantificati gli effetti della variazione di parametri geometrici caratteristici, numero di Reynolds e Rotation number sulle distribuzioni del coefficiente di scambio termico e del fattore di attrito. A partire dai dati sperimentali sono state ricavate delle correlazioni di design. Queste correlazioni sono state applicate ad un caso reale su un trailing edge di una pala, adottando le dimensioni e le proprietà del refrigerante in condizioni macchina. Dal confronto dei risultati ottenuti con le prestazioni di sistemi attualmente impiegati è stata dimostrata la bontà dei sistemi matrix in termini di incremento del guadagno di scambio termico e riduzione delle perdite di carico.