Numerical Study of Erosion Mechanism due to Online Water Washing in Axial Flow Compressors

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Venturini ◽  
Francesca Di Gruttula ◽  
Giuliano Agati ◽  
Serena Gabriele ◽  
Domenico Simone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Study ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Erosion Mechanism ◽  
Water Washing ◽  
Axial Flow Compressors

Numerical Study of Erosion due to Online Water Washing in Axial Flow Compressors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Di Gruttola ◽  
Giuliano Agati ◽  
Paolo Venturini ◽  
Domenico Borello ◽  
Franco Rispoli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Study ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Spray Angle ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Ansys Fluent ◽  
Erosion Risk ◽  
Water Washing ◽  
Injection Duration ◽  
Compressor Performance ◽  
Water Mass Flow Rate

Abstract Recent year witnessed an increasing interest in online water washing technique since it allows to minimize compressor performance losses in the time interval between two off-line washing. However, the washing capability and the related erosion risk depend on several parameters such as the injection duration, the droplet size, the spray angle, the water mass flow rate and the injector positions. The influence of such parameters on the washing capability and erosion rate is analysed. Results are discussed with reference to number of impacts, wetted surface, capture efficiency, accumulated energy and erosion. The numerical simulation is performed with ANSYS Fluent in which a new water droplet erosion model, introduced in previous papers, is here included as a User Defined Function. The discussion provides useful information for prescribing the injector characteristics and the water washing procedure with the aim of minimizing the erosion risk.

scholarly journals Water washing of axial flow compressors: numerical study on the fate of injected droplets

2020 ◽  
Vol 197 ◽  
pp. 11015
Author(s):  
Giuliano Agati ◽  
Francesca Di Gruttola ◽  
Serena Gabriele ◽  
Domenico Simone ◽  
Paolo Venturini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Study ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Rotor Blades ◽  
Injection System ◽  
Asymmetric Distribution ◽  
Wall Functions ◽  
Erosion Risk ◽  
Water Washing ◽  
Washing Process ◽  
The Impact

In turbomachinery applications blade fouling represents a main cause of performance degradation. Among the different techniques currently available, online water washing is one of the most effective in removing deposit from the blades. Since this kind of washing is applied when the machine is close to design conditions, injected droplets are strongly accelerated when they reach the rotor blades and the understanding of their interaction with the blades is not straightforward. Moreover, undesirable phenomena like blades erosion or liquid film formation can occur. The present study aims at assessing droplets dragging from the injection system placed at the compressor inlet till the first stage rotor blades, with a focus on droplets impact locations, on the washing process and the associated risk of erosion. 3D numerical simulations of the whole compressor geometry (up to the first rotor stage) are performed by using Ansys Fluent to account for the asymmetric distribution of the sprays around of the machine struts, IGV and rotor blades. The simulations are carried out by adopting the k-ε realizable turbulence model with standard wall functions, coupled with the discretephase model to track injected droplets motion. Droplets-wall interaction is also accounted for by adopting the Stanton-Rutland model which define a droplet impact outcome depending on the impact conditions. The induced erosion is evaluated by adopting an erosion model previously developed by some of the authors and implemented in Fluent through the use of a User Defined Function (UDF). Two sets of simulations are performed, by considering the rotor still and rotating, representative of off-line and on-line water washing conditions, respectively. In the rotating simulation, the Multiple Reference Frame Model is used. The obtained results demonstrate that the washing process differs substantially between the fixed and the rotating case. Moreover, to quantify the water washing effectiveness and the erosion risk, new indices were introduced and computed for the main components of the machine. These indices can be considered as useful prescriptions in the optimization process of water washing systems.

Numerical Characterization of Hot Gas Ingestion Through Turbine Rim Seals

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Da Soghe ◽  
Cosimo Bianchini ◽  
Carl M. Sangan ◽  
James A. Scobie ◽  
Gary D. Lock
Keyword(s):  
Flow Rate ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Radial Clearance ◽  
Buffering Effect ◽  
Hot Gas ◽  
Numerical Predictions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Thermal Buffering

This paper deals with a numerical study aimed at the characterization of hot gas ingestion through turbine rim seals. The numerical campaign focused on an experimental facility which models ingress through the rim seal into the upstream wheel-space of an axial-turbine stage. Single-clearance arrangements were considered in the form of axial- and radial-seal gap configurations. With the radial-seal clearance configuration, CFD steady-state solutions were able to predict the system sealing effectiveness over a wide range of coolant mass flow rates reasonably well. The greater insight of flow field provided by the computations illustrates the thermal buffering effect when ingress occurs: for a given sealing flow rate, the effectiveness on the rotor was significantly higher than that on the stator due to the axial flow of hot gases from stator to rotor caused by pumping effects. The predicted effectiveness on the rotor was compared with a theoretical model for the thermal buffering effect showing good agreement. When the axial-seal clearance arrangement is considered, the agreement between CFD and experiments worsens; the variation of sealing effectiveness with coolant flow rate calculated by means of the simulations display a distinct kink. It was found that the “kink phenomenon” can be ascribed to an over-estimation of the egress spoiling effects due to turbulence modelling limitations. Despite some weaknesses in the numerical predictions, the paper shows that CFD can be used to characterize the sealing performance of axial- and radial-clearance turbine rim seals.

The Effect of the Thickness and Angle of the Inlet and Outlet Guide Vane on the Performance of Axial-Flow Pump

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang-Won Kim ◽  
Youn-Jea Kim
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Analysis ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Guide Vane ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Inlet Guide Vane ◽  
Guide Vanes ◽  
Pump Performance ◽  
Blade Thickness ◽  
Axial Flow Pump ◽  
Flow Pump

An axial-flow pump has a relatively high discharge flow rate and specific speed at a relatively low head and it consists of an inlet guide vane, impeller, and outlet guide vane. The interaction of the flow through the inlet guide vane, impeller, and outlet guide vane of the axial-flow pump has a significant effect on its performance. Of those components, the guide vanes especially can improve the head and efficiency of the pump by transforming the kinetic energy of the rotating flow, which has a tangential velocity component, into pressure energy. Accordingly, the geometric configurations of the guide vanes such as blade thickness and angle are crucial design factors for determining the performance of the axial-flow pump. As the reliability of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been elevated together with the advance in computer technology, numerical analysis using CFD has recently become an alternative to empirical experiment due to its high reliability to measure the flow field. Thus, in this study, 1,200mm axial-flow pump having an inlet guide vane and impeller with 4 blades and an outlet guide vane with 6 blades was numerically investigated. Numerical study was conducted using the commercial CFD code, ANSYS CFX ver. 16.1, in order to elucidate the effect of the thickness and angle of the guide vanes on the performance of 1,200mm axial-flow pump. The stage condition, which averages the fluxes between interfaces and is accordingly appropriate for the evaluation of pump performance, was adopted as the interface condition between the guide vanes and the impeller. The rotational periodicity condition was used in order to enable a simplified geometry to be used since the guide vanes feature multiple identical regions. The shear stress transport (SST) k-ω model, predicting the turbulence within the flow in good agreement, was also employed in the CFD calculation. With regard to the numerical simulation results, the characteristics of the pressure distribution were discussed in detail. The pump performance, which will determine how well an axial-flow pump will work in terms of its efficiency and head, was also discussed in detail, leading to the conclusion on the optimal blade thickness and angle for the improvement of the performance. In addition, the total pressure loss coefficient was considered in order to investigate the loss within the flow paths depending on the thickness and angle variations. The results presented in this study may give guidelines to the numerical analysis of the axial-flow pump and the investigation of the performance for further optimal design of the axial-flow pump.

Performance prediction of axial flow compressors using stage characteristics and simultaneous calculation of interstage parameters

2001 ◽  
Vol 215 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. W. Song ◽  
T. S. Kim ◽  
J. H. Kim ◽  
S. T. Ro
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Performance Estimation ◽  
Predicting Performance ◽  
Functional Formulation ◽  
Compressor Inlet ◽  
Multistage Compressors ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Axial Flow Compressors

A new method for predicting performance of multistage axial flow compressors is proposed that utilizes stage performance curves. The method differs from the conventional sequential stage-stacking method in that it employs simultaneous calculation of all interstage variables (temperature, pressure and flow velocity). A consistent functional formulation of governing equations enables this simultaneous calculation. The method is found to be effective, i.e. fast and stable, in obtaining solutions for compressor inlet and outlet boundary conditions encountered in gas turbine analyses. Another advantage of the method is that the effect of changing the angles of movable stator vanes on the compressor's operating behaviour can be simulated easily. Accordingly, the proposed method is very suitable for complicated gas turbine system analysis. This paper presents the methodology and performance estimation results for various multistage compressors employing both fixed and variable vane setting angles. The effect of interstage air bleeding on compressor performance is also demonstrated.

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