Effects of Periodic Inflow Unsteadiness on the Time-Averaged Velocity Field and Pressure Recovery of a Diffusing Bend With Strong Curvature

2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. I. Yaras ◽  
P. Orsi

This study examines the effects of periodic inflow unsteadiness on the flow development through fishtail-shaped diffusers utilized on small gas-turbine engines. In this application, periodic unsteadiness is caused by a jet-wake type of flow discharging from each passage of the centrifugal compressor impeller. The study consists of detailed measurements in a large-scale fishtail diffuser rig with a geometry that is typical of those used in small gas-turbine engines. Measurements of the transient velocity field have been performed at five cross-sectional planes throughout the diffuser using a miniature hot-wire probe with four wires. These measurements involve frequencies of inflow unsteadiness corresponding to design as well as off-design operating conditions. Results indicate significant effects of inflow unsteadiness at the low end of the tested frequencies on the time-averaged streamwise and cross-flow velocity fields in the diffuser. This is shown to translate into a notable impact on the pressure recovery. In addition to providing insight into the physics of this flow, the experimental results presented here constitute a detailed and accurate data set that can be used to validate computational-fluid-dynamics algorithms for this type of flow.

Author(s):  
M. I. Yaras ◽  
P. Orsi

This study examines the effects of periodic inflow unsteadiness on the flow development through fishtail diffusers utilized on small gas-turbine engines. The periodic unsteadiness is due to the distortion of the flow in the peripheral direction at the exit of the centrifugal compressor impeller, caused by the jet-wake type of flow discharging from each passage of the impeller. The study consists of detailed measurements in a large-scale fishtail diffuser rig with a geometry that is typical of those used in small gas turbine engines. An unsteady-flow generator is used to approximate the type of diffuser-inflow conditions that exist at the exit of centrifugal compressor impellers. Detailed measurements of the transient velocity field have been performed at the inlet and at four cross-sectional planes throughout the diffuser using a miniature 4-wire probe. These measurements involve frequencies of inflow unsteadiness corresponding to design as well as off-design operating conditions. The measured velocity field is analyzed in a time-averaged sense and in the context of previously-performed steady-flow measurements. Results show significant effects of inflow unsteadiness at lower frequencies on the flow field in the diffuser, which translates into a substantial impact on the pressure recovery of the diffuser. In addition to providing insight into the physics of this flow, the experimental results presented here constitute a detailed and accurate data set that can be used to validate computational-fluid-dynamics codes for this application.


Author(s):  
MR Aligoodarz ◽  
A Mehrpanahi ◽  
M Moshtaghzadeh ◽  
A Hashiehbaf

A worldwide effort has been devoted to developing highly efficient and reliable gas turbine engines. There exist many prominent factors in the development of these engines. One of the most important features of the optimal design of axial flow compressors is satisfying the allowable range for various parameters such as flow coefficient, stage loading, the degree of reaction, De-Haller number, etc. But, there are some applicable cases that the mentioned criteria are exceeded. One of the most famous parameters is De-Haller number, which according to literature data should not be kept less than 0.72 in any stage of the axial compressor. A deep insight into the current small- or large-scale axial flow compressors shows that a discrepancy will occur among design criterion for De-Haller number and experimental measurements in which the De-Haller number is less than the design limit but no stall or surge is observed. In this paper, an improved formulation is derived based on one-dimensional modeling for predicting the stall-free design parameter ranges especially stage loading, flow coefficient, etc. for various combinations. It was found that the current criterion is much more accurate than the De-Haller criterion for design purposes.


Author(s):  
John Blouch ◽  
Hejie Li ◽  
Mark Mueller ◽  
Richard Hook

The LM2500 and LM6000 dry-low-emissions aeroderivative gas turbine engines have been in commercial service for 15 years and have accumulated nearly 10 × 106 hours of commercial operation. The majority of these engines utilize pipeline quality natural gas predominantly comprised of methane. There is; however, increasing interest in nonstandard fuels that contain varying levels of higher hydrocarbon species and/or inert gases. This paper reports on the demonstrated operability of LM2500 and LM6000 DLE engines with nonstandard fuels. In particular, rig tests at engine conditions were performed to demonstrate the robustness of the dual-annular counter-rotating swirlers premixer design, relative to flameholding with fuels containing high ethane, propane, and N2 concentrations. These experiments, which test the ability of the hardware to shed a flame introduced into the premixing region, have been used to expand the quoting limits for LM2500 and LM6000 gas turbine engines to elevated C2+ levels. In addition, chemical kinetics analysis was performed to understand the effect of temperature, pressure, and fuel compositions on flameholding. Test data for different fuels and operating conditions were successfully correlated with Damkohler number.


Author(s):  
M. A. Monroe ◽  
A. H. Epstein ◽  
H. Kumakura ◽  
K. Isomura

The performance of a regenerated gas turbine generator in the 3–5 kW power range has been analyzed to understand why its measured efficiency was on the order of 6% rather than the 20% suggested by consideration of its components’ efficiencies as measured on rigs. This research suggests that this discrepancy can be primarily attributed to heat and fluid leaks not normally considered in the analysis of large gas turbine engines because they are not as important at large scale. In particular, fluid leaks among the components and heat leakage from the hot section into the compressor flow path contributed the largest debits to the engine performance. Such factors can become more important as the engine size is reduced. Other non-ideal effects reducing engine performance include temperature flow distortion at the entrance to both the compressor and turbine. A cycle calculation including all of the above effects matched measured engine data. It suggests that relatively simple changes such as thermal isolation and leak sealing can increase both power output and efficiency of this engine, over 225% in the latter case. The validity of this analysis was demonstrated on an engine in which partial thermal isolation and improved sealing resulted in a more than 40% increase in engine output power.


Author(s):  
John Blouch ◽  
Hejie Li ◽  
Mark Mueller ◽  
Richard Hook

The LM2500 and LM6000 dry-low-emissions (DLE) aeroderivative gas turbine engines have been in commercial service for 15 years and have accumulated nearly 10 million hours of commercial operation. The majority of these engines utilize pipeline quality natural gas predominantly comprised of methane. There is, however, increasing interest in nonstandard fuels that contain varying levels of higher hydrocarbon species and/or inert gases. This paper reports on the demonstrated operability of LM2500 and LM6000 DLE engines with nonstandard fuels. In particular, rig tests at engine conditions were performed to demonstrate the robustness of the dual-annular counter-rotating swirlers (DACRS) premixer design, relative to flameholding with fuels containing high ethane, propane, and N2 concentrations. These experiments, which test the ability of the hardware to shed a flame introduced into the premixing region, have been used to expand the quoting limits for LM2500 and LM6000 gas turbine engines to elevated C2+ levels. In addition, chemical kinetics analysis was performed to understand the effect of temperature, pressure, and fuel compositions on flameholding. Test data for different fuels and operating conditions were successfully correlated with Damkohler number.


Author(s):  
L. J. Spadaccini ◽  
E. J. Szetela

An experimental investigation was performed to evaluate a combustor concept which is applicable to gas turbine engines and is believed to offer valuable pollution control advantages relative to the conventional liquid-fuel-spray approach. It involves fuel prevaporization, premixing and lean combustion and may be applied to the design of combustors for aircraft, industrial or automotive powerplants. Two types of bluff-body flameholders, viz. porous-plate and drilled-plate, were evaluated for use as flame stabilizers within the combustor. Tests were conducted under sets of steady-state operational conditions corresponding, respectively, to applications in a low-pressure regenerative-cycle and high-pressure nonregenerative-cycle automobile gas turbine engines. The data acquired can be used to design gas turbine combustors having predicted performance characteristics which are better than those required to meet the most stringent automobile emissions regulations of the Federal “Clean Air Act.” Fuel prevaporization can be accomplished either externally, prior to admission into the engine airstream, or internally by the airstream itself. In support of the prevaporization concept, the feasibility of vaporizing No 2 fuel oil in a heat exchanger which is external to the engine was investigated. Tests conducted at representative operating conditions indicated that a deposit of 0.01 0-in. thickness was collected on the vaporizer wall after 50 hr of operation. A much shorter period of cleaning with hot air was sufficient to remove the deposit.


Author(s):  
Paolo Chiesa ◽  
Stefano Consonni ◽  
Giovanni Lozza ◽  
Ennio Macchi

It is well known that the history of gas turbine engines has been characterized by a very clear trend toward higher and higher operating temperatures, a growth which in the past 40 years has progressed at the impressive pace of approximately 13°C/year. Expected improvements in blade cooling techniques and advancements in materials indicate that this tendency is going to last for long time, leading to firing temperatures of over 1500°C within the next two decades. This paper investigates the impact of such temperature increase on optimal cycle arrangements and on ultimate performance improvements achievable by future advanced gas/steam cycles for large-scale power generation. Performance predictions have been carried out by a modified, improved version of a computer code originally devised and calibrated for “1990 state-of-the-art” gas/steam cycles. The range of performances to be expected in the next decades has been delimited by considering various scenarios of cooling technology and materials, including the extreme situations of adiabatic expansion and stoichiometric combustion. The results of parametric thermodynamic analyses of several cycle configurations are presented for a number of technological scenarios, including cycles with intercooling and reheat. A specific section discusses how the optimum configuration of the bottoming steam cycle changes to keep up with exhaust gas temperature increases. Calculations show that, under plausible assumptions on future technology advancements, within two decades the proper selection of plant configuration and operating parameters can yield net efficiencies of over 60%.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saurabh Patwardhan ◽  
Pravin Nakod ◽  
Stefano Orsino ◽  
Rakesh Yadav ◽  
Fang Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract Carbon monoxide (CO) has been identified as one of the regulated pollutants and gas turbine manufacturers target to reduce the CO emission from their gas turbine engines. CO forms primarily when carbonous fuels are not burnt completely, or products of combustion are quenched before completing the combustion. Numerical simulations are effective tools that allow a better understanding of the mechanisms of CO formation in gas turbine engines and are useful in evaluating the effect of different parameters like swirl, fuel atomization, mixing etc. on the overall CO emission for different engine conditions like idle, cruise, approach and take off. In this paper, a thorough assessment of flamelet generated manifold (FGM) combustion model is carried out to predict the qualitative variation and magnitude of CO emission index with the different configurations of a Honeywell test combustor operating with liquid fuel under idle condition, which is the more critical engine condition for CO emission. The different designs of the test combustor are configured in such a way that they yield different levels of CO and hence are ideal to test the accuracy of the combustion model. Large eddy simulation (LES) method is used for capturing the turbulence accurately along with the FGM combustion model that is computationally economical compared to the detailed/reduced chemistry modeling using finite rate combustion model. Liquid fuel spray breakup is modeled using stochastic secondary droplet (SSD) model. Four different configurations of the aviation gas turbine combustor are studied in this work referring to earlier work by Xu et al. [1]. It is shown that the FGM model can predict CO trends accurately. The other global parameters like exit temperature, NOx emissions, pattern factor also show reasonable agreement with the test data. The sensitivity of the CO prediction to the liquid fuel droplet breakup model parameters is also studied in this work. Although the trend of CO variation is captured for different values of breakup parameters, the absolute magnitude of CO emission index differs significantly with the change in the values of breakup parameters suggesting that the spray has a larger impact on the quantitative prediction of CO emission. An accurate prediction of CO trends at idle conditions using FGM model extends the applicability of FGM model to predict different engine operating conditions for different performance criteria accurately.


2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (3) ◽  
pp. 709-719 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Spadaccini ◽  
A. Mehra ◽  
J. Lee ◽  
X. Zhang ◽  
S. Lukachko ◽  
...  

As part of an effort to develop a microscale gas turbine engine for power generation and micropropulsion applications, this paper presents the design, fabrication, experimental testing, and modeling of the combustion system. Two radial inflow combustor designs were examined; a single-zone arrangement and a primary and dilution-zone configuration. Both combustors were micromachined from silicon using deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) and aligned fusion wafer bonding. Hydrogen-air and hydrocarbon-air combustion were stabilized in both devices, each with chamber volumes of 191mm3. Exit gas temperatures as high as 1800 K and power densities in excess of 1100MW/m3 were achieved. For the same equivalence ratio and overall efficiency, the dual-zone combustor reached power densities nearly double that of the single-zone design. Because diagnostics in microscale devices are often highly intrusive, numerical simulations were used to gain insight into the fluid and combustion physics. Unlike large-scale combustors, the performance of the microcombustors was found to be more severely limited by heat transfer and chemical kinetics constraints. Important design trades are identified and recommendations for microcombustor design are presented.


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