Laminar Flow Gas Turbine Regenerators—The Influence of Manufacturing Tolerances

1970 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. L. London

Several current designs for high effectiveness gas turbine regenerators involve low Reynolds number fully developed, laminar flow type surfaces. Such surfaces consist of cylindrical flow passages, of small hydraulic radius, in parallel. The cylinder geometry may, as examples, be triangular, as in some glass-ceramic surfaces, or rectangular, as in deepfold metal foil surfaces. This presentation demonstrates that manufacturing tolerances of several thousandths of an in. in passage dimension have a significant influence on the overall heat transfer and flow friction behavior. The analysis is also useful in rationalizing the difference between theory and test results for the basic heat transfer (j factor) and friction (f factor) characteristics as a function of Reynolds number for various surfaces of the laminar flow type.

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 3827-3842
Author(s):  
Samer Ali ◽  
Zein Alabidin Shami ◽  
Ali Badran ◽  
Charbel Habchi

Purpose In this paper, self-sustained second mode oscillations of flexible vortex generator (FVG) are produced to enhance the heat transfer in two-dimensional laminar flow regime. The purpose of this study is to determine the critical Reynolds number at which FVG becomes more efficient than rigid vortex generators (RVGs). Design/methodology/approach Ten cases were studied with different Reynolds numbers varying from 200 to 2,000. The Nusselt number and friction coefficients of the FVG cases are compared to those of RVG and empty channel at the same Reynolds numbers. Findings For Reynolds numbers higher than 800, the FVG oscillates in the second mode causing a significant increase in the velocity gradients generating unsteady coherent flow structures. The highest performance was obtained at the maximum Reynolds number for which the global Nusselt number is improved by 35.3 and 41.4 per cent with respect to empty channel and rigid configuration, respectively. Moreover, the thermal enhancement factor corresponding to FVG is 72 per cent higher than that of RVG. Practical implications The results obtained here can help in the design of novel multifunctional heat exchangers/reactors by using flexible tabs and inserts instead of rigid ones. Originality/value The originality of this paper is the use of second mode oscillations of FVG to enhance heat transfer in laminar flow regime.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahyar Pourghasemi ◽  
Nima Fathi

Abstract 3-D numerical simulations are performed to investigate liquid sodium (Na) flow and the heat transfer within miniature heat sinks with different geometries and hydraulic diameters of less than 5 mm. Two different straight small-scale heat sinks with rectangular and triangular cross-sections are studied in the laminar flow with the Reynolds number up to 1900. The local and average Nusselt numbers are obtained and compared against eachother. At the same surface area to volume ratio, rectangular minichannel heat sink leads to almost 280% higher convective heat transfer rate in comparison with triangular heat sink. It is observed that the difference between thermal efficiencies of rectangular and triangular minichannel heat sinks was independent of flow Reynolds number.


Author(s):  
A. Nikparto ◽  
M. T. Schobeiri

Efficiency and performance of gas turbine engines are affected by the flow field around the blades. The flow field inside a gas turbine engine is very complex. One of the characteristics of the flow inside an engine is existence of periodic unsteady wakes, originating from the upstream stator blades. The unsteady wakes, with their highly vortical core, impinge on the downstream blade surfaces and cause an intermittent transition of the flow regime from laminar to turbulent. This study aims at investigating and modeling the behavior and development of the boundary layer along the suction surface of a highly loaded low-pressure turbine blade under steady and unsteady inlet flow condition. The current paper includes results of a computational work substantiated by the experimental verifications. For the experimental investigations, the linear cascade facility in Turbomachinery Performance and Flow research Lab (TPFL) at Texas A&M University was used to simulate the periodic unsteady flow condition inside gas turbine engine. Moving wakes, originating from upstream blades, were simulated in this facility by moving rods attached to two parallel timing belts. Measurements and calculations were conducted at Reynolds number of 110,000. This Reynolds number pertains to cruise condition of a low-pressure turbine. At this Reynolds number, the flow around the blades is transitional and highly susceptible to flow separation. Aerodynamics experiments include measuring the boundary layer, locating its transition, separation and finally re-attachment using miniature hot wire probes. Heat transfer measurements along the suction and pressure surfaces were conducted utilizing a specially designed heat transfer blade that was instrumented with liquid crystal coating. To numerically simulate the transitional behavior of the boundary layer under periodic unsteady flow condition, a new intermittency function is developed which is based on the universal intermittency function developed by Chakka and Schobeiri [1]. Accurate prediction of the boundary layer behavior under the above conditions requires minimum and the maximum intermittency functions. These functions were developed inductively using the experimental results that were obtained in the absence of flow separation. In the current investigation the impact of the separation on the minimum and maximum intermittency are accounted for. The enhanced minimum and maximum intermittency functions along with the universal intermittency are implemented in a RANS based solver for computational simulation. The computational results are compared with (a) experimental ones and (b) with the computational results from RANS that involves Langtry-Menter [2, 3] method.


Author(s):  
R. S. Amano ◽  
Krishna Guntur ◽  
Jose Martinez Lucci

It has been a common practice to use cooling passages in gas turbine blade in order to keep the blade temperatures within the operating range. Insufficiently cooled blades are subject to oxidation, to cause creep rupture, and even to cause melting of the material. To design better cooling passages, better understanding of the flow patterns within the complicated flow channels is essential. The interactions between secondary flows and separation lead to very complex flow patterns. To accurately simulate these flows and heat transfer, both refined turbulence models and higher-order numerical schemes are indispensable for turbine designers to improve the cooling performance. Power output and the efficiency of turbine are completely related to gas firing temperature from chamber. The increment of gas firing temperature is limited by the blade material properties. Advancements in the cooling technology resulted in high firing temperatures with acceptable material temperatures. To better design the cooling channels and to improve the heat transfer, many researchers are studying the flow patterns inside the cooling channels both experimentally and computationally. In this paper, the authors present the performance of three turbulence models using TEACH software code in comparison with the experimental values. To test the performance, a square duct with rectangular ribs oriented at 90° and 45° degree and placed at regular intervals. The channel also has bleed holes. The normalized Nusselt number obtained from simulation are validated with that of experiment. The Reynolds number is set at 10,000 for both the simulation and experiment. The interactions between secondary flows and separation lead to very complex flow patterns. To accurately simulate these flows and heat transfer, both refined turbulence models and higher-order numerical schemes are indispensable for turbine designers to improve the cooling performance. The three-dimensional turbulent flows and heat transfer are numerically studied by using several different turbulence models, such as non-linear low-Reynolds number k-omega and Reynolds Stress (RSM) models. In k-omega model the cubic terms are included to represent the effects of extra strain-rates such as streamline curvature and three-dimensionality on both turbulence normal and shear stresses. The finite volume difference method incorporated with the higher-order bounded interpolation scheme has been employed in the present study. The outcome of this study will help determine the best suitable turbulence model for future studies.


Author(s):  
Zhenfeng Wang ◽  
Peigang Yan ◽  
Hongfei Tang ◽  
Hongyan Huang ◽  
Wanjin Han

The different turbulence models are adopted to simulate NASA-MarkII high pressure air-cooled gas turbine. The experimental work condition is Run 5411. The paper researches that the effect of different turbulence models for the flow and heat transfer characteristics of turbine. The turbulence models include: the laminar turbulence model, high Reynolds number k-ε turbulence model, low Reynolds number turbulence model (k-ω standard format, k-ω-SST and k-ω-SST-γ-θ) and B-L algebra turbulence model which is adopted by the compiled code. The results show that the different turbulence models can give good flow characteristics results of turbine, but the heat transfer characteristics results are different. Comparing to the experimental results, k-ω-SST-θ-γ turbulence model results are more accurate and can simulate accurately the flow and heat transfer characteristics of turbine with transition flow characteristics. But k-ω-SST-γ-θ turbulence model overestimates the turbulence kinetic energy of blade local region and makes the heat transfer coefficient higher. It causes that local region temperature is higher. The results of B-L algebra turbulence model show that the results of B-L model are accurate besides it has 4% temperature error in the transition region. As to the other turbulence models, the results show that all turbulence models can simulate the temperature distribution on the blade pressure surface except the laminar turbulence model underestimates the heat transfer coefficient of turbulence flow region. On the blade suction surface with transition flow characteristics, high Reynolds number k-ε turbulence model overestimates the heat transfer coefficient and causes the blade surface temperature is high about 90K than the experimental result. Low Reynolds number k-ω standard format and k-ω-SST turbulence models also overestimate the blade surface temperature value. So it can draw a conclusion that the unreasonable choice of turbulence models can cause biggish errors for conjugate heat transfer problem of turbine. The combination of k-ω-SST-γ-θ model and B-L algebra model can get more accurate turbine thermal environment results. In addition, in order to obtain the affect of different turbulence models for gas turbine conjugate heat transfer problem. The different turbulence models are adopted to simulate the different computation mesh domains (First case and Second case). As to each cooling passages, the first case gives the wall heat transfer coefficient of each cooling passages and the second case considers the conjugate heat transfer course between the cooling passages and blade. It can draw a conclusion that the application of heat transfer coefficient on the wall of each cooling passages avoids the accumulative error. So, for the turbine vane geometry models with complex cooling passages or holes, the choice of turbulence models and the analysis of different mesh domains are important. At last, different turbulence characteristic boundary conditions of turbine inner-cooling passages are given and K-ω-SST-γ-θ turbulence model is adopted in order to obtain the effect of turbulence characteristic boundary conditions for the conjugate heat transfer computation results. The results show that the turbulence characteristic boundary conditions of turbine inner-cooling passages have a great effect on the conjugate heat transfer results of high pressure gas turbine.


Author(s):  
Pratik S. Bhansali ◽  
Srinath V. Ekkad

Abstract Heat transfer over rotating surfaces is of particular interest in rotating machinery such as gas turbine engines. The rotation of the gas turbine disc creates a radially outward flow on the disc surface, which may lead to ingress of hot gases into the narrow cavity between the disc and the stator. Impingement of cooling jet is an effective way of cooling the disc and countering the ingress of the hot gases. Present study focusses on investigating the effect of introducing pin-fins over the rotating disc on the heat transfer. The jet Reynolds number has been varied from 5000 to 18000, and the rotating Reynolds number has been varied from 5487 to 12803 for an aluminum disc of thickness 6.35mm and diameter 10.16 cm, over which square pins have been arranged in an inline fashion. Steady state temperature measurements have been taken using thermocouples embedded in the disc close to the target surface, and area average Nusselt number has been calculated. The effects of varying the height of the pin-fins, distance between nozzle and the disc surface and the inclination of the impinging jet with the axis of rotation have also been studied. The results have been compared with those for a smooth aluminum disc of equal dimensions and without any pin-fins. The average Nusselt number is significantly enhanced by the presence of pin fins. In the impingement dominant regime, where the effect of disc rotation is minimal for a smooth disc, the heat transfer increases with rotational speed in case of pin fins. The effect of inclination angle of the impinging jet is insignificant in the range explored in this paper (0° to 20°).


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Xuan Zhang ◽  
Taocheng Zhao ◽  
Suchen Wu ◽  
Feng Yao

Although roughness is negligible for laminar flow through tubes in classic fluid mechanics, the surface roughness may play an important role in microscale fluid flow due to the large ratio of surface area to volume. To further verify the influence of rough surfaces on microscale liquid flow and heat transfer, a performance test system of heat transfer and liquid flow was designed and built, and a series of experimental examinations are conducted, in which the microchannel material is stainless steel and the working medium is methanol. The results indicate that the surface roughness plays a significant role in the process of laminar flow and heat transfer in microchannels. In microchannels with roughness characteristics, the Poiseuille number of liquid laminar flow relies not only on the cross section shape of the rough microchannels but also on the Reynolds number of liquid flow. The Poiseuille number of liquid laminar flow in rough microchannels increases with increasing Reynolds number. In addition, the Nusselt number of liquid laminar heat transfer is related not only to the cross section shape of a rough microchannel but also to the Reynolds number of liquid flow, and the Nusselt number increases with increasing Reynolds number.


2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yinhai Zhu ◽  
Yanzhong Li

In this paper, four basic fins of the plate-fin heat exchangers, rectangular plain fin, strip offset fin, perforated fin, and wavy fin, are modeled and simulated by taking account of fin thickness, thermal entry effect, and end effect. Three-dimensional numerical simulations on the flow and heat transfer in the four fins are investigated and carried out at laminar flow regime. Validity of the modeling technique is verified by comparing computational results with both corresponding experimental data and three empirical correlations from literatures. Global average Colburn factor (j factor) and friction factor (f factor) and their local 1D streamwise-average distributions along the fins are presented by introducing data reduction method. The heat transfer behaviors in both the developing and developed regions are analyzed by examining variations of the local Nusselt number along the flow direction. It is found that the thermal entry length of the four fins might be expressed in the format of Le=c1 Rec2 Pr Dh, which has the same form as the one in a circular tube.


Author(s):  
Eric B. Ratts ◽  
Atul G. Raut

This paper addresses the thermodynamic optimum of single-phase convective heat transfer in fully developed flow for uniform and constant heat flux. The optimal Reynolds number is obtained using the entropy generation minimization (EGM) method. Entropy generation due to viscous dissipation and heat transfer dissipation in the flow passage are summed, and then minimized with respect to Reynolds number based on hydraulic diameter. For fixed mass flow rate and fixed total heat transfer rate, and the assumption of uniform heat flux, an optimal Reynolds number for laminar as well as turbulent flow is obtained. In addition, the method quantifies the flow irreversibilities. It was shown that the ratio of heat transfer dissipation to viscous dissipation at minimum entropy generation was 5:1 for laminar flow and 29:9 for turbulent flow. For laminar flow, the study compared non-circular cross-sections to the circular cross-section. The optimal Reynolds number was determined for the following cross-sections: square, equilateral triangle, and rectangle with aspect ratios of two and eight. It was shown that the rectangle with the higher aspect ratio had the smallest optimal Reynolds number, the smallest entropy generation number, and the smallest flow length.


2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Shanbghazani ◽  
Vahid Heidarpoor ◽  
Marc A. Rosen ◽  
Iraj Mirzaee

The entropy generation is investigated numerically in axisymmetric, steady-state, and incompressible laminar flow in a rotating single free disk. The finite-volume method is used for solving the momentum and energy equations needed for the determination of the entropy generation due to heat transfer and fluid friction. The numerical model is validated by comparing it to previously reported analytical and experimental data for momentum and energy. Results are presented in terms of velocity distribution, temperature, local entropy generation rate, Bejan number, and irreversibility ratio distribution for various rotational Reynolds number and physical cases, using dimensionless parameters. It is demonstrated that increasing rotational Reynolds number increases the local entropy generation rate and irreversibility rate, and that the irreversibility is mainly due to heat transfer while the irreversibility associated with fluid friction is minor.


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