Effect of Simulated Combustor Temperature Nonuniformity on HP Vane and End Wall Heat Transfer: An Experimental and Computational Investigation

Author(s):  
Imran Qureshi ◽  
Arrigo Beretta ◽  
Thomas Povey

This paper presents experimental measurements and computational predictions of surface and end wall heat transfer for a high-pressure (HP) nozzle guide vane operating as part of a full HP turbine stage in an annular rotating turbine facility, with and without inlet temperature distortion (hot streaks). A detailed aerodynamic survey of the vane surface is also presented. The test turbine was the unshrouded MT1 turbine, installed in the Turbine Test Facility (previously called Isentropic Light Piston Facility) at QinetiQ, Farnborough, UK. This is a short-duration facility, which simulates engine-representative M, Re, nondimensional speed, and gas-to-wall temperature ratio at the turbine inlet. The facility has recently been upgraded to incorporate an advanced second-generation combustor simulator, capable of simulating well-defined, aggressive temperature profiles in both the radial and circumferential directions. This work forms part of the pan-European research program, TATEF II. Measurements of HP vane and end wall heat transfer obtained with inlet temperature distortion are compared with results for uniform inlet conditions. Steady and unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions have also been conducted on vane and end wall surfaces using the Rolls-Royce CFD code HYDRA to complement the analysis of experimental results. The heat transfer measurements presented in this paper are the first of their kind in that the temperature distortion is representative of an extreme cycle point, and was simulated with good periodicity and with well-defined boundary conditions in the test turbine.

Author(s):  
Imran Qureshi ◽  
Arrigo Beretta ◽  
Thomas Povey

This paper presents experimental measurements and computational predictions of surface and endwall heat transfer for a high-pressure (HP) nozzle guide vane (NGV) operating as part of a full HP turbine stage in an annular rotating turbine facility, with and without inlet temperature distortion (hot-streaks). A detailed aerodynamic survey of the vane surface is also presented. The test turbine was the unshrouded MT1 turbine, installed in the Turbine Test Facility (previously called Isentropic Light Piston Facility) at QinetiQ, Farnborough UK. This is a short duration facility, which simulates engine representative M, Re, non-dimensional speed and gas-to-wall temperature ratio at the turbine inlet. The facility has recently been upgraded to incorporate an advanced second-generation combustor simulator, capable of simulating well-defined, aggressive temperature profiles in both the radial and circumferential directions. This work forms part of the pan-European research programme, TATEF II. Measurements of HP vane and endwall heat transfer obtained with inlet temperature distortion are compared with results for uniform inlet conditions. Steady and unsteady CFD predictions have also been conducted on vane and endwall surfaces, using the Rolls-Royce CFD code HYDRA to complement the analysis of experimental results. The heat transfer measurements presented in this paper are the first of their kind in the respect that the temperature distortion is representative of an extreme cycle point measured in the engine situation, and was simulated with good periodicity and with well defined boundary conditions in the test turbine.


Author(s):  
N. W. Harvey ◽  
T. V. Jones

Detailed measurements of surface static pressures and heat transfer rates on the aerofoil and hub end wall of an annular nozzle guide vane (in the absence of a downstream rotor) are presented. Heat transfer rates have been measured using thin film gauges in an annular cascade in the Pyestock Isentropic Light Piston Cascade. Test Mach numbers, Reynolds numbers and cascade geometry are fully representative of engine conditions. The results of 3-D calculations of surface Mach number and 2-D calculations of aerofoil heat transfer are presented and compared with the measurements. A new method of calculating end wall heat transfer using the axisymmetric analogue for three-dimensional boundary layers is described in detail. The method uses a 3-D Euler solver to calculate the inviscid surface streamlines along which heat transfer coefficients are calculated. The metric coefficient which describes the lateral convergence or divergence of the streamlines is used to include three-dimensional effects in the calculation. The calculated heat transfer rates compare well with the measured values. Reference is made to surface flow visualization in the interpretation of the results.


Author(s):  
T. Povey ◽  
K. S. Chana ◽  
T. V. Jones ◽  
J. Hurrion

Pronounced non-uniformities in combustor exit flow temperature (hot-streaks), which arise because of discrete injection of fuel and dilution air jets within the combustor and because of end-wall cooling flows, affect both component life and aerodynamics. Because it is very difficult to quantitatively predict the affects of these temperature non-uniformities on the heat transfer rates, designers are forced to budget for hot-streaks in the cooling system design process. Consequently, components are designed for higher working temperatures than the mass-mean gas temperature, and this imposes a significant overall performance penalty. An inadequate cooling budget can lead to reduced component life. An improved understanding of hot-streak migration physics, or robust correlations based on reliable experimental data, would help designers minimise the overhead on cooling flow that is currently a necessity. A number of recent research projects sponsored by a range of industrial gas turbine and aero-engine manufacturers attest to the growing interest in hot-streak physics. This paper presents measurements of surface and end-wall heat transfer rate for an HP nozzle guide vane (NGV) operating as part of a full HP turbine stage in an annular transonic rotating turbine facility. Measurements were conducted with both uniform stage inlet temperature and with two non-uniform temperature profiles. The temperature profiles were non-dimensionally similar to profiles measured in an engine. A difference of one half of an NGV pitch in the circumferential (clocking) position of the hot-streak with respect to the NGV was used to investigate the affect of clocking on the vane surface and end-wall heat transfer rate. The vane surface pressure distributions, and the results of a flow-visualisation study, which are also given, are used to aid interpretation of the results. The results are compared to two-dimensional predictions conducted using two different boundary layer methods. Experiments were conducted in the Isentropic Light Piston Facility (ILPF) at QinetiQ Farnborough, a short duration engine-size turbine facility. Mach number, Reynolds number and gas-to-wall temperature ratios were correctly modelled. It is believed that the heat transfer measurements presented in this paper are the first of their kind.


Author(s):  
Prasert Prapamonthon ◽  
Bo Yin ◽  
Guowei Yang ◽  
Mohan Zhang

Abstract To obtain high power and thermal efficiency, the 1st stage nozzle guide vanes of a high-pressure turbine need to operate under serious circumstances from burned gas coming out of combustors. This leads to vane suffering from effects of high thermal load, high pressure and turbulence, including flow-separated transition. Therefore, it is necessary to improve vane cooling performance under complex flow and heat transfer phenomena caused by the integration of these effects. In fact, these effects on a high-pressure turbine vane are controlled by several factors such as turbine inlet temperature, pressure ratio, turbulence intensity and length scale, vane curvature and surface roughness. Furthermore, if the vane is cooled by film cooling, hole configuration and blowing ratio are important factors too. These factors can change the aerothermal conditions of the vane operation. The present work aims to numerically predict sensitivity of cooling performances of the 1st stage nozzle guide vane under aerodynamic and thermal variations caused by three parameters i.e. pressure ratio, coolant inlet temperature and height of vane surface roughness using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with Conjugate Heat Transfer (CHT) approach. Numerical results show that the coolant inlet temperature and the vane surface roughness parameters have significant effects on the vane temperature, thereby affecting the vane cooling performances significantly and sensitively.


Author(s):  
L. He ◽  
V. Menshikova ◽  
B. R. Haller

A computational study is carried out on the influence of turbine inlet temperature distortion (hot streak). The hot streak effects are examined from both aeromechanical (forced blade vibration) and aero-thermal (heat transfer) points of view. Computations are firstly carried out for a transonic HP turbine stage, and the steady and unsteady surface pressure results are compared with the corresponding experimental data. Subsequent analysis is carried out for hot-streaks with variable circumferential wavelength, corresponding to different numbers of combustion burners. The results show that the circumferential wavelength of the temperature distortion can significantly change unsteady forcing as well as the heat-transfer to rotor blades. In particular, when the hot-streak wavelength is the same as the nozzle guide vane (NGV) blade pitch, there is a strong dependence of the preferential heating characteristics on the relative clocking position between hot-streak and NGV blade. However, this clocking dependence is shown to be qualitatively weakened for the cases with fewer hot streaks with longer circumferential wavelengths.


2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioanna Aslanidou ◽  
Budimir Rosic

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the concept of using the combustor transition duct wall to shield the nozzle guide vane leading edge. The new vane is tested in a high-speed experimental facility, demonstrating the improved aerodynamic and thermal performance of the shielded vane. The new design is shown to have a lower average total pressure loss than the original vane, and the heat transfer on the vane surface is overall reduced. The peak heat transfer on the vane leading edge–endwall junction is moved further upstream, to a region that can be effectively cooled as shown in previously published numerical studies. Experimental results under engine-representative inlet conditions showed that the better performance of the shielded vane is maintained under a variety of inlet conditions.


2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (3) ◽  
pp. 513-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kam S. Chana ◽  
Terry V. Jones

Detailed experimental investigations have been performed to measure the heat transfer and static pressure distributions on the rotor tip and rotor casing of a gas turbine stage with a shroudless rotor blade. The turbine stage was a modern high pressure Rolls-Royce aero-engine design with stage pressure ratio of 3.2 and nozzle guide vane (ngv) Reynolds number of 2.54E6. Measurements have been taken with and without inlet temperature distortion to the stage. The measurements were taken in the QinetiQ Isentropic Light Piston Facility and aerodynamic and heat transfer measurements are presented from the rotor tip and casing region. A simple two-dimensional model is presented to estimate the heat transfer rate to the rotor tip and casing region as a function of Reynolds number along the gap.


Author(s):  
Salvadori Simone ◽  
Francesco Montomoli ◽  
Francesco Martelli ◽  
Kam S. Chana ◽  
Imran Qureshi ◽  
...  

This paper presents an investigation of the aerothermal performance of a modern unshrouded high pressure (HP) aeroengine turbine subject to non-uniform inlet temperature profile. The turbine used for the study was the MT1 turbine installed in the QinetiQ Turbine Test Facility (TTF) based in Farnborough (UK). The MT1 turbine is a full scale transonic HP turbine, and is operated in the test facility at the correct non-dimensional conditions for aerodynamics and heat transfer. Datum experiments of aero-thermal performance were conducted with uniform inlet conditions. Experiments with nonuniform inlet temperature were conducted with a temperature profile that had a non-uniformity in the radial direction defined by (Tmax−Tmin)/T = 0.355, and a non-uniformity in the circumferential direction defined by (Tmax−Tmin)/T = 0.14. This corresponds to an extreme point in the engine cycle, in an engine where the non-uniformity is dominated by the radial distribution. Accurate experimental area surveys of the turbine inlet and exit flows were conducted, and detailed heat transfer measurements were obtained on the blade surfaces and end-walls. These results are analysed with the unsteady numerical data obtained using the in-house HybFlow code developed at the University of Firenze. Two particular aspects are highlighted in the discussion: prediction confidence for state of the art computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and impact of real conditions on stator-rotor thermal loading. The efficiency value obtained with the numerical analysis is compared with the experimental data and a 0.8% difference is found and discussed. A study of the flow field influence on the blade thermal load has also been detailed. It is shown that the hot streak migration mainly affects the rotor pressure side from 20% to 70% of the span, where the Nusselt number increases by a factor of 60% with respect to the uniform case. Furthermore, in this work it has been found that a nonuniform temperature distribution is beneficial for the rotor tip, contrary to the results found in the open literature. Although the hot streak is affected by the pressure gradient across the tip gap, the radial profile (which dominates the temperature profile being considered) is not fully mixed out in passing through the HP stage, and contributes significantly to cooling the turbine casing. A design approach not taking into account these effects will underestimate to rotor life near the tip and the thermal load at mid-span. The temperature profile that has been used in both the experiments and CFD is the first simulation of an extreme cycle point (more than twice the magnitude of distortion all previous experimental studies): it represents an engine-take-off condition combined with the full combustor cooling. The research was part of the EU funded TATEF2 (Turbine Aero-Thermal External Flows 2) programme.


2013 ◽  
Vol 136 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Rahim ◽  
B. Khanal ◽  
L. He ◽  
E. Romero

One of the most widely studied parameters in turbine blade shaping is blade lean, i.e., the tangential displacement of spanwise sections. However, there is a lack of published research that investigates the effect of blade lean under nonuniform temperature conditions (commonly referred to as a “hot-streak”) that are present at the combustor exit. Of particular interest is the impact of such an inflow temperature profile on heat transfer when the nozzle guide vane (NGV) blades are shaped. In the present work, a computational study has been carried out for a transonic turbine stage using an efficient unsteady Navier–Stokes solver (HYDRA). The configurations with a nominal vane and a compound leaned vane under uniform and hot-streak inlet conditions are analyzed. After confirming the typical NGV loading and aeroloss redistributions as seen in previous literature on blade lean, the focus has been directed to the rotor aerothermal behavior. While the overall stage efficiencies for the configurations are largely comparable, the results show strikingly different rotor heat transfer characteristics. For a uniform inlet, a leaned NGV has a detrimental effect on the rotor heat transfer. However, once the hot-streak is introduced, the trend is reversed; the leaned NGV leads to favorable heat transfer characteristics in general and for the rotor tip region in particular. The possible causal links for the observed aerothermal features are discussed. The present findings also highlight the significance of evaluating NGV shaping designs under properly conditioned inflow profiles, rather than extrapolating the wisdom derived from uniform inlet cases. The results also underline the importance of including rotor heat transfer and coolability during the NGV design process.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 202-215
Author(s):  
Faisal Shaikh ◽  
Budimir Rosic

The combustor-turbine interface in a gas turbine is characterised by complex, highly unsteady flows. In a combined experimental and large eddy simulation (LES) study including realistic combustor geometry, the standard model of secondary flows in the nozzle guide vanes (NGV) is found to be oversimplified. A swirl core is created in the combustion chamber which convects into the first vane passages. Four main consequences of this are identified: variation in vane loading; unsteady heat transfer on vane surfaces; unsteadiness at the leading edge horseshoe vortex, and variation in the position of the passage vortex. These phenomena occur at relatively low frequencies, from 50–300 Hz. It seems likely that these unsteady phenomena result in non-optimal film cooling, and that by reducing unsteadiness designs with greater cooling efficiency could be achieved. Measurements were performed in a high speed test facility modelling a large industrial gas turbine with can combustors, including nozzle guide vanes and combustion chambers. Vane surfaces and endwalls of a nozzle guide vane were instrumented with 384 high speed thin film heat flux gauges, to measure unsteady heat transfer. The high resolution of measurements was such to allow direct visualisation in time of large scale turbulent structures over the endwalls and vane surfaces. A matching LES simulation was carried out in a domain matching experimental conditions including upstream swirl generators and transition duct. Data reduction allowed time-varying LES data to be recorded for several cycles of the unsteady phenomena observed. The combination of LES and experimental data allows physical explanation and visualisation of flow events.


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