Design, Analysis, and Manufacture of an Axial Length-Saving Disk-Oriented Engine

2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bennett M. Staton ◽  
Brian T. Bohan ◽  
Marc D. Polanka ◽  
Larry P. Goss

Abstract A disk-oriented engine was designed to reduce the overall length of a gas turbine engine, combining a single-stage centrifugal compressor and radial in-flow turbine (RIT) in a back-to-back configuration. The focus of this research was to understand how this unique flow path impacted the combustion process. Computational analysis was accomplished to determine the feasibility of reducing the axial length of a gas turbine engine utilizing circumferential combustion. The desire was to maintain circumferential swirl from the compressor through a U-bend combustion path. The U-bend reverses the outboard flow from the compressor into an integrated turbine guide vane in preparation for power extraction by the RIT. The computational targets for this design were a turbine inlet temperature of 1300 K, operating with a 3% total pressure drop across the combustor, and a turbine inlet pattern factor (PF) of 0.24 to produce a cycle capable of creating 668 N of thrust. By wrapping the combustion chamber about the circumference of the turbomachinery, the axial length of the entire engine was reduced. Reallocating the combustor volume from the axial to radial orientation reduced the overall length of the system up to 40%, improving the mobility and modularity of gas turbine power in specific applications. This reduction in axial length could be applied to electric power generation for both ground power and airborne distributive electric propulsion. Computational results were further compared to experimental velocity measurements on custom fuel–air swirl injectors at mass flow conditions representative of 668 N of thrust, providing qualitative and quantitative insight into the stability of the flame anchoring system. From this design, a full-scale physical model of the disk-oriented engine was designed for combustion analysis.

Author(s):  
EP Filinov ◽  
VS Kuz’michev ◽  
A Yu Tkachenko ◽  
YaA Ostapyuk ◽  
IN Krupenich

Development of a gas turbine engine starts with optimization of the working process parameters. Turbine inlet temperature is among the most influential parameters that largely determine performance of an engine. As typical turbine inlet temperatures substantially exceed the point where metal turbine blades maintain reasonable thermal strength, proper modeling of the turbine cooling system becomes crucial for optimization of the engine’s parameters. Currently available numerical models are based on empirical data and thus must be updated regularly. This paper reviews the published information on turbine cooling requirements, and provides an approximation curve that generalizes data on all types of blade/vane cooling and is suitable for computer-based optimization.


Author(s):  
S. Y. Kim ◽  
M. R. Park ◽  
S. Y. Cho

This paper describes on/off design performance of a 50KW turbogenerator gas turbine engine for hybrid vehicle application. For optimum design point selection, a relevant pa4rameter study is carried out. The turbogenerator gas turbine engine for a hybrid vehicle is expected to be designed for maximum fuel economy, ultra low emissions, and very low cost. A compressor, combustor, turbine, and a permanent-magnet generator will be mounted on a single high speed (80,000 rpm) shaft that will be supported on air bearings. As the generator is built into the shaft, gearbox and other moving parts become unnecessary and thus will increase the system’s reliability and reduce the manufacturing cost. The engine has a radial compressor and turbine with design point pressure ratio of 4.0. This pressure ratio was set based on calculation of specific fuel consumption and specific power variation with pressure ratio. For the turbine inlet temperature, a rather conservative value of 1100K was selected. Designed mass flow rate was 0.5 kg/sec. Parametric study of the cycle indicates that specific work and efficiency increase at a given pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature. Off design analysis shows that the gas turbine system reaches self operating condition at about N/NDP = 0.48. Bleeding air for a turbine stator cooling is omitted considering the low TIT in the present engine and to enable the simple geometric configuration for manufacturing purpose. Various engine performance simulations including ambient temperature influence, surging at part load condition; transient analysis were performed to secure the optimum engine operating characteristics. Surge margin throughout the performance analysis were maintained to be over 50% approximately. Present analysis will be compared with performance test result which is scheduled at the end of 1998.


Author(s):  
Christopher J. Spytek

An Inter-Turbine Burner (ITB) that is capable of increasing the thrust of a gas turbine engine with minimal effect on SFC has been developed. Gas turbine engines using multistage turbine sections have the inherent disadvantage of temperature loss through the turbine section. This occurs when each successive turbine stage extracts energy from the superheated mass airflow stream. The net result is limited energy potential due to the first stage turbine temperature limits. An Inter-Turbine Burner (ITB) is able to utilize constant temperature burning through the turbine section by adding burners between the turbine stages. The resultant engine is suited for missions requiring large amounts of constant or intermittent power extraction. The Spytek ITB incorporates a modified version of an Ultra-Compact Combustor (UCC) [1] (high-g burner) which was originally developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio. The ITB has been incorporated into a gas turbine engine and has been successfully tested operating at a near constant temperature (NCT) cycle. The engine/ITB is specifically configured and packaged for high power density use. Temperature rises across the ITB (T6-7) were tested in ranges from 421K-588K with representative increases in power take-off noted. The burner, positioned directly upstream of the ITB turbine, operates with vitiated air taken directly from the core engine exhaust stream. The engine tested is a two spool turbo-jet (ITB shaft inclusive), in the 1334(N) class. The ITB is cross shaft linked to an axial compressor booster stage, attached to the engine inlet which super-charged the core engine. The two major areas addressed in development were the ability to provide air into the primary burn zone of the ITB to sustain combustion and second, the ability to successfully entrain the combustion products from the ITB vortex chamber into the main air stream without causing undue restrictions or hot-streak problems which can affect the life of the ITB turbine. Flexibility in ITB testing is further enhanced through the use of two adjustable test features, 1) a variable flow splitter, capable of adjusting the amount of air diverted into the ITB combustor, and 2) a variable nozzle guide vane pack upstream of the ITB turbine. A proprietary entrainment system rapidly mixes the ITB combustor products with the main stream dilute flow products without any undo effects on the ITB turbine. The Mark#1 version of the ITB system exhibits power on demand increases of 16%–22%.


Author(s):  
R. A. Rackley ◽  
J. R. Kidwell

The Garrett/Ford Advanced Gas Turbine Powertrain System Development Project, authorized under NASA Contract DEN3-167, is sponsored by and is part of the United States Department of Energy Gas Turbine Highway Vehicle System Program. Program effort is oriented at providing the United States automotive industry the technology base necessary to produce gas turbine powertrains competitive for automotive applications having: (1) reduced fuel consumption, (2) multi-fuel capability, and (3) low emissions. The AGT101 powertrain is a 74.6 kW (100 hp), regenerated single-shaft gas turbine engine operating at a maximum turbine inlet temperature of 1644 K (2500 °F), coupled to a split differential gearbox and Ford automatic overdrive production transmission. The gas turbine engine has a single-stage centrifugal compressor and a single-stage radial inflow turbine mounted on a common shaft. Maximum rotor speed is 10,472 rad/sec (100,000 rpm). All high-temperature components, including the turbine rotor, are ceramic. AGT101 powertrain development has been initiated, with testing completed on many aerothermodynamic components in dedicated test rigs and start of Mod I, Build 1 engine testing.


Author(s):  
Zhongran Chi ◽  
Haiqing Liu ◽  
Shusheng Zang ◽  
Chengxiong Pan ◽  
Guangyun Jiao

Abstract The inhomogeneity of temperature in a turbine is related to the nonuniform heat release and air injections in combustors. In addition, it is influenced by the interactions between turbine cascades and coolant injections. Temperature inhomogeneity results in nonuniform flow temperature at turbine outlets, which is commonly measured by multiple thermal couples arranged in the azimuthal direction to monitor the operation of a gas turbine engine. Therefore, the investigation of temperature inhomogeneity transportation in a multistage gas turbine should help in detecting and quantifying the over-temperature or flameout of combustors using turbine exhaust temperature. Here the transportation of temperature inhomogeneity inside the four-stage turbine of a 300-MW gas turbine engine was numerically investigated using 3D CFD. The computational domain included all four stages of the turbine, consisting of more than 500 blades and vanes. Realistic components (N2, O2, CO2, and H2O) with variable heat capacities were considered for hot gas and cooling air. Coolants were added to the computational domain through more than 19,000 mass and momentum source terms. his was simple compared to realistic cooling structures. A URANS CFD run with over-temperature/flameout at 6 selected combustors out of 24 was carried out. The temperature distributions at rotor–stator interfaces and the turbine outlet were quantified and characterized by Fourier transformations in the time domain and space domain. It is found that the transport process from the hot-streaks/cold-streaks at the inlet to the outlet is relatively stable. The cold and hot fluid is redistributed in time and space due to the stator and rotor blades, in the region with a large parameter gradient at the inlet, strong unsteady temperature field and composition field appear. The distribution of the exhaust gas composition has a stronger correlation with the inlet temperature distribution and is less susceptible to interference.


Author(s):  
Sepehr Sanaye ◽  
Salahadin Hosseini

A novel procedure for finding the optimum values of design parameters of industrial twin-shaft gas turbines at various ambient temperatures is presented here. This paper focuses on being off design due to various ambient temperatures. The gas turbine modeling is performed by applying compressor and turbine characteristic maps and using thermodynamic matching method. The gas turbine power output is selected as an objective function in optimization procedure with genetic algorithm. Design parameters are compressor inlet guide vane angle, turbine exit temperature, and power turbine inlet nozzle guide vane angle. The novel constrains in optimization are compressor surge margin and turbine blade life cycle. A trained neural network is used for life cycle estimation of high pressure (gas generator) turbine blades. Results for optimum values for nozzle guide vane/inlet guide vane (23°/27°–27°/6°) in ambient temperature range of 25–45 ℃ provided higher net power output (3–4.3%) and more secured compressor surge margin in comparison with that for gas turbines control by turbine exit temperature. Gas turbines thermal efficiency also increased from 0.09 to 0.34% (while the gas generator turbine first rotor blade creep life cycle was kept almost constant about 40,000 h). Meanwhile, the averaged values for turbine exit temperature/turbine inlet temperature changed from 831.2/1475 to 823/1471°K, respectively, which shows about 1% decrease in turbine exit temperature and 0.3% decrease in turbine inlet temperature.


Author(s):  
Arash Farahani ◽  
Peter Childs

Strip seals are commonly used to prevent or limit leakage flows between nozzle guide vanes (NGV) and other gas turbine engine components that are assembled from individual segments. Leakage flow across, for example, a nozzle guide vane platform, leads to increased demands on the gas turbine engine internal flow system and a rise in specific fuel consumption (SFC). Careful attention to the flow characteristics of strip seals is therefore necessary. The very tight tolerances associated with strip seals provides a particular challenge to their characterisation. This paper reports the validation of CFD modelling for the case of a strip seal under very carefully controlled conditions. In addition, experimental comparison of three types of strip seal design, straight, arcuate, and cloth, is presented. These seals are typical of those used by competing manufacturers of gas turbine engines. The results show that the straight seal provides the best flow sealing performance for the controlled configuration tested, although each design has its specific merits for a particular application.


Author(s):  
J. Zelina ◽  
D. T. Shouse ◽  
J. S. Stutrud ◽  
G. J. Sturgess ◽  
W. M. Roquemore

An aero gas turbine engine has been proposed that uses a near-constant-temperature (NCT) cycle and an Inter-Turbine Burner (ITB) to provide large amounts of power extraction from the low-pressure turbine. This level of energy is achieved with a modest temperature rise across the ITB. The additional energy can be used to power a large geared fan for an ultra-high bypass ratio transport aircraft, or to drive an alternator for large amounts of electrical power extraction. Conventional gas turbines engines cannot drive ultra-large diameter fans without causing excessively high turbine temperatures, and cannot meet high power extraction demands without a loss of engine thrust. Reducing the size of the combustion system is key to make use of a NCT gas turbine cycle. Ultra-compact combustor (UCC) concepts are being explored experimentally. These systems use high swirl in a circumferential cavity about the engine centerline to enhance reaction rates via high cavity g-loading on the order of 3000 g’s. Any increase in reaction rate can be exploited to reduce combustor volume. The UCC design integrates compressor and turbine features which will enable a shorter and potentially less complex gas turbine engine. This paper will present experimental data of the Ultra-Compact Combustor (UCC) performance in vitiated flow. Vitiation levels were varied from 12–20% oxygen levels to simulate exhaust from the high pressure turbine (HPT). Experimental results from the ITB at atmospheric pressure indicate that the combustion system operates at 97–99% combustion efficiency over a wide range of operating conditions burning JP-8 +100 fuel. Flame lengths were extremely short, at about 50% of those seen in conventional systems. A wide range of operation is possible with lean blowout fuel-air ratio limits at 25–50% below the value of current systems. These results are significant because the ITB only requires a small (300°F) temperature rise for optimal power extraction, leading to operation of the ITB at near-lean-blowout limits of conventional combustor designs. This data lays the foundation for the design space required for future engine designs.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 578-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. K. Mishra ◽  
Johney Thomas ◽  
K. Srinivasan ◽  
Vaishakhi Nandi ◽  
Raghavendra Bhat

Author(s):  
G. L. Padgett ◽  
W. W. Davis

In response to the needs of the market place for turbines in the 5000 to 6000 hp class, Solar Turbines Incorporated has responded with an uprate of their Centaur engine. Discussed in this paper are the features of the uprated engine, the Development Plan and the methodology for incorporating into the design the advanced aerodynamic and mechanical technology of the Mars engine. The Mars engine is a high efficiency 12,500 hp engine which operates at a turbine inlet temperature of 1935°F. State-of-the-art computer aided methods have been applied to produce the design, and the results from this approach are displayed.


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