AXITURB: A Full Computer Implementation of the NASA Design Procedure for Axial-Flow Turbines

Author(s):  
P. C. Lu ◽  
Chen-Ying Wang

Abstract A recent task to design a Rankine-cycle space-power turbine system employing eutectic alloys of alkali metals prompted the present authors to re-examine the NASA design procedure for axial-flow turbines, as outlined by Glassman and Futral (and based on works of Stewart) in 1963. After clarifying the role of the singular case of a single-stage turbine, and organizing the procedure in clear steps, a computer program AXITURB was written. The present paper reports essentially the success of AXITURB in performing parametric studies of NaK and CsK turbines (using 78.4% and 23.1%, respectively, of potassium by weight), after re-generating all the reported NASA designs for turbines employing pure Na, K and Cs. An outline of design steps is also given. AXITURB has been put in public domain. Its heavily commented source code in FORTRAN is available to designers for adaption or modification.

2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 1948-1956
Author(s):  
Lyudmila A. Lapkina ◽  
Anna A. Sinelshchikova ◽  
Kirill P. Birin ◽  
Vladimir E. Larchenko ◽  
Mikhail S. Grigoriev ◽  
...  

Crystals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1013
Author(s):  
Stefanie Gärtner

Alkali metal thallides go back to the investigative works of Eduard Zintl about base metals in negative oxidation states. In 1932, he described the crystal structure of NaTl as the first representative for this class of compounds. Since then, a bunch of versatile crystal structures has been reported for thallium as electronegative element in intermetallic solid state compounds. For combinations of thallium with alkali metals as electropositive counterparts, a broad range of different unique structure types has been observed. Interestingly, various thallium substructures at the same or very similar valence electron concentration (VEC) are obtained. This in return emphasizes that the role of the alkali metals on structure formation goes far beyond ancillary filling atoms, which are present only due to charge balancing reasons. In this review, the alkali metals are in focus and the local surroundings of the latter are discussed in terms of their crystallographic sites in the corresponding crystal structures.


Author(s):  
Michael B. Wilkinson ◽  
Johan van der Spuy ◽  
Theodor W. von Backström

An axial flow fan design methodology is developed to design large diameter, low pressure rise, rotor-only fans for large air-cooled heat exchangers. The procedure aims to design highly efficient axial flow fans that perform well when subjected to off design conditions commonly encountered in air-cooled heat exchangers. The procedure makes use of several optimisation steps in order to achieve this. These steps include optimising the hub-tip ratio, vortex distribution, blading and aerofoil camber distributions in order to attain maximum total-to-static efficiency at the design point. In order to validate the design procedure a 24 ft, 8 bladed axial flow fan is designed to the specifications required for an air-cooled heat exchanger for a concentrated solar power (CSP) plant. The designed fan is numerically evaluated using both a modified version of the actuator disk model and a three dimensional periodic fan blade model. The results of these CFD simulations are used to evaluate the design procedure by comparing the fan performance characteristic data to the design specification and values calculated by the design code. The flow field directly down stream of the fan is also analysed in order to evaluate how closely the numerically predicted flow field matches the designed flow field, as well as determine whether the assumptions made in the design procedure are reasonable. The fan is found to meet the required pressure rise, however the fan total-to-static efficiency is found to be lower than estimated during the design process. The actuator disk model is found to under estimate the power consumption of the fan, however the actuator disk model does provide a reasonable estimate of the exit flow conditions as well as the total-to-static pressure characteristic of the fan.


Author(s):  
Elio A. Bufi ◽  
Paola Cinnella ◽  
Xavier Merle

The design of an efficient organic rankine cycle (ORC) expander needs to take properly into account strong real gas effects that may occur in given ranges of operating conditions, which can also be highly variable. In this work, we first design ORC turbine geometries by means of a fast 2-D design procedure based on the method of characteristics (MOC) for supersonic nozzles characterized by strong real gas effects. Thanks to a geometric post-processing procedure, the resulting nozzle shape is then adapted to generate an axial ORC blade vane geometry. Subsequently, the impact of uncertain operating conditions on turbine design is investigated by coupling the MOC algorithm with a Probabilistic Collocation Method (PCM) algorithm. Besides, the injector geometry generated at nominal operating conditions is simulated by means of an in-house CFD solver. The code is coupled to the PCM algorithm and a performance sensitivity analysis, in terms of adiabatic efficiency and power output, to variations of the operating conditions is carried out.


Author(s):  
Jian Song ◽  
Chun-wei Gu

Energy shortage and environmental deterioration are two crucial issues that the developing world has to face. In order to solve these problems, conversion of low grade energy is attracting broad attention. Among all of the existing technologies, Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) has been proven to be one of the most effective methods for the utilization of low grade heat sources. Turbine is a key component in ORC system and it plays an important role in system performance. Traditional turbine expanders, the axial flow turbine and the radial inflow turbine are typically selected in large scale ORC systems. However, in small and micro scale systems, traditional turbine expanders are not suitable due to large flow loss and high rotation speed. In this case, Tesla turbine allows a low-cost and reliable design for the organic expander that could be an attractive option for small scale ORC systems. A 1-D model of Tesla turbine is presented in this paper, which mainly focuses on the flow characteristics and the momentum transfer. This study improves the 1-D model, taking the nozzle limit expansion ratio into consideration, which is related to the installation angle of the nozzle and the specific heat ratio of the working fluid. The improved model is used to analyze Tesla turbine performance and predict turbine efficiency. Thermodynamic analysis is conducted for a small scale ORC system. The simulation results reveal that the ORC system can generate a considerable net power output. Therefore, Tesla turbine can be regarded as a potential choice to be applied in small scale ORC systems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 345 ◽  
pp. 00016
Author(s):  
László Kalmár ◽  
György Hegedűs ◽  
Árpád Fáy ◽  
Norbert Szaszák

This article presents a hydraulic design procedure for axial-flow pump impellers, followed by their manufacturing documentations, all in one easy-to-use software named AXPHD V2.0 (AXial Pump Hydraulic Design) developed by one of the authors (Kalmár). After the user determined pump duty, the software offers input data which may be changed interactively. The hydrodynamic singularity method is used to compute the blade profiles on cylindrical surfaces. If the velocity and pressure distributions are accepted, then the body model of the impeller is produced by AUTODESK INVENTOR PROFESSIONAL 2019. Full manufacturing documentation is prepared including shop-drawings for traditional production, numeric modules for CAM, and files for 3D printing. A photo of an impeller made by 3D printing closes the paper.


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (10) ◽  
pp. 3899-3908 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Selwa ◽  
L. Ofman

Abstract. We present numerical results of 3-D MHD model of a dipole active region field containing a loop with a higher density than its surroundings. We study different ways of excitation of vertical kink oscillations by velocity perturbation: as an initial condition, and as an impulsive excitation with a pulse of a given position, duration, and amplitude. These properties are varied in the parametric studies. We find that the amplitude of vertical kink oscillations is significantly amplified in comparison to horizontal kink oscillations for exciters located centrally (symmetrically) below the loop, but not if the exciter is located a significant distance to the side of the loop. This explains why the pure vertical kink mode is so rarely observed in comparison to the horizontally polarized one. We discuss the role of curved magnetic field lines and the pulse overlapping at one of the loop's footpoints in 3-D active regions (AR's) on the excitation and the damping of slow standing waves. We find that footpoint excitation becomes more efficient in 3-D curved loops than in 2-D curved arcades and that slow waves can be excited within an interval of time that is comparable to the observed one wave-period due to the combined effect of the pulse inside and outside the loop. Additionally, we study the effect of AR topology on the excitation and trapping of loop oscillations. We find that a perturbation acting directly on a single loop excites oscillations, but results in an increased leakage compared to excitation of oscillations in an AR field by an external source.


Author(s):  
T. L. Bowen

The feasibility of an isolated reverse turbine concept for marine propulsion was examined with emphasis on (1) the reverse turbine size needed to meet the stopping distance requirement of a particular ship during a crashback maneuver, and (2) the ahead turbine performance penalty due to reverse turbine windage losses. This particular reverse turbine system was made adaptable to the exhaust elbow and output shaft of an existing free-power-turbine gas turbine. The analysis was based on the application of this reverse turbine concept to a notational single-shaft frigate. The study-ship’s propulsion system includes two General Electric LM2500 gas turbines with reversing capability, a reduction gear, and a fixed-pitch propeller. A ship propulsion simulation was developed for the purpose of calculating steady-state ahead and backing performance data, as well as transient behavior of the ship during crashback maneuvers. The reverse turbine’s speed and torque required to stop the ship in five ship-lengths and 3.5 ship-lengths were determined from these calculations. Four reverse turbine designs were generated using a computer program for preliminary design of axial-flow turbines. The designs included a single-stage and a two-stage impulse turbine for both stopping distances. The penalty on ahead performance due to reverse turbine windage was estimated for each design, using existing experimental data found in the literature. The results obtained thus far tend to support the feasibility of this reverse turbine concept.


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