A Generalized Procedure to Estimate Matching of Power Turbine With Aeroderivative Gas Generator at High Speed Settings

Author(s):  
Inam U. Haq

This paper encapsulates generalized considerations of power turbine matching with aeroderivative gas generator at high power settings. A computation route is set up to estimate the magnitude of the desired parameters from design point knowledge of a gas generator. Then, a method is delineated to verify matching of power turbine inlet nozzle area with exhaust of gas generator by measuring tangible tested parameters. Data manipulation revealed that there exists a favorable correlation between pressure ratio of high pressure turbine and gas generator speed that may directly reflect the influence of physical area change of power turbine inlet nozzle area. A practical example is presented to demonstrate the procedure. From engine design to retirement, the generalized considerations may be applied on several occasions where question of matching may become important and require explanation for performance and financial justifications. Some generalized rules of matching are condensed and their applications are suggested.

Author(s):  
Thomas L. Wolf ◽  
James B. Kesseli ◽  
James S. Nash

The Inter-Cooled-Recuperated (ICR) cycle is recognized for its high efficiency potential in gas-turbine applications. This paper reports on a proposed implementation of the ICR cycle in a microturbine setting, using a three-spool configuration incorporating a variable-geometry nozzle on the low-pressure ‘free’ power turbine. Hardware specified for the high-pressure turbine is an existing ceramic rotor fabricated and spin-tested in connection with a prior DOE-sponsored program. Rated engine design-point power and efficiency are projected at 378kWe and 39.5% (net LHV), under realistic prescriptions for component efficiencies and parasitic losses, and with TIT = 1366K (2000°F) specified for the ceramic rotor. Detailed off-design performance projections are carried out, demonstrating exceptional range and part-load efficiency. A key attraction of the ICR compared to a non-intercooled recuperated cycle is its compatibility with high cycle pressure ratio, making for dramatic size and cost reductions for high-pressure components, most importantly the recuperator. A related advantage is reduced ceramic-turbine rotor diameter for a given power level, extending the applicability of ceramic components under conservative manufacturability limits. Engine layout and preliminary mechanical designs for the major subassemblies are developed for application to a forty-foot transport bus with hybrid-electric drive. Further applications under evaluation for the proposed microturbine are stationary power generation, and in a hybrid powerplant setting using a solid-oxide fuel cell.


Author(s):  
Harjit S. Hura ◽  
Scott Carson ◽  
Rob Saeidi ◽  
Hyoun-Woo Shin ◽  
Paul Giel

This paper describes the engine and rig design, and test results of an ultra-highly loaded single stage high pressure turbine. In service aviation single stage HPTs typically operate at a total-to-total pressure ratio of less than 4.0. At higher pressure ratios or energy extraction the nozzle and blade both have regions of supersonic flow and shock structures which, if not mitigated, can result in a large loss in efficiency both in the turbine itself and due to interaction with the downstream component which may be a turbine center frame or a low pressure turbine. Extending the viability of the single stage HPT to higher pressure ratios is attractive as it enables a compact engine with less weight, and lower initial and maintenance costs as compared to a two stage HPT. The present work was performed as part of the NASA UEET (Ultra-Efficient Engine Technology) program from 2002 through 2005. The goal of the program was to design and rig test a cooled single stage HPT with a pressure ratio of 5.5 with an efficiency at least two points higher than the state of the art. Preliminary design tools and a design of experiments approach were used to design the flow path. Stage loading and through-flow were set at appropriate levels based on prior experience on high pressure ratio single stage turbines. Appropriate choices of blade aspect ratio, count, and reaction were made based on comparison with similar HPT designs. A low shock blading design approach was used to minimize the shock strength in the blade during design iterations. CFD calculations were made to assess performance. The HPT aerodynamics and cooling design was replicated and tested in a high speed rig at design point and off-design conditions. The turbine met or exceeded the expected performance level based on both steady state and radial/circumferential traverse data. High frequency dynamic total pressure measurements were made to understand the presence of unsteadiness that persists in the exhaust of a transonic turbine.


Author(s):  
P. J. Collet

At present the regenerative, low-pressure, 2-shaft gas turbine seems to be the generally accepted cycle layout for automotive applications. The performance of such an arrangement in its simplest form is assessed with regard to sfc (especially at part load), engine response, torque characteristics, and engine braking capability. The application of variable geometry, e.g., movable power-turbine nozzles, can be used to reduce part-load sfc in addition to providing engine braking. A more drastic approach towards improving performance to meet automotive requirements is described in this paper. The addition of a “turbocharger,” two freewheels, and variable high-pressure turbine nozzles results in an increased specific output, decreased fuel consumption, a higher torque ratio permitting a simplified transmission, and a major braking capability. Significant features of this 3-shaft arrangement include the retention of a comparatively low design pressure ratio and a novel method of maintaining adequate engine response.


Author(s):  
Brian R. Green ◽  
Randall M. Mathison ◽  
Michael G. Dunn

The effect of rotor purge flow on the unsteady aerodynamics of a high-pressure turbine stage operating at design corrected conditions has been investigated both experimentally and computationally. The experimental configuration consisted of a single-stage high-pressure turbine with a modern film-cooling configuration on the vane airfoil as well as the inner and outer end-wall surfaces. Purge flow was introduced into the cavity located between the high-pressure vane and the high-pressure disk. The high-pressure blades and the downstream low-pressure turbine nozzle row were not cooled. All hardware featured an aerodynamic design typical of a commercial high-pressure ratio turbine, and the flow path geometry was representative of the actual engine hardware. In addition to instrumentation in the main flow path, the stationary and rotating seals of the purge flow cavity were instrumented with high frequency response, flush-mounted pressure transducers and miniature thermocouples to measure flow field parameters above and below the angel wing. Predictions of the time-dependent flow field in the turbine flow path were obtained using FINE/Turbo, a three-dimensional, Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes CFD code that had the capability to perform both steady and unsteady analysis. The steady and unsteady flow fields throughout the turbine were predicted using a three blade-row computational model that incorporated the purge flow cavity between the high-pressure vane and disk. The predictions were performed in an effort to mimic the design process with no adjustment of boundary conditions to better match the experimental data. The time-accurate predictions were generated using the harmonic method. Part I of this paper concentrates on the comparison of the time-averaged and time-accurate predictions with measurements in and around the purge flow cavity. The degree of agreement between the measured and predicted parameters is described in detail, providing confidence in the predictions for flow field analysis that will be provided in Part II.


Author(s):  
K. R. Pullen ◽  
N. C. Baines ◽  
S. H. Hill

A single stage, high speed, high pressure ratio radial inflow turbine was designed for a single shaft gas turbine engine in the 200 kW power range. A model turbine has been tested in a cold rig facility with correct simulation of the important non-dimensional parameters. Performance measurements over a wide range of operation were made, together with extensive volute and exhaust traverses, so that gas velocities and incidence and deviation angles could be deduced. The turbine efficiency was lower than expected at all but the lowest speed. The rotor incidence and exit swirl angles, as obtained from the rig test data, were very similar to the design assumptions. However, evidence was found of a region of separation in the nozzle vane passages, presumably caused by a very high curvature in the endwall just upstream of the vane leading edges. The effects of such a separation are shown to be consistent with the observed performance.


Author(s):  
Richard Celestina ◽  
Spencer Sperling ◽  
Louis Christensen ◽  
Randall Mathison ◽  
Hakan Aksoy ◽  
...  

Abstract This paper presents the development and implementation of a new generation of double-sided heat-flux gauges at The Ohio State University Gas Turbine Laboratory (GTL) along with heat transfer measurements for film-cooled airfoils in a single-stage high-pressure transonic turbine operating at design corrected conditions. Double-sided heat flux gauges are a critical part of turbine cooling studies, and the new generation improves upon the durability and stability of previous designs while also introducing high-density layouts that provide better spatial resolution. These new customizable high-density double-sided heat flux gauges allow for multiple heat transfer measurements in a small geometric area such as immediately downstream of a row of cooling holes on an airfoil. Two high-density designs are utilized: Type A consists of 9 gauges laid out within a 5 mm by 2.6 mm (0.20 inch by 0.10 inch) area on the pressure surface of an airfoil, and Type B consists of 7 gauges located at points of predicted interest on the suction surface. Both individual and high-density heat flux gauges are installed on the blades of a transonic turbine experiment for the second build of the High-Pressure Turbine Innovative Cooling program (HPTIC2). Run in a short duration facility, the single-stage high-pressure turbine operated at design-corrected conditions (matching corrected speed, flow function, and pressure ratio) with forward and aft purge flow and film-cooled blades. Gauges are placed at repeated locations across different cooling schemes in a rainbow rotor configuration. Airfoil film-cooling schemes include round, fan, and advanced shaped cooling holes in addition to uncooled airfoils. Both the pressure and suction surfaces of the airfoils are instrumented at multiple wetted distance locations and percent spans from roughly 10% to 90%. Results from these tests are presented as both time-average values and time-accurate ensemble averages in order to capture unsteady motion and heat transfer distribution created by strong secondary flows and cooling flows.


Author(s):  
Joachim Kurzke

Realistic compressor maps are the key to high quality gas turbine performance calculations. When modeling the performance of an existing engine then these maps are usually not known and must be approximated by adapting maps from literature to either measured data or to other available information. There are many publications describing map adaptation processes, simple ones and more sophisticated physically based scaling rules. There are also reports about using statistics, genetic algorithms, neural networks and even morphing techniques for re-engineering compressor maps. This type of methods does not consider the laws of physics and consequently the generated maps are valid at best in the region in which they have been calibrated. This region is frequently very narrow, especially in case of gas generator compressors which run in steady state always on a single operating line. This paper describes which physical phenomena influence the shape of speed and efficiency lines in compressor maps. For machines operating at comparatively low speeds (so that the flow into each stage is subsonic), there is usually considerable range between choke and stall corrected flow. As the speed of the machine is increased the range narrows. For high-speed stages with supersonic relative flow into the rotor the efficiency maximum is where the speed line turns over from vertical to lower than maximum corrected flow. At this operating condition the shock is about to detach from the leading edge of the blades. The flow at a certain speed can also be limited by choking in the compressor exit guide vanes. For high pressure ratio single stage centrifugal compressors this is a normal case, but it can also happen with low pressure ratio multistage boosters of turbofan engines, for example. If the compressor chokes at the exit, then the specific work remains constant along the speed line while the overall pressure ratio varies and that generates a very specific shape of the efficiency contour lines in the map. Also in other parts of the map, the efficiency varies along speed lines in a systematic manner. Peculiar shapes of specific work and corrected torque lines can reveal physically impossibilities that are difficult to see in the standard compressor map pictures. Compressor maps generated without considering the inherent physical phenomena can easily result in misleading performance calculations if used at operating conditions outside of the region where they have been calibrated. Whatever map adaptation method is used: the maps created in such a way should be checked thoroughly for violations of the underlying laws of compressor physics.


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):  
Simon Gövert ◽  
Federica Ferraro ◽  
Alexander Krumme ◽  
Clemens Buske ◽  
Marc Tegeler ◽  
...  

Abstract Reducing the uncertainties in the prediction of turbine inlet conditions is a crucial aspect to improve aero engine designs and further increase engine efficiencies. To meet constantly stricter emission regulations, lean burn combustion could play a key role for future engine designs. However, these combustion systems are characterized by significant swirl for flame stabilization and reduced cooling air mass flows. As a result, substantial spatial and transient variations of the turbine inlet conditions are encountered. To investigate the effect of the combustor on the high pressure turbine, a rotating cooled transonic high-pressure configuration has been designed and investigated experimentally at the DLR turbine test facility ‘NG-Turb’ in Göttingen, Germany. It is a rotating full annular 1.5 stage turbine configuration which is coupled to a combustor simulator. The combustor simulator is designed to create turbine inlet conditions which are hydrodynamically representative for a lean-burn aero engine. A detailed description of the test rig and its instrumentation as well as a discussion of the measurement results is presented in part I of this paper. Part II focuses on numerical modeling of the test rig to further extend the understanding of the measurement results. Integrated simulations of the configuration including combustor simulator and nozzle guide vanes are performed for leading edge and passage clocking position and the effect on the hot streak migration is discussed. The simulation and experimental results at the combustor-turbine interface are compared showing a good overall agreement. The relevant flow features are correctly predicted in the simulations, proving the suitability of the numerical model for application to integrated combustor-turbine interaction analysis.


Author(s):  
Bruce D. Thompson ◽  
Jurie Grobler

Although generally reliable in-service and with an ever increasing mean time between removal, it was identified in the mid to late 1980’s that the LM2500 gas turbine in US Navy service had a problem with self generated vibration; this was principally due to imbalance in the gas generator or power turbine rotor, however, other non-synchronous sources for vibration were discovered to be important as well. The initial method for resolving this problem was to remove and repair, at a depot, the engines that exceeded the in-service alarm level. This turned out to be a very expensive approach and it was found that most engines that had excessive vibration levels in other respects (performance, etc.) were perfectly acceptable for continued use without repair. Raising the vibration alarm level was tried for a time. However, it became clear that prolonged engine operation with higher levels of vibration were detrimental to the mechanical integrity of the engine. This paper discusses the systematic approach developed to reduce LM2500 self generated vibration levels. This included monitoring system improvements, engine design & hardware improvements and the development and implementation of in-place trim balance. This paper also discusses some of the analysis and practical difficulties encountered reducing and maintaining low LM2500 vibration levels through trim balance and by other means. Also discussed is the present implementation of remotely monitoring LM2500 operating parameters, in particular vibration, through the Integrated Performance Analysis Reports (IPAR) and the Maintenance Engineering Library Server (MELS).


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