Investigations on the Flow Pattern and Aerodynamic Performance of Last Stage and Exhaust Hood for Large Power Steam Turbines

Author(s):  
Zhigang Li ◽  
Jun Li ◽  
Xin Yan ◽  
Zhenping Feng ◽  
Hiroharu Ohyama ◽  
...  

The aerodynamic performance and internal flow behavior of the last stage and exhaust hood for large power steam turbine was numerically investigated using commercial CFD software ANSYS-CFX. The computational domain includes all stator and rotor blades of last stage and exhaust hood including bracing tubes and strengthening plates. The Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solution was utilized to analyze aerodynamic performance of last stage and static pressure recovery coefficient of exhaust hood. For comparison, the internal flow pattern of the individual exhaust hood was also analyzed without consideration of the last stage effects. The static pressure and Mach number distribution at the meridional plane of the last stage was illustrated. The velocity vector distribution at different cross sections in the exhaust hood with and without consideration of the last stage influence was compared. In addition, the static pressure and pressure loss contours distribution in the exhaust hood were also studied. The obtained results show that the outflow of the last stage can significantly influence the aerodynamic performance and flow pattern of the exhaust hood. To obtain a reliable prediction of the aerodynamic performance of the exhaust hood, it is necessary to consider the interaction between the last stage and exhaust hood.

Author(s):  
Rui Yang ◽  
Jiandao Yang ◽  
Zeying Peng ◽  
Liqun Shi ◽  
Aping He ◽  
...  

The aerodynamic performance and internal flow characteristics of the last stage and exhaust hood for steam turbines is numerically investigated using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solutions based on the commercial CFD software ANSYS CFX. The full last stage including 66 stator blades and 64 rotor blades coupling with the exhaust hood is selected as the computational domain. The aerodynamic performance of last stage and static pressure recovery coefficient of exhaust hood at five different working conditions is conducted. The interaction between the last stage and exhaust hood is considered in this work. The effects of the non-uniform aerodynamic parameters along the rotor blade span on the static pressure recovery coefficient of the non-symmetric geometry of the exhaust hood are studied. The numerical results show that the efficiency of the last stage has the similar values ranges from 89.8% to 92.6% at different working conditions. In addition, the similar static pressure recovery coefficient of the exhaust hood was observed at five working conditions. The excellent aerodynamic performance of the exhaust hood was illustrated in this work.


Author(s):  
Jiandao Yang ◽  
Taowen Chen ◽  
Jun Li ◽  
Zhenping Feng

Combined with three-dimensional parameterization method of exhaust diffuser profile, aerodynamic performance evaluation method, response surface approximation evaluation model and Hooke-Jeeves direct search approach, aerodynamic optimization design of exhaust hood diffuser for steam turbine is presented. The aerodynamic performance of exhaust hood design candidate is evaluated using three-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solutions. Aerodynamic optimization design of exhaust hood is conducted for the maximum of the static pressure recovery coefficient of exhaust hood. The design variables are specified by the exhaust diffuser profile parameterization method. The aerodynamic performance of the optimized exhaust hood and referenced design is numerically calibrated with consideration of the full last stage and rotor tip clearance. The static pressure recovery coefficient of the optimized exhaust hood is higher than that of the referenced design with consideration of the upstream last stage influence. Furthermore, the detailed flow pattern of the optimized exhaust hood and referenced design is also analyzed and compared.


Author(s):  
Jun Li ◽  
Zhigang Li ◽  
Zhenping Feng

The static pressure recovery coefficient of the exhaust hood has significant impact on the aerodynamic performance of the low pressure cylinder for steam turbines. Numerical investigations on the aerodynamic performance of the exhaust hood and full last stage with consideration of the rotor tip leakage were presented in this paper. Three-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solutions and k–ε turbulent model were utilized to analyze the static pressure recovery performance of the exhaust hood using the commercial CFD software ANSYS-CFX. Effect of the last stage rotor tip leakage flow on the aerodynamic performance of the downstream exhaust hood was conducted by comparison of the computational domains for the exhaust hood and full last stage with and without tip clearance. The numerical results show that the last stage rotor tip leakage jet can suppress the flow separation near the diffuser wall of the exhaust hood and improve its static pressure recovery performance. The detailed flow fields of the exhaust hood with and without consideration of the rotor tip leakage flow were also illustrated and corresponding flow mechanism was discussed.


Author(s):  
Mingyan Yin ◽  
Chen Yang ◽  
Liu Meng ◽  
Wei Yan ◽  
Zhong Zhuhai ◽  
...  

A well-designed exhaust hood of large steam turbines would recover some kinetic energy from the flow between the last stage blades and condenser, which improves the efficiency of the cylinder. The internal flow field of the exhaust hood was firstly numerical investigated using three-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solutions based on the ANSYS-CFX. Then, the effects of the dimensions of the cylinder, bearing cone, diffuser guide, and diffuser ribs on the static pressure recovery performance of the exhaust hood were numerically conducted. The numerical results show that the cylinder length has significantly impact on the static pressure recovery coefficient of the exhaust hood by comparison of the cylinder section area at the fixed bearing cone and diffuser size. The bearing cone and diffuser were optimized to improve the aerodynamic performance of the exhaust hood. The rotationally symmetrical and enlarged diffusers show the different static pressure recovery performance of the exhaust hood. The optimized exhaust hood shows the improved aerodynamic performance by comparison of the initial design. The detailed flow pattern of the initial and optimized exhaust hood is also illustrated and discussed. This paper explicitly shows the interaction, and offers a good strategy for optimization, which has not been thoroughly discussed.


Author(s):  
Shuai Shao ◽  
Qinghua Deng ◽  
Heshuang Shi ◽  
Zhenping Feng ◽  
Kai Cheng ◽  
...  

In this paper, numerical investigations on the aerodynamic characteristics of the last three stages and the exhaust hood for a large power steam turbine were conducted under a series of mass flow conditions (100% ∼ 10% of the design condition) using the commercial CFD software ANSYS-CFX. The single passages of the last three stages and the whole exhaust hood are combined together as the computational domain. The main objective of this present work is to analyze the aerodynamic performance and the flow behavior of the exhaust hood. The variations of the static pressure recovery coefficient and the total pressure loss coefficient while the mass flow rate decreasing were analyzed. The static pressure distributions along the diffuser surface under different flow conditions were illustrated. The development of the vortex near the outlet of the diffuser was demonstrated through the velocity vector distribution at the meridional plane of the exhaust hood. The windage conditions were analyzed under 20% and 10% mass flow rate of the design condition. In addition, the back flow phenomenon was observed when the mass flow rate was below 50% of the design condition, and it starts from the hub region of the last stage rotor and grows up along the radial direction. The back flow also induces a sharp turning on the span-wise distribution of the angle θ (defined in Fig. 9) at the outlet of the last stage rotor. The three-dimensional streamlines inside the exhaust hood under different mass flow conditions were also compared.


Author(s):  
Soichiro Tabata ◽  
Hisataka Fukushima ◽  
Kiyoshi Segawa ◽  
Koji Ishibashi ◽  
Yoshihiro Kuwamura ◽  
...  

Abstract The exhaust hood performance of LP turbine plays an important role in the efficiency of steam turbine. By improving the exhaust performance, the kinetic energy of the last stage rotating blades can be converted to the potential energy and it becomes possible to improve the turbine efficiency. However, the flow field in the diffuser is closely related to the flow pattern of the last stage rotating blade, and the flow field inside the exhaust chamber afterward has a complicated three dimensional flow field. Therefore, in this study, it conducted a scaled model steam turbine test using two types of diffusers and CFD, and evaluated exhaust performance and flow pattern. The verification test was carried out using a test turbine (4 stages) of × 0.33 scale, the velocity field and the pressure field were evaluated by traverse and the wall pressure measurements. The corresponding CFD was calculated by ANSYS CFX. All four stages of blades and seals, exhaust chambers were accurately modeled. Due to the detailed CFD, the internal flow of the exhaust chamber exhibiting complicated three-dimensionality was visualized and the flow pattern was evaluated. The verification test results and the corresponding CFD results were compared and evaluated, and it has been found that the overall performance predicted by CFD is well showing the verification test result. Therefore, it has been found that CFD can help to understand the internal flow of the exhaust chamber exhibiting complex three-dimensional characteristics.


Author(s):  
Michal Hoznedl ◽  
Antonín Živný ◽  
Aleš Macálka ◽  
Robert Kalista ◽  
Kamil Sedlák ◽  
...  

The paper presents the results of measurements of flow parameters behind the last stage of a 1090 MW nominal power steam turbine in a nuclear power plant. The results were obtained by traversing a pneumatic probe at a distance of about 100 mm from the trailing edges of the LSB (Last Stage Blade). Furthermore, both side walls as well as the front wall of one flow of the LP (Low Pressure) exhaust hood were fitted with a dense net of static pressure taps at the level of the flange of the turbine. A total of 26 static pressures were measured on the wall at the output from the LP exhaust hood. Another 14 pressures were measured at the output from the condenser neck. The distribution of static pressures in both cross sections for full power and 600 and 800 MW power is shown. Another experiment was measured pressure and angle distribution using a ball pneumatic probe in the condenser neck area in a total of four holes at a distance up to 5 metres from the neck wall. The turbine condenser is two-flow design. In one direction perpendicular to the axis of the turbine cold cooling water comes, it heats partially. It then reverses and it heats to the maximum temperature again. The different temperature of cooling water in the different parts of the output cross section should influence the distribution of the output static pressure. Differences in pressures may cause problems with uneven load of the tube bundles of the condenser as well as problems with defining the influential edge output condition in CFD simulations of the flow of the cold end of the steam turbine Due to these reasons an extensive 3D CFD computation, which includes one stator blade as well as all moving blades of the last stage, a complete diffuser, the exhaust hood and the condenser neck, has been carried out. Geometry includes all reinforcing elements, pipes and heaters which could influence the flow behaviour in the exhaust hood and its pressure loss. Inlet boundary conditions were assumed for the case of both computations from the measurement of the flow field behind the penultimate stage. The outlet boundary condition was defined in the first case by an uneven value of the static pressure determined by the change of the temperature of cooling water. In the second case the boundary condition in accordance with the measurement was defined by a constant value of the static pressure along all the cross section of the output from the condenser neck. Results of both CFD computations are compared with experimental measurement by the distribution of pressures and other parameters behind the last stage.


Author(s):  
Jianjun Liu ◽  
Yongqiang Cui ◽  
Hongde Jiang

Experimental and numerical investigations for the flow in an exhaust hood model of large steam turbines have been carried out in order to understand the complex 3D flow pattern existing in the hood and also to validate the CFD solver. The model is a typical design for 300/600 MW steam turbines currently in operation. Static pressure at the diffuser tip and hub endwalls and at hood outer casing is measured and nonuniform circumferential distributions of static pressure are noticed. Velocity field at the model exit is measured and compared with the numerical prediction. The multigrid multiblock 3D Navier-Stokes solver used for the simulations is based upon the TVD Lax-Wendroff scheme and the Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model. Good agreement between numerical results and experimental data is demonstrated. It is found that the flow pattern and hood performance are very different with or without the turbine exit flow conditions simulated.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 43-50
Author(s):  
Michal Hoznedl ◽  
Kamil Sedlák

The paper deals with experimental and numerical research in the last stage of real 1090MW steam turbine with the last steel blade length 1220mm placed in nuclear power station. The last stage was equipped with twelve static pressure taps. It was also possible to probe in two planes - before and behind the last stage using pneumatic or optical probes. A number of last stage flow parameters were determined at the root and tip wall for nominal turbine output. Among those parameters are static pressures, Mach and Reynolds numbers, last stage reactions and steam wetness. All the directly measured and evaluated flow parameters are taken from locally measured points and that is why even 3D CFD calculation of the whole system - last stage, diffuser and exhaust hood was implemented. Measured and calculated parameters are compared. Especially static pressures are in very good agreement; the only steam wetness has bigger difference due to different measurement position. Locally measured values are enough to estimate the flow behavior of the last stage. On the other hand, the CFD simulations with well determined boundary conditions, meshes and geometry and is effective tool to simulate even very complicated flow structures in the last stage and exhaust hood.


Author(s):  
Tao Fan ◽  
Yonghui Xie ◽  
Di Zhang ◽  
Bi Sun

Computational fluid dynamics is widely used in the aerodynamic performance analysis of the low pressure exhaust system (LPES) which consists of the exhaust hood and condenser neck. However, most of the former studies analyzed the exhaust system separately without considering the effect on flow field from the last stage. In order to get the detailed information of flow field in LPES of steam turbines and reduce energy loss, a numerical model includes condenser neck, exhaust hood and last stage was constructed. This model can describe the effect of unsymmetrical inlet flow on the aerodynamic performance of LPES, so the effect of the inhomogeneous flow from the last stage was taken into account. The Reynolds averaged N-S equations with RNG k-ε turbulence model were adopted to analyze the flow field in the exhaust system considering the interaction between the exhaust system and the last stage, the mixing plane approach was used. The combined model can provide more reasonable numerical results of LPES, it shows that the inhomogeneous flow from the last stage is one of the main reasons leading to flow separation in diffuser. The influence of inner low pressure heater and the diffuse function of the condenser neck structure are the main reasons for the nonuniform velocity distribution of the flow field at the LPES outlet. Furthermore, based on the numerical results, an optimal LPES which has better aerodynamic performance and more reasonable flow is obtained. The optimal structure has low steam resistance and low exhaust pressure, so it can increase the efficiency of turbine.


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