Experimental Investigation on Droplet Behaviour in a Transonic Compressor Cascade

Author(s):  
Niklas Neupert ◽  
Birger Ober ◽  
Franz Joos

In recent years overspray fogging has become a powerful means for power augmentation of industrial gas turbines. Most of the studies concerning this topic focus on the problem from a thermodynamic point of view as summarized by Eisfeld and Joos [1]. Only a few studies, however, were undertaken to investigate the droplet behavior in the flow channel of a compressor. Eisfeld and Joos [2] and Ober [3] revealed qualitative results showing a large variety of two-phase phenomena present. In this paper results of experimental investigation of a water laden flow through a compressor cascade are presented. A finely dispersed spray was used in the measurements (D10 < 10μm). Results of the droplet behavior in a transonic compressor cascade are shown in terms of shadowgraphy images and images of the blade surface film pattern. The angle of attack, the incoming velocity and the water load were varied to estimate the influence of these parameters on the flow pattern. The qualitative observations of the flow pattern are related to LDA/PDA data of the flow channel and at the outlet of the cascade. The data represents a base for numerical and mean line models of two phase compressor flow concerning droplet-wall interactions as well as flow induced breakup.

2014 ◽  
Vol 137 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas Neupert ◽  
Birger Ober ◽  
Franz Joos

In recent years, overspray fogging has become a powerful means for power augmentation of industrial gas turbines (GT). Most of the studies concerning this topic focus on the problem from a thermodynamic point of view. Only a few studies, however, were undertaken to investigate the droplet behavior in the flow channel of a compressor. In this paper, results of experimental investigation of a water laden flow through a transonic compressor cascade are presented. A finely dispersed spray was used in the measurements (D10 < 10 μm). Results of the droplet behavior are shown in terms of shadowgraphy images and images of the blade surface film pattern. The angle of attack, the incoming velocity, and the water load were varied. The qualitative observations are related to laser Doppler and phase Doppler anemometer (LDA/PDA) data taken in the flow channel and at the outlet of the cascade. The data represent a base for numerical and mean line models of two-phase compressor flow.


2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas Neupert ◽  
Janneck Christoph Harbeck ◽  
Franz Joos

In recent years overspray fogging has become a powerful means for power augmentation of industrial gas turbines. Despite the positive thermodynamic effect on the cycle droplets entering the compressor increase the risk of water droplet erosion. Further deposited water leads to a higher sensitivity toward fouling due to an increased stickiness of the blades. Therefore, erosion resistant hydrophobic coatings are applied to the first stages of compressors. Although some patents claim the use of such coatings the aerodynamic impact of a different wettability is not regarded so far. This issue was addressed in the field of aerodynamic efficiency of wings in heavy rain showing higher penalty for hydrophobic coatings. In this study, the issue of a different blade surface wettability in a linear transonic compressor cascade is addressed. Different coatings are applied resulting in contact angles of 51–95 deg. The inflow Mach number was fixed at design inflow Mach number, and the inflow angle was varied over a broad range. The effect on the water film pattern is analyzed in terms of position of film breakup, rivulet width, and totally wetted surface. The performance of the cascade under two-phase flow was analyzed using laser Doppler anemometry/phase Doppler anemometry measurement technique in terms of loss coefficient based on wake momentum thickness and flow turning. It is shown that the wettability of the surface has significant effects on the film structure leading to a lower fraction of wetted surface with increasing contact angle. The influence on performance is limited to effects in the proximity of the surface and is dependent on operation point. While in design conditions hydrophilic coating show lower losses, the trend is vice-versa for off-design conditions. The data represent first experimental work on the influence of surface wettability in a droplet-laden flow supporting positive features for hydrophobic coatings in gas turbine compressors.


Author(s):  
Niklas Neupert ◽  
Janneck Christoph Harbeck ◽  
Franz Joos

In recent years overspray fogging has become a powerful means for power augmentation of industrial gas turbines. Despite the positive thermodynamic effect on the cycle droplets entering the compressor increase the risk of water droplet erosion. Further deposited water leads to a higher sensitivity towards fouling due to an increased stickiness of the blades. Therefore erosion resistant hydrophobic coatings are applied to the first stages of compressors. Although some patents claim the use of such coatings the aerodynamic impact of a different wettability is not regarded so far. This issue was addressed in the field of aerodynamic efficiency of wings in heavy rain showing higher penalty for hydrophobic coatings. In this study the issue of a different blade surface wettability in a linear transonic compressor cascade is addressed. Different coatings are applied resulting in contact angles of 51–95°. The inflow Mach number was fixed at design inflow Mach number and the inflow angle was varied over a broad range. The effect on the water film pattern is analyzed in terms of position of film breakup, rivulet width and totally wetted surface. The performance of the cascade under two-phase flow was analyzed using LDA/PDA measurement technique in terms of loss coefficient based on wake momentum thickness and flow turning. It is shown that the wettability of the surface has significant effects on the film structure leading to a lower fraction of wetted surface with increasing contact angle. The influence on performance is limited to effects in the proximity of the surface and is dependent on operation point. While in design conditions hydrophilic coating show lower losses the trend is vice-versa for off-design conditions. The data represent first experimental work on the influence of surface wettability in a droplet-laden flow supporting positive features for hydrophobic coatings in gas turbine compressors.


2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas Neupert ◽  
Janneck Christoph Harbeck ◽  
Franz Joos

In recent years, overspray fogging has become a powerful means for power augmentation of industrial gas turbines. Despite the positive thermodynamic effect on the cycle, droplets entering the compressor increase the risk of water droplet erosion and deposition of water on the blades leading to an increase of required torque and profile loss. Due to this, detailed information about the structure and the amount of water on the surface is key for compressor performance. Experiments were conducted with a droplet laden flow in a transonic compressor cascade focusing on the film formed by the deposited water. Two approaches were taken. In the first approach, the film thickness on the blade was directly measured using white light interferometry. Due to significant distortion of the flow caused by the measurement system, a transfer of the measured film thickness to the undisturbed case is not possible. Therefore, a film model is adapted to describe the film flow in terms of height averaged film parameters. In the second approach, experiments were conducted in an undisturbed cascade setup and the water film pattern was measured using a nonintrusive quantitative image processing tool. Utilizing the measured flow pattern in combination with findings from the literature, the rivulet flow structure is resolved. From continuity of the water flow, a film thickness is derived showing good agreement with the previously calculated results. Using both approaches, a three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the water film pattern is created giving first experimental results of the film forming on stationary compressor blades under overspray fogging conditions.


Author(s):  
Hemant B. Mehta ◽  
Jyotirmay Banerjee

The study on the effect of degree of premixing on isothermal gas-liquid two-phase flow pattern and flow pattern maps in microscale channels is inadequate. The present paper discusses the experimental investigation on air-water two-phase flow through 2.15 mm horizontal circular minichannel. Two type of inlet channel geometry, T-junction (TJ) and Y-junction (YJ), are considered. Six different flow patterns are observed and flow pattern maps are developed. The developed flow pattern maps for TJ and YJ channels are compared with the maps available in the literature. The surface tension dominated region is found to have major effect of inlet channel geometry. The results obtained for minichannel can be guidelines to analyze and design diverse two-phase microfluidic applications.


Author(s):  
Hemant B. Mehta ◽  
Jyotirmay Banerjee ◽  
Jukesh A. Dodiya ◽  
Sanket Solanki

The study on the effect of degree of premixing on isothermal gas-liquid two-phase flow pattern and flow pattern maps in microscale channels is inadequate. The present paper discusses the experimental investigation on air-water two-phase flow through 2.25 mm horizontal circular minichannel. Two type of inlet channel geometry, T-junction (TJ) and Y-junction (YJ), are considered. Six different flow patterns are observed and flow pattern maps are developed. The developed flow pattern maps for TJ and YJ channels are compared with the maps available in the literature. The surface tension dominated region is found to have major effect of inlet channel geometry. The results obtained for minichannel can be guidelines to analyze and design diverse two-phase microfluidic applications.


Author(s):  
Birger Ober ◽  
Franz Joos

The possibility to augment the power output of gas turbines by the use of water injection becomes more and more attractive in recent years as unsteadily available renewable energy sources become more present and the need of reserve power rises. Depending on the installed system, water injection may result in a two phase flow inside the compressor. The water droplet laden compressor flow promises benefits in efficiency and to some extent in performance and stability. The thermodynamic aspect has been thoroughly investigated as summarized by Eisfeld [1]. A promising approach is the stabilizing influence on highly stressed airfoils as experimentally investigated by Eisfeld and Joos [2] who conducted first systematic experimental investigations but were limited in the range of incidence angles. Multiple numerical investigations have been undertaken by different research groups which found similar results (e.g. Sun et al in [3]). The ongoing experimental investigation presented in this paper focuses on the influence of a droplet laden flow on an axial compressors aerodynamics over the range of relevant incidence flow angles. The result of the series of experiments is a comparison of a dry air compressor flow and a droplet laden air compressor flow at high velocity (Ma > 0.85). The variables were water load and incidence angle. The discussion will investigate the effects of the presence of water droplet on the compressor cascades discharge flow properties and their influence on the relevant performance parameters. For this a discussion of the loss coefficient the detailed discharge flow velocity and the axial velocity density ratio (AVDR) will take place.


1988 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tang Yan-Ping ◽  
Chen Mao-Zhang

A new type of compressor cascade, called the vortex flow cascade (shortly VFC), has been developed in the paper. The VFC is made up of the normal compressor cascade (shortly NCC) with NACA-65-0010 profile and vortex generator. Experiments are conducted for researching the effects of a large scale streamwise control vortex on the flow structure inside cascade passage. The results are encouraging. Based on the present investigation the vortical flow pattern and loss mechanism of VFC have been discussed.


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