Investigation on the Effect of a Realistic Flow Field on the Adiabatic Effectiveness of an Effusion-Cooled Combustor

Author(s):  
L. Andrei ◽  
A. Andreini ◽  
C. Bianchini ◽  
B. Facchini ◽  
L. Mazzei ◽  
...  

Effusion cooling represents the state of the art of liner cooling technology for modern combustors. This technique consists of an array of closely spaced discrete film cooling holes and contributes to lower the metal temperature by the combined protective effect of coolant film and heat removal through forced convection inside each hole. Despite many efforts reported in literature to characterize the cooling performance of these devices, detailed analyses of the mixing process between coolant and hot gas are difficult to perform, especially when superposition and density ratio effects as well as the interaction with complex gas side flow field become significant. Furthermore, recent investigations on the acoustic properties of these perforations pointed out the challenge to maintain optimal cooling performance also with orthogonal holes, which showed higher sound absorption. The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of a realistic flow field on the adiabatic effectiveness performance of effusion cooling liners to verify the findings available in literature, which are mostly based on effusion flat plates with aligned crossflow, in case of swirled hot gas flow. The geometry consists of a tubular combustion chamber, equipped with a double swirler injection system and characterized by twenty-two rows of cooling holes on the liner. The liner cooling system employs slot cooling as well: its interactions with the cold gas injected through the effusion plate are investigated too. Taking advantage of the rotational periodicity of the effusion geometry and assuming axisymmetric conditions at the combustor inlet, steady state RANS calculations have been performed with the commercial code ANSYS® CFX simulating a single circumferential pitch. Obtained results show how the effusion perforation angle deeply affects the flow-field around the corner of the combustor, in particular with a strong reduction of slot effectiveness in case of 90° angle value.

Author(s):  
Luca Andrei ◽  
Antonio Andreini ◽  
Cosimo Bianchini ◽  
Bruno Facchini ◽  
Lorenzo Mazzei ◽  
...  

Effusion cooling represents the state of the art of liner cooling technology for modern combustors. This technique consists of an array of closely spaced discrete film cooling holes and contributes to lower the metal temperature by the combined protective effect of coolant film and heat removal through forced convection inside each hole. Despite many efforts reported in literature to characterize the cooling performance of these devices, detailed analyses of the mixing process between coolant and hot gas are difficult to perform, especially when superposition and density ratio effects as well as the interaction with complex gas side flow field become significant. Furthermore, recent investigations on the acoustic properties of these perforations pointed out the challenge to maintain optimal cooling performance also with orthogonal holes, which showed higher sound absorption. The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of a realistic flow field on the adiabatic effectiveness performance of effusion cooling liners to verify the findings available in literature, which are mostly based on effusion flat plates with aligned cross flow, in case of swirled hot gas flow. The geometry consists of a tubular combustion chamber, equipped with a double swirler injection system and characterized by 22 rows of cooling holes on the liner. The liner cooling system employs slot cooling as well: its interactions with the cold gas injected through the effusion plate are investigated too. Taking advantage of the rotational periodicity of the effusion geometry and assuming axisymmetric conditions at the combustor inlet, steady state RANS calculations have been performed with the commercial code Ansys® CFX simulating a single circumferential pitch. Obtained results show how the effusion perforation angle deeply affects the flow-field around the corner of the combustor, in particular, with a strong reduction of slot effectiveness in case of 90 deg angle value.


Author(s):  
Antonio Andreini ◽  
Riccardo Becchi ◽  
Bruno Facchini ◽  
Lorenzo Mazzei ◽  
Alessio Picchi ◽  
...  

Over the last ten years, there have been significant technological advances toward the reduction of NOx emissions from civil aircraft engines, strongly aimed at meeting stricter and stricter legislation requirements. Nowadays, the most prominent way to meet the target of reducing NOx emissions in modern combustors is represented by lean burn swirl stabilized technology. The high amount of air admitted through a lean burn injection system is characterized by very complex flow structures such as recirculations, vortex breakdown, and precessing vortex core (PVC) that may deeply interact in the near wall region of the combustor liner. This interaction makes challenging the estimation of film cooling distribution, commonly generated by slot and effusion systems. The main purpose of the present work is the characterization of the flow field and the adiabatic effectiveness due to the interaction of swirling flow, generated by real geometry injectors, and a liner cooling scheme made up of a slot injection and an effusion array. The experimental apparatus has been developed within EU project LEMCOTEC (low emissions core-engine technologies) and consists of a nonreactive three-sectors planar rig; the test model is characterized by a complete cooling system and three swirlers, replicating the geometry of a GE Avio PERM (partially evaporated and rapid mixing) injector technology. Flow field measurements have been performed by means of a standard 2D PIV (particle image velocimetry) technique, while adiabatic effectiveness maps have been obtained using PSP (pressure sensitive paint) technique. PIV results show the effect of coolant injection in the corner vortex region, while the PSP measurements highlight the impact of swirled flow on the liner film protection separating the contribution of slot and effusion flows. Furthermore, an additional analysis, exploiting experimental results in terms of heat transfer coefficient, has been performed to estimate the net heat flux reduction (NHFR) on the cooled test plate.


Author(s):  
Antonio Andreini ◽  
Riccardo Becchi ◽  
Bruno Facchini ◽  
Lorenzo Mazzei ◽  
Alessio Picchi ◽  
...  

Over the last ten years there have been significant technological advances toward the reduction of NOx emissions from civil aircraft engines, strongly aimed at meeting stricter and stricter legislation requirements. Nowadays, the most prominent way to meet the target of reducing NOx emissions in modern combustors is represented by lean burn swirl stabilized technology. The high amount of air admitted through a lean-burn injection system is characterized by very complex flow structures such as recirculations, vortex breakdown and precessing vortex core, that may deeply interact in the near wall region of the combustor liner. This interaction makes challenging the estimation of film cooling distribution, commonly generated by slot and effusion systems. The main purpose of the present work is the characterization of the flow field and the adiabatic effectiveness due to the interaction of swirling flow, generated by real geometry injectors, and a liner cooling scheme made up of a slot injection and an effusion array. The experimental apparatus has been developed within EU project LEMCOTEC and consists of a non-reactive three sectors planar rig; the test model is characterized by a complete cooling system and three swirlers, replicating the geometry of a GE Avio PERM (Partially Evaporated and Rapid Mixing) injector technology. Flow field measurements have been performed by means of a standard 2D PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) technique, while adiabatic effectiveness maps have been obtained using PSP (Pressure Sensitive Paint) technique. PIV results show the effect of coolant injection in the corner vortex region, while the PSP measurements highlight the impact of swirled flow on the liner film protection separating the contribution of slot and effusion flows. Furthermore an additional analysis, exploiting experimental results in terms of heat transfer coefficient, has been performed to estimate the net heat flux reduction (NHFR) on the cooled test plate.


Author(s):  
B. Wurm ◽  
A. Schulz ◽  
H.-J. Bauer ◽  
M. Gerendas

An experimental study on combustor liner cooling of modern direct lean injection combustion chambers using coolant ejection from both effusion cooling holes and a starter film has been conducted. The experimental setup consists of a generic scaled three sector planar rig in an open loop hot gas wind tunnel, which has been described earlier in Wurm et al. (2009, “A New Test Facility for Investigating the Interactions Between Swirl Flow and Wall Cooling Films in Combustors, Investigating the Interactions Between Swirl Flow and Wall Cooling Films in Combustors,” ASME Paper No. GT2009-59961). Experiments are performed without combustion. Realistic engine conditions are achieved by applying engine-realistic Reynolds numbers, Mach numbers, and density ratios. A particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement technique is employed, which has been adjusted to allow for high resolution near wall velocity measurements with and without coolant ejection. As the main focus of the present study is a deeper understanding of the interaction of swirl flows and near wall cooling flows, wall pressure measurements are performed for the definition of local blowing ratios and to identify the impact on the local cooling performance. For thermal investigations an infrared thermography measurement technique is employed that allows high resolution thermal studies on the effusion cooled liner surface. The effects of different heat shield geometry on the flow field and performance of the cooling films are investigated in terms of near wall velocity distributions and film cooling effectiveness. Two different heat shield configurations are investigated which differ in shape and inclination angle of the so called heat shield lip. Operating conditions for the hot gas main flow are kept constant. The pressure drop across the effusion cooled liner is varied between 1% and 3% of the total pressure. Results show the impact of the swirled main flow on the stability of the starter film and on the effusion cooling performance. Stagnation areas which could be identified by wall pressure measurements are confirmed by PIV measurements. Thermal investigations reveal reduced cooling performance in the respective stagnation areas.


Author(s):  
Zhanxiao Kang ◽  
Xianfu Wan ◽  
Faming Wang ◽  
Uday Raj ◽  
Bin Yang

The hybrid personal cooling system (HPCS) consisted of ventilation fans and phase change materials (PCMs) covered with insulation pads is a promising wearable cooling system to mitigate heat strain and heat-related illnesses of occupational workers with heavy labor in hot environments. Effects of clothing characteristics (e.g., thermal resistance of insulation pads, latent heat and melting temperature of PCMs) on the thermal performance of the HPCS have been investigated in detail in our previous study. Apart from the aforementioned factors, environmental conditions, i.e., environmental temperature and relative humidity, also significantly affect the thermal performance of the HPCS. In this paper, a numerical parametric study was performed to investigate the effects of the environmental temperature and relative humidity (RH) on the thermal management of the HPCS. Five levels of air temperature under environmental RH=50% were chosen (i.e., 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40 ºC) to study the impact of environmental temperature on the HPCS’s cooling performance. In addition, four levels of environmental RH at ambient temperatures of 36 and 40 ºC were selected (i.e., 30, 50, 70 and 90%) to examine the effect of RH on cooling performance of the HPCS. Results show that high environmental temperatures could accelerate the PCM melting process and thereby weaken the cooling performance of HPCS. In the moderately hot environment (36 °C), the HPCS presented good cooling performance with the maximum core temperature at around 37.5 °C during excise when the ambient RH≤70%, whereas good cooling performance could be only seen under RH≤50% in the extremely hot environment (40 °C). Thus, it may be concluded that the maximum environmental RH for the HPCS exhibiting good cooling performance decreases with the increase in the environmental temperature.


Author(s):  
Antonio Andreini ◽  
Gianluca Caciolli ◽  
Bruno Facchini ◽  
Alessio Picchi ◽  
Fabio Turrini

Lean burn swirl stabilized combustors represent the key technology to reduce NOx emissions in modern aircraft engines. The high amount of air admitted through a lean-burn injection system is characterized by very complex flow structures such as recirculations, vortex breakdown and processing vortex core, that may deeply interact in the near wall region of the combustor liner. This interaction and its effects on the local cooling performance make the design of the cooling systems very challenging, accounting for the design and commission of new test rigs for detailed analysis. The main purpose of the present work is the characterization of the flow field and the wall heat transfer due to the interaction of a swirling flow coming out from real geometry injectors and a slot cooling system which generates film cooling in the first part of the combustor liner. The experimental setup consists of a non-reactive three sector planar rig in an open loop wind tunnel; the rig, developed within the EU project LEMCOTEC, includes three swirlers, whose scaled geometry reproduces the real geometry of an Avio Aero PERM (Partially Evaporated and Rapid Mixing) injector technology, and a simple cooling scheme made up of a slot injection, reproducing the exhaust dome cooling mass flow. Test were carried out imposing realistic combustor operating conditions, especially in terms of reduced mass flow rate and pressure drop across the swirlers. The flow field is investigated by means of PIV, while the measurement of the heat transfer coefficient is performed through Thermochromic Liquid Crystals steady state technique. PIV results show the behavior of flow field generated by the injectors, their mutual interaction and the impact of the swirled main flow on the stability of the slot film cooling. TLC measurements, reported in terms of detailed 2D heat transfer coefficient maps, highlight the impact of the swirled flow and slot film cooling on wall heat transfer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Andŕe Bauknecht ◽  
Xing Wang ◽  
Jan-Arun Faust ◽  
Inderjit Chopra

Rotorcraft flight speed is limited by compressibility effects on the advancing blade side and decreasing lift potential on the retreating blade side. It may thus be beneficial to employ a hingeless rotor to generate additional lift with the advancing blade and compensate the resulting rolling moment with a fixed wing on the retreating blade side. This concept is a form of "lift compounding" that appears to show enormous potential. The present paper presents results of a wind tunnel test with a slowed, hingeless rotor and single fixed wing on the retreating blade side. Based on rotor test stand data and flow field measurements, the impact of operational and rotor parameters on system performance and aerodynamics is examined, mutual interaction effects between rotor and fixed wing are analyzed, and dominant flow structures are characterized in the reverse flow region on the retreating blade side. Flow field analysis reveals a reverse flow entrance vortex that freely convects through the reverse flow region and rivals the blade tip vortices in strength. Contrary to previous beliefs, this vortex originates from upstream of the reverse flow region and only its detachment from the rotor blade is related to entering this region. The combination of finite rolling moment trim and aft shaft tilt significantly increases rotor lift coefficient and corresponding peak lift-to-drag ratio of the compound rotorcraft. Results are compared with predictions from a comprehensive rotor analysis that is expanded to cover the main effects of the added fixed wing and is able to reproduce general performance trends of the rotorcraft. The present study highlights that adding a single fixed wing and hingeless rotor to a high-speed rotorcraft could significantly improve its performance.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Andreini ◽  
Gianluca Caciolli ◽  
Bruno Facchini ◽  
Lorenzo Tarchi

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of coolant-to-mainstream density ratio on a real engine cooling scheme of a combustor liner composed of a slot injection and an effusion array with a central dilution hole. Measurements of heat transfer coefficient and adiabatic effectiveness were performed by means of steady-state thermochromic liquid crystals technique; experimental results were used to estimate, through a 1D thermal procedure, the Net Heat Flux Reduction and the overall effectiveness in realistic engine working conditions. To reproduce a representative value of combustor coolant-to-mainstream density ratio, tests were carried out feeding the cooling system with carbon dioxide, while air was used in the main channel; to highlight the effects of density ratio, tests were replicated using air both as coolant and as mainstream and results were compared. Experiments were carried out imposing values of effusion blowing and velocity ratios within a range of typical modern engine working conditions. Results point out the influence of density ratio on film cooling performance, suggesting that velocity ratio is the driving parameter for the heat transfer phenomena; on the other hand, the adiabatic effectiveness is less sensitive to the cooling flow parameters, especially at the higher blowing/velocity ratios.


Author(s):  
B. Wurm ◽  
A. Schulz ◽  
H.-J. Bauer ◽  
M. Gerendas

An experimental study on combustor liner cooling of modern direct lean injection (DLI) combustion chambers using coolant ejection from both effusion cooling holes and a starter film has been conducted. The experimental setup consists of a generic scaled three sector planar rig in an open loop hot gas wind tunnel, which has been described earlier in Wurm et al. [1]. Experiments are performed without combustion. Realistic engine conditions are achieved by applying engine-realistic Reynolds numbers, Mach numbers, and density ratios. A Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurement technique is employed, which has been adjusted to allow for high resolution near wall velocity measurements with and without coolant ejection. As the main focus of the present study is a deeper understanding of the interaction of swirl flows and near wall cooling flows, wall pressure measurements are performed for the definition of local blowing ratios and to identify the impact on the local cooling performance. For thermal investigations an infrared thermography measurement technique is employed that allows high resolution thermal studies on the effusion cooled liner surface. The effects of different heat shield geometry on the flow field and performance of the cooling films are investigated in terms of near wall velocity distributions and film cooling effectiveness. Two different heat shield configurations are investigated which differ in shape and inclination angle of the so called heat shield lip. Operating conditions for the hot gas main flow are kept constant. The pressure drop across the effusion cooled liner is varied between 1% and 3% of the total pressure. Results show the impact of the swirled main flow on the stability of the starter film and on the effusion cooling performance. Stagnation areas which could be identified by wall pressure measurements are confirmed by PIV measurements. Thermal investigations reveal reduced cooling performance in the respective stagnation areas.


2014 ◽  
Vol 137 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Andreini ◽  
Gianluca Caciolli ◽  
Bruno Facchini ◽  
Alessio Picchi ◽  
Fabio Turrini

Lean-burn swirl stabilized combustors represent the key technology to reduce NOx emissions in modern aircraft engines. The high amount of air admitted through a lean-burn injection system is characterized by very complex flow structures, such as recirculations, vortex breakdown, and processing vortex core, which may deeply interact in the near wall region of the combustor liner. This interaction and its effects on the local cooling performance make the design of the cooling systems very challenging, accounting for the design and commission of new test rigs for detailed analysis. The main purpose of the present work is the characterization of the flow field and the wall heat transfer due to the interaction of a swirling flow coming out from real geometry injectors and a slot cooling system which generates film cooling in the first part of the combustor liner. The experimental setup consists of a nonreactive three sector planar rig in an open loop wind tunnel; the rig, developed within the EU project Low Emissions Core-Engine Technologies (LEMCOTEC), includes three swirlers, whose scaled geometry reproduces the real geometry of an Avio Aero partially evaporated and rapid mixing (PERM) injector technology, and a simple cooling scheme made up of a slot injection, reproducing the exhaust dome cooling mass flow. Test were carried out imposing realistic combustor operating conditions, especially in terms of reduced mass flow rate and pressure drop across the swirlers. The flow field is investigated by means of particle image velocimetry (PIV), while the measurement of the heat transfer coefficient is performed through thermochromic liquid crystals (TLCs) steady state technique. PIV results show the behavior of flow field generated by the injectors, their mutual interaction, and the impact of the swirled main flow on the stability of the slot film cooling. TLC measurements, reported in terms of detailed 2D heat transfer coefficient maps, highlight the impact of the swirled flow and slot film cooling on wall heat transfer.


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