Robust Optimization of the HPT Blade Cooling and Aerodynamic Efficiency

Author(s):  
Kirill A. Vinogradov ◽  
Gennady V. Kretinin ◽  
Kseniya V. Otryahina ◽  
Roman A. Didenko ◽  
Dmitry V. Karelin ◽  
...  

Constant rise of hot gas temperature is crucial for the creation of modern gas-turbines engines requiring considerable improvement of cooling configurations. A high pressure turbine blade is one of the most crucial and loaded details in gas-turbine engines. A HPT blade is affected by different operational deviations: stochastic fluctuations of inlet parameters and difference in operational parameters for manufactured engines. Combination of these factors makes the task of uncertainty quantification and robust optimization of the HPT blade relevant in modern science. The authors make an attempt to implement robust optimization to the HPT blade of the gas-turbine engine. The two most important areas of the cooling blade (the leading edge (LE) and the blade tip) were taken into account. The operational and the aleatoric uncertainties were analyzed. These uncertainties represent the fluctuations in the operational parameters and the random-unknown conditions such as the boundary values and or geometrical variations. Industrial HPT blade with a serpentary cooling system and film cooling at the LE was considered. Results of many engine tests were applied to construct probability density function distributions for operational uncertainties. More than 100 real gas-turbines were examined. The following operational uncertainties were reviewed: inlet hot gas pressure and temperature together with cooling air pressure. The tip gap was used as geometrical variation. Conjugate Heat Transfer computations were carried out for the temperature distribution obtained. Geometrical variations of the LE film cooling rows and the tip gap are variables in the robust optimization process. The authors developed a special technology for full parameterization of the LE film-cooling rows only by two parameters. A surrogate model technique (the response surface and the Monte-Carlo method) was applied for the uncertainty quantification and the robust optimization processes. The IOSO technology was employed as one of the robust optimization tools. This technology is also based on the widespread application of the response surface technique. Robust optimal solution (the Pareto set) between cooling effectiveness of the leading edge and the blade tip and aerodynamic efficiency was obtained as the result. At chosen point from the Pareto set (angle point) we calculated necessary levels of robust criteria characterized LE and blade tip cooling effectiveness and kinetic energy losses.

2014 ◽  
Vol 554 ◽  
pp. 317-321
Author(s):  
Mohamad Rasidi Bin Pairan ◽  
Norzelawati Binti Asmuin ◽  
Hamidon bin Salleh

Film cooling is one of the cooling techniques applied to the turbine blade. Gas turbine used film cooling technique to protect turbine blade from directly expose to the hot gas to avoid the blade from defect. The focus of this investigation is to investigate the effect of embedded three difference depth of trench at coolant holes geometry. Comparisons are made at four difference blowing ratios which are 1.0, 1.25 and 1.5. Three configuration leading edge with depth Case A (0.0125D), Case B (0.0350D) and Case C (0.713D) were compared to leading edge without trench. Result shows that as blowing ratio increased from 1.0 to 1.25, the film cooling effectiveness is increase for leading edge without trench and also for all cases. However when the blowing ratio is increase to 1.5, film cooling effectiveness is decrease for all cases. Overall the Case B with blowing ratio 1.25 has the best film cooling effectiveness with significant improvement compared to leading edge without trench and with trench Case A and Case C.


2014 ◽  
Vol 971-973 ◽  
pp. 143-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Dai ◽  
Shuang Xiu Li

The development of a new generation of high performance gas turbine engines requires gas turbines to be operated at very high inlet temperatures, which are much higher than the allowable metal temperatures. Consequently, this necessitates the need for advanced cooling techniques. Among the numerous cooling technologies, the film cooling technology has superior advantages and relatively favorable application prospect. The recent research progress of film cooling techniques for gas turbine blade is reviewed and basic principle of film cooling is also illustrated. Progress on rotor blade and stationary blade of film cooling are introduced. Film cooling development of leading-edge was also generalized. Effect of various factor on cooling effectiveness and effect of the shape of the injection holes on plate film cooling are discussed. In addition, with respect to progress of discharge coefficient is presented. In the last, the future development trend and future investigation direction of film cooling are prospected.


2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob C. Snyder ◽  
Karen A. Thole

Abstract Film cooling is an essential cooling technology to allow modern gas turbines to operate at high temperatures. For years, researchers in this community have worked to improve the effectiveness of film cooling configurations by maximizing the coolant coverage and minimizing the heat flux from the hot gas into the part. Working toward this goal has generated many promising film cooling concepts with unique shapes and configurations. However, until recently, many of these designs were challenging to manufacture in actual turbine hardware due to limitations with legacy manufacturing methods. Now, with the advances in additive manufacturing, it is possible to create turbine parts using high-temperature nickel alloys that feature detailed and unique geometry features. Armed with this new manufacturing power, this study aims to build and test the promising designs from the public literature that were previously difficult or impossible to implement. In this study, different cooling hole designs were manufactured in test coupons using a laser powder bed fusion process. Each nickel alloy coupon featured a single row of engine scale cooling holes, fed by a microchannel. To evaluate performance, the overall cooling effectiveness of each coupon was measured using a matched Biot test at engine relevant conditions. The results showed that certain hole shapes are better suited for additive manufacturing than others and that the manufacturing process can cause significant deviations from the performance reported in the literature.


Author(s):  
Daisuke Hata ◽  
Kazuto Kakio ◽  
Yutaka Kawata ◽  
Masahiro Miyabe

Abstract Recently, the number of gas turbine combined cycle plants is rapidly increasing in substitution of nuclear power plants. The turbine inlet temperature (TIT) is constantly being increased in order to achieve higher effectiveness. Therefore, the improvement of the cooling technology for high temperature gas turbine blades is one of the most important issue to be solved. In a gas turbine, the main flow impinging at the leading edge of the turbine blade generates a so called horseshoe vortex by the interaction of its boundary layer and generated pressure gradient at the leading edge. The pressure surface leg of this horseshoe vortex crosses the passage and reaches the blade suction surface, driven by the pressure gradient existing between two consecutive blades. In addition, this pressure gradient generates a cross-flow along the endwall. This all results into a very complex flow field in proximity of the endwall. For this reason, burnouts tend to occur at a specific position in the vicinity of the leading edge. In this research, a methodology to cool the endwall of the turbine blade by means of film cooling jets from the blade surface and the endwall is proposed. The cooling performance is investigated using the transient thermography method. CFD analysis is also conducted to investigate the phenomena occurring at the endwall and calculate the film cooling effectiveness.


Author(s):  
Ioanna Aslanidou ◽  
Budimir Rosic ◽  
Vasudevan Kanjirakkad ◽  
Sumiu Uchida

The remarkable developments in gas turbine materials and cooling technologies have allowed a steady increase in combustor outlet temperature and hence in gas turbine efficiency over the last half century. However, the efficiency benefits of higher gas temperature, even at the current levels, are significantly offset by the increased losses associated with the required cooling. Additionally, the advancements in gas turbine cooling technology have introduced considerable complexities into turbine design and manufacture. Therefore, a reduction in coolant requirements for the current gas temperature levels is one possible way for gas turbine designers to achieve even higher efficiency levels. The leading edges of the first turbine vane row are exposed to high heat loads. The high coolant requirements and geometry constraints limit the possible arrangement of the multiple rows of film cooling holes in the so called showerhead region. In the past, investigators have tested many different showerhead configurations, varying the number of rows, inclination angle and shape of the cooling holes. However the current leading edge cooling strategies using showerheads have not been shown to allow further increase in turbine temperature without excessive use of coolant air. Therefore new cooling strategies for the first vane have to be explored. In gas turbines with multiple combustor chambers around the annulus, the transition duct walls can be used to shield, i.e. to protect the first vane leading edges from the high heat loads. In this way the stagnation region at the leading edge and the shower-head of film cooling holes can be completely removed, resulting in a significant reduction in the total amount of cooling air that is otherwise required. By eliminating the showerhead the shielding concept significantly simplifies the design and lowers the manufacturing costs. This paper numerically analyses the potential of the leading edge shielding concept for cooling air reduction. The vane shape was modified to allow for the implementation of the concept and non-restrictive relative movement between the combustor and the vane. It has been demonstrated that the coolant flow that was originally used for cooling the combustor wall trailing edge and a fraction of the coolant air used for the vane showerhead cooling can be used to effectively cool both the suction and the pressure surfaces of the vane.


2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 599-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Sundaram ◽  
K. A. Thole

With the increase in usage of gas turbines for power generation and given that natural gas resources continue to be depleted, it has become increasingly important to search for alternate fuels. One source of alternate fuels is coal derived synthetic fuels. Coal derived fuels, however, contain traces of ash and other contaminants that can deposit on vane and turbine surfaces affecting their heat transfer through reduced film cooling. The endwall of a first stage vane is one such region that can be susceptible to depositions from these contaminants. This study uses a large-scale turbine vane cascade in which the following effects on film cooling adiabatic effectiveness were investigated in the endwall region: the effect of near-hole deposition, the effect of partial film cooling hole blockage, and the effect of spallation of a thermal barrier coating. The results indicated that deposits near the hole exit can sometimes improve the cooling effectiveness at the leading edge, but with increased deposition heights the cooling deteriorates. Partial hole blockage studies revealed that the cooling effectiveness deteriorates with increases in the number of blocked holes. Spallation studies showed that for a spalled endwall surface downstream of the leading edge cooling row, cooling effectiveness worsened with an increase in blowing ratio.


2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xianchang Li ◽  
Ting Wang

Air-film cooling has been widely employed to cool gas turbine hot components, such as combustor liners, combustor transition pieces, turbine vanes, and blades. Studies with flat surfaces show that significant enhancement of air-film cooling can be achieved by injecting water droplets with diameters of 5–10 μm into the coolant airflow. The mist/air-film cooling on curved surfaces needs to be studied further. Numerical simulation is adopted to investigate the curvature effect on mist/air-film cooling, specifically the film cooling near the leading edge and on the curved surfaces. Water droplets are injected as dispersed phase into the coolant air and thus exchange mass, momentum, and energy with the airflow. Simulations are conducted for both 2D and 3D settings at low laboratory and high operating conditions. With a nominal blowing ratio of 1.33, air-only adiabatic film-cooling effectiveness on the curved surface is lower than on a flat surface. The concave (pressure) surface has a better cooling effectiveness than the convex (suction) surface, and the leading-edge film cooling has the lowest performance due to the main flow impinging against the coolant injection. By adding 2% (weight) mist, film-cooling effectiveness can be enhanced approximately 40% at the leading edge, 60% on the concave surface, and 30% on the convex surface. The leading edge film cooling can be significantly affected by changing of the incident angle due to startup or part-load operation. The film cooling coverage could switch from the suction side to the pressure side and leave the surface of the other part unprotected by the cooling film. Under real gas turbine operating conditions at high temperature, pressure, and velocity, mist-cooling enhancement could reach up to 20% and provide a wall cooling of approximately 180 K.


Author(s):  
Jae Su Kwak ◽  
Je-Chin Han

The detailed distributions of heat transfer coefficient and film cooling effectiveness on a gas turbine blade tip were measured using a hue detection based transient liquid crystal technique. Tests were performed on a five-bladed linear cascade with blow down facility. The blade was a 2-dimensional model of a first stage gas turbine rotor blade with a profile of the GE-E3 aircraft gas turbine engine rotor blade. The Reynolds number based on cascade exit velocity and axial chord length was 1.1 × 106 and the total turning angle of the blade was 97.7°. The overall pressure ratio was 1.32 and the inlet and exit Mach number were 0.25 and 0.59, respectively. The turbulence intensity level at the cascade inlet was 9.7%. The blade model was equipped with a single row of film cooling holes at both the tip portion along the camber line and near the tip region of the pressure-side. All measurements were made at the three different tip gap clearances of 1%, 1.5%, and 2.5% of blade span and the three blowing ratios of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0. Results showed that, in general, heat transfer coefficient and film effectiveness increased with increasing tip gap clearance. As blowing ratio increased, heat transfer coefficient decreased, while film effectiveness increased. Results also showed that adding pressure-side coolant injection would further decrease blade tip heat transfer coefficient but increase film effectiveness.


1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 624-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Nomoto ◽  
A. Koga ◽  
S. Ito ◽  
Y. Fukuyama ◽  
F. Otomo ◽  
...  

It is very essential to raise the thermal efficiency of combined cycle plants from the viewpoint of energy saving and environmental protection. Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc., and Toshiba Corporation in Japan have jointly studied the next generation of combined cycle systems using 1500°C class gas turbine. A promising cooling technology for the vanes using steam was developed. The blades are cooled by air, adopting the impingement cooling, film cooling, and so on. The cooling effectiveness was confirmed both for the vanes and the blades using a hot wind tunnel. This paper describes the design features of the vanes and the blades, and the results of the verification tests using the hot wind tunnel.


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