Rib Turbulated Pin Fin Array for Trailing Edge Cooling

Author(s):  
Marcel Otto ◽  
Erik Fernandez ◽  
Jayanta S. Kapat ◽  
Mark Ricklick ◽  
Shantanu Mhetras

Increasing the firing temperatures in gas turbines require better, and highly efficient means of heat removal of turbine blades so that metal temperatures stay within the limit of safe operation with respect to metal properties. This study focuses on the trailing edge region of a turbine blade. Ribs were added into a pin fin array in order to achieve better heat transfer compared to pin fin arrays without additional ribs as they are commonly used. Heat transfer measurements are obtained using the thermochromic liquid crystal technique (TLC) in a trapezoidal duct with pin fins and rib turbulators representing endwall cooling. The blockages due to pins are 35%, 50% and 65%. There are a total of 15 rows of pins in the streamwise direction, and 5 columns in the spanwise direction. The non-dimensional rib heights are 0, 0.27, 0.7 and 0.1. The minor angle of the trapeze is 14 degrees, the hydraulic diameter of the duct is 21 mm. The Reynolds Numbers tested, based on free stream velocity and the hydraulic diameter of the experiment, are 40,000 60,000 and 106,000. The test matrix for this study contains all possible blockage and rib height combinations for all three Reynolds Numbers tested. Streamwise averaged and spanwise averaged Nusselt number augmentations are compared to the Dittus-Boelter baseline case, and are presented for the endwalls together with heat transfer results for the pins. A pitot probe was traversed at the inlet and exit of the wind tunnel in order to measure the inlet and exit velocity profiles. For the endwall heat transfer, it was found for all configurations, that a local maxima occurs around one pin diameter downstream of the pin and a local heat transfer minima occurs near two pin diameters downstream of the pin. Nusselt number augmentation is generally higher closer to the longer side of the trapeze. The same trend is seen for the pin heat transfer which is in the columns closer to the long side of the duct larger than on the short edge of the duct. This claim can be supported with the results from the velocity profile measurements. Through the length of the duct, the flow shifts from the nose region to the larger opening on the opposite wall. This effect is weaker at higher flow rates, higher blockages, and larger ribs since more flow resistance exists, and this resistance hinders the flow to move sideward. Also, it is observed that increasing the blockage ratio as well as increasing the rib height, has a positive impact on heat transfer. It is also observed that increasing the Reynolds number causes a reduction in Nusselt number augmentation. At higher flow rates, the flow has higher momentum, and tends to be less impacted by the inclusion of the ribs, which results in the ribs being more effective at lower flow velocities. However, for low flow rates, the ribs only act as an extended surface, for higher flowrates though, the ribs act as turbulators as well which causes better mixing and a more evenly distributed heat transfer on the endwall. In order to interpret the presented measurements correctly, a comprehensive uncertainty analysis was conducted, and all heat transfer results are reported accurately within 12.3%. Repeatability tests show a maximum difference of 6%.

Author(s):  
W. D. Allan ◽  
S. A. Andrews ◽  
M. LaViolette

A six row pin-fin array was constructed with a spanwise spacing of 2.5 diameters, streamwise spacing of 1.5 diameters and a height to diameter ratio of 1. The streamwise stagger of alternate rows was continuously varied from fully in-line to fully staggered. Tests were carried out at Reynolds numbers of 2.7 × 104 and 2.3 × 104, corresponding to maximum velocities, in the low subsonic range, of 21 m/s and 18 m/s respectively. These results showed that the array averaged heat transfer was greatest from a fully staggered array and had a minimum at a stagger slightly greater than fully in-line. However, with increasing stagger, the array-averaged friction factor grew at a greater rate than the heat transfer. The ensuing analysis of the total array performance, considering both the magnitude of heat transfer and the losses within the array, showed that the fully in-line array had the highest ratio of heat transfer enhancement to friction factor enhancement. Therefore, if pressure loss was a design criterion, the fully in-line array was preferable. However, if pressure loss was not a constraint, then the staggered array was preferable.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Searle ◽  
Arnab Roy ◽  
James Black ◽  
Doug Straub ◽  
Sridharan Ramesh

Abstract In this paper, experimental and numerical investigations of three variants of internal cooling configurations — dimples only, ribs only and ribs with dimples have been explored at process conditions (96°C and 207bar) with sCO2 as the coolant. The designs were chosen based on a review of advanced internal cooling features typically used for air-breathing gas turbines. The experimental study described in this paper utilizes additively manufactured square channels with the cooling features over a range of Reynolds number from 80,000 to 250,000. Nusselt number is calculated in the experiments utilizing the Wilson Plot method and three heat transfer characteristics — augmentation in Nusselt number, friction factor and overall Thermal Performance Factor (TPF) are reported. To explore the effect of surface roughness introduced due to additive manufacturing, two baseline channel flow cases are considered — a conventional smooth tube and an additively manufactured square tube. A companion computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is also performed for the corresponding cooling configurations reported in the experiments using the Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) based turbulence model. Both experimental and computational results show increasing Nusselt number augmentation as higher Reynolds numbers are approached, whereas prior work on internal cooling of air-breathing gas turbines predict a decay in the heat transfer enhancement as Reynolds number increases. Comparing cooling features, it is observed that the “ribs only” and “ribs with dimples” configurations exhibit higher Nusselt number augmentation at all Reynolds numbers compared to the “dimples only” and the “no features” configurations. However, the frictional losses are almost an order of magnitude higher in presence of ribs.


2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 769-777 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Lewis ◽  
Mike Wilson ◽  
Gary Lock ◽  
J. Michael Owen

This paper compares heat transfer measurements from a preswirl rotor–stator experiment with three-dimensional (3D) steady-state results from a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The measured distribution of Nusselt number on the rotor surface was obtained from a scaled model of a gas turbine rotor–stator system, where the flow structure is representative of that found in an engine. Computations were carried out using a coupled multigrid Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver with a high Reynolds number k-ε∕k-ω turbulence model. Previous work has identified three parameters governing heat transfer: rotational Reynolds number (Reϕ), preswirl ratio (βp), and the turbulent flow parameter (λT). For this study rotational Reynolds numbers are in the range 0.8×106<Reϕ<1.2×106. The turbulent flow parameter and preswirl ratios varied between 0.12<λT<0.38 and 0.5<βp<1.5, which are comparable to values that occur in industrial gas turbines. Two performance parameters have been calculated: the adiabatic effectiveness for the system, Θb,ad, and the discharge coefficient for the receiver holes, CD. The computations show that, although Θb,ad increases monotonically as βp increases, there is a critical value of βp at which CD is a maximum. At high coolant flow rates, computations have predicted peaks in heat transfer at the radius of the preswirl nozzles. These were discovered during earlier experiments and are associated with the impingement of the preswirl flow on the rotor disk. At lower flow rates, the heat transfer is controlled by boundary-layer effects. The Nusselt number on the rotating disk increases as either Reϕ or λT increases, and is axisymmetric except in the region of the receiver holes, where significant two-dimensional variations are observed. The computed velocity field is used to explain the heat transfer distributions observed in the experiments. The regions of peak heat transfer around the receiver holes are a consequence of the route taken by the flow. Two routes have been identified: “direct,” whereby flow forms a stream tube between the inlet and outlet; and “indirect,” whereby flow mixes with the rotating core of fluid.


Author(s):  
Forrest E. Ames ◽  
Chad A. Nordquist ◽  
Lindsay A. Klennert

Full surface endwall heat transfer distributions have been acquired in a staggered pin fin array with the use of an infrared camera. Values are presented at Reynolds numbers of 3000, 10,000 and 30,000 based on pin diameter and average velocity through adjacent pins. Average endwall Nusselt numbers agree closely with archival values at each Reynolds number. Locally averaged heat transfer levels show a substantial increase from the inlet through the first few rows and finally a nearly streamwise periodic condition in the second half of the eight row geometry. Increasing levels of heat transfer in the inlet region can be attributed to the leading edge vortex system, flow acceleration around pins, and the generation of turbulence. Distributions of turbulence intensity and turbulent scale are shown to help document the turbulent transport conditions through the array. Detailed endwall Nusselt number distributions are presented and compared at the three Reynolds numbers for the first four and last four rows. These detailed heat transfer distributions highlight the influence of the horseshoe vortex system in the entrance region and the wake generated turbulence throughout the pin fin array. Local velocity and turbulence distributions are presented together with local Stanton number and skin friction coefficient data to examine the aggressive nature of the turbulent mixing.


Author(s):  
Stephen A. Andrews ◽  
William D. E. Allan

An experiment was conducted on the effects of streamwise stagger on heat transfer and pressure drop in a pin-fin array. The data were analyzed so as to highlight how stagger could be used to design a pin fin array for the lowest possible pressure loss. Design of arrays for low pressure loss is important in electronics cooling applications. They require large amounts of heat to be extracted from fixed areas, using a minimum of power to do so. This analysis found that the minimum friction factor occurred at a streamwise stagger of approximately 12% of the range between fully inline and fully staggered. By fixing the pin diameter, varying the stagger resulted in a 63% reduction in friction factor with only a 18% reduction in the Nusselt number, based on the array footprint. Additionally, it was found that for a fixed Nusselt number, the pin diameter could vary within a finite range, with decreasing diameters permitting arrays with more efficient degrees of stagger which continued to carry the required heating/cooling load.


Author(s):  
Gary D. Lock ◽  
Michael Wilson ◽  
J. Michael Owen

Modern gas turbines are cooled using air diverted from the compressor. In a “direct-transfer” pre-swirl system, this cooling air flows axially across the wheel-space from stationary pre-swirl nozzles to receiver holes located in the rotating turbine disc. The distribution of the local Nusselt number, Nu, on the rotating disc is governed by three non-dimensional fluid-dynamic parameters: pre-swirl ratio, βp, rotational Reynolds number, Reφ, and turbulent flow parameter, λT. This paper describes heat transfer measurements obtained from a scaled model of a gas turbine rotor-stator cavity, where the flow structure is representative of that found in the engine. The experiments reveal that Nu on the rotating disc is axisymmetric except in the region of the receiver holes, where significant two-dimensional variations have been measured. At the higher coolant flow rates studied, there is a peak in heat transfer at the radius of the pre-swirl nozzles, associated with the impinging jets from the pre-swirl nozzles. At lower coolant flow rates, the heat transfer is dominated by viscous effects. The Nusselt number is observed to increase as either Reφ or λT increases.


Author(s):  
Paul Lewis ◽  
Mike Wilson ◽  
Gary Lock ◽  
J. Michael Owen

This paper compares heat transfer measurements from a pre-swirl rotor-stator experiment with 3D steady state results from a commercial CFD code. The measured distribution of Nusselt number on the rotor surface was obtained from a scaled model of a gas turbine rotor-stator system, where the flow structure is representative of that found in an engine. Computations were carried out using a coupled multigrid RANS solver with a high-Reynolds-number k-ε/k-ω turbulence model. Previous work has identified three parameters governing heat transfer: rotational Reynolds number (Reφ), pre-swirl ratio (βp) and the turbulent flow parameter (λT). For this study rotational Reynolds numbers are in the range 0.8×106 &lt; Reφ &lt; 1.2×106. The turbulent flow parameter and pre-swirl ratios varied between 0.12 &lt; λT &lt; 0.38 and 0.5 &lt; βp &lt; 1.5, which are comparable to values that occur in industrial gas turbines. At high coolant flow rates, computations have predicted peaks in heat transfer at the radius of the pre-swirl nozzles. These were discovered during earlier experiments and are associated with the impingement of the pre-swirl flow on the rotor disc. At lower flow rates, the heat transfer is controlled by boundary-layer effects. The Nusselt number on the rotating disc increases as either Reφ or λT increases, and is axisymmetric except in the region of the receiver holes, where significant two-dimensional variations are observed. The computed velocity field is used to explain the heat transfer distributions observed in the experiments. The regions of peak heat transfer around the receiver holes are a consequence of the route taken by the flow. Two routes have been identified: “direct”, whereby flow forms a stream-tube between the inlet and outlet; and “indirect”, whereby flow mixes with the rotating core of fluid. Two performance parameters have been calculated: the adiabatic effectiveness for the system, Θb,ab, and the discharge coefficient for the receiver holes, CD. The computations show that, although Θb,ab increases monotonically as βp increases, there is a critical value of βp at which CD is a maximum.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Karthik Krishnaswamy ◽  
Suresh Sivan ◽  
Hafiz Muhammad Ali

Effective cooling of blades with a nominal pressure drop is essential for performance augmentation and thermal management of gas turbines. Hence, present work is aimed at determining the heat transfer enhancement and friction for W- and V-shaped ribs inside a rectangular cooling channel having hydraulic diameter ( D h ) of 0.048 m and aspect ratio ( AR ) 1 : 4. Ribs are fixed facing downstream with angle of attack ( α ) 45° on opposite walls. Pitch ( P ) between two successive ribs is 25 mm for both cases. Continuous V- and W-shaped ribs with height to channel hydraulic diameter ratio ( e / D h ) 0.052 and 0.0416 and pitch to height ratio ( P / e ) 10 and 12.5, respectively, have been examined for Reynolds number ( Re ) range 20000-80000. Heat transfer augmentation achieved at Re 80000 is 1.94 and 1.8 times higher than Re 20000 for V- and W-shaped ribs, respectively. Streamwise and spanwise variations in local Nusselt number ratio are highest for V-shaped ribs, which are estimated to be 31% and 12%. For W-shaped ribs, variations are 17.5% and 3.5%. Nusselt number ( Nu ) is highest along span length 0.5 w for V-shaped ribs due to dominance of apex induced secondary flow. For W-shaped ribs, Nusselt number along the span lengths is found to be nearly same view uniformity in secondary flow. Maximum enhancement ( Nu / N u o ) estimated for both the rib shapes is 3.9 at Re 20000. Due to increased rib height, friction losses for V-shaped ribs are higher than W-shaped ribs. Maximum friction loss increment is estimated to be 85% for V-shaped ribs and 42% for W-shaped ribs between Re 20000 and 40000. For both rib shapes, impact of ribs is found to be greatest at Re 40000. Thermohydraulic performance ( THP ) for W-shaped ribs is superior to V-shaped ribs. Best THP achieved for W- and V-shaped ribs are 3.7 and 3.4 at Re 20000.


Author(s):  
Shuo-Cheng Hung ◽  
Szu-Chi Huang ◽  
Yao-Hsien Liu

The liquid crystal thermography was used to investigate the heat transfer of non-uniform pin-fin arrays in a rotating rectangular channel (AR = 4:1) at a channel orientation of 135°. The pin-fin array consisted of four and three pins in a staggered arrangement. The different sized pins were inserted at the rows exhibiting four pins, which produced a non-uniform distribution of the pin-fin array. The experiments were operated at Reynolds numbers of 10,000 and 20,000 for both stationary and rotating conditions. The rotation number varied from 0 to 0.33 and the buoyancy parameter ranged from 0 to 0.27. Results indicated that various heat transfer contours were observed as a result of flow separation and vortices caused by non-uniform pins. Compared to the stationary case, rotation increased heat transfer on both trailing and leading surfaces. The pin-fin array consisted of 6 and 9 mm pins produced the highest heat transfer and frictional losses under rotation condition.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 2702
Author(s):  
Miao Qian ◽  
Jie Li ◽  
Zhong Xiang ◽  
Chao Yan ◽  
Xudong Hu

To improve the efficiency of hydrogen-producing microreactors with non-uniform pin-fin array, the influence of the pin diameter degressive gradient of the non-uniform pin-fin array (NPFA) on heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics is analyzed in this study via numerical simulation under low Reynolds number conditions. Because correlations in prior studies cannot be used to predict the Nusselt number and pressure drop in the NPFA, new heat transfer and friction factor correlations are developed in this paper to account for the effect of the pin diameter degressive gradient, providing a method for the optimized design of the pin diameter degressive gradient for a microreactor with NPFA. The results show that the Nusselt number and friction factor under a low Reynolds number are quite sensitive to the pin diameter degressive gradient. Based on the new correlations, the exponents of the pin diameter degressive gradient for the friction factor and Nusselt number were 6.9 and 2.1, respectively, indicating the significant influence of the pin diameter degressive gradient on the thermal and hydrodynamic characteristics in the NPFA structure.


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