Impact of Predicted Combustor Outlet Conditions on the Aerothermal Performance of Film-Cooled HPT Vanes

Author(s):  
S. Cubeda ◽  
L. Mazzei ◽  
T. Bacci ◽  
A. Andreini

Turbine inlet conditions in modern aero-engines employing lean-burn combustors are characterised by highly swirled flow and non-uniform temperature distributions. As a consequence of the lack of confidence in numerical predictions and the uncertainty of measurement campaigns, the use of wide safety margins is of common practice in the design of turbine cooling systems, thus affecting the engine performance and efficiency. Previous experiences showed how only scale-resolving approaches such as Large-eddy and Scale-adapting simulations are capable of overcoming the limitations of RANS, significantly improving the accuracy in the prediction of flow and temperature fields at the combustor outlet. However it is worth investigating the impact of such differences on the aerothermal performance of the NGVs, as to understand the limitations entailed in the current approach for their thermal design. Industrial applications in fact usually rely on 1D, circumferentially-averaged profiles of pressure, velocity and temperature at the combustor-turbine interface in conjunction with Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) models. This paper describes the investigation performed on an experimental test case consisting of a combustor simulator equipped with NGVs. Three numerical modelling strategies were compared in terms of flow field and thermal loads on the film-cooled vanes: i) RANS model of the NGVs with inlet conditions obtained from a RANS simulation of the combustor; ii) RANS model of the NGVs with inlet conditions obtained from a Scale-Adaptive Simulation (SAS) of the combustor; iii) SAS model inclusive of both combustor and NGVs. The results of this study show that estimating the aerodynamics at the NGV exit does not demand particularly complex approaches, whereas the limitations of standard RANS models are highlighted again when the turbulent mixing is key. High-fidelity predictions of the conditions at the turbine entrance proved to be very beneficial to reduce discrepancies in the estimation of local adiabatic wall temperature of even 100 K. However, a further leap forward can be achieved with an integrated simulation, capable of reproducing the transport of the unsteady fluctuations generated in the combustor up into the turbine, which plays a key role in presence of film cooling. This work therefore points out how keeping the analysis of combustor and NGVs separate can lead to a significantly misleading estimation of the thermal loads and ultimately to a wrong thermal design of the cooling system.

2018 ◽  
Vol 141 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Cubeda ◽  
L. Mazzei ◽  
T. Bacci ◽  
A. Andreini

Turbine inlet conditions in lean-burn aeroengine combustors are highly swirled and present nonuniform temperature distributions. Uncertainty and lack of confidence associated with combustor-turbine interaction affect significantly engine performance and efficiency. It is well known that only Large-eddy and scale-adaptive simulations (SAS) can overcome the limitations of Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) in predicting the combustor outlet conditions. However, it is worth investigating the impact of such improvements on the predicted aerothermal performance of the nozzle guide vanes (NGVs), usually studied with RANS-generated boundary conditions. Three numerical modelling strategies were used to investigate a combustor-turbine module designed within the EU Project FACTOR: (i) RANS model of the NGVs with RANS-generated inlet conditions; (ii) RANS model of the NGVs with scale-adaptive simulation (SAS)-generated inlet conditions; (iii) SAS model inclusive of both combustor and NGVs. It was shown that estimating the aerodynamics through the NGVs does not demand particularly complex approaches, in contrast to situations where turbulent mixing is key. High-fidelity predictions of the turbine entrance conditions proved very beneficial to reduce the discrepancies in the estimation of adiabatic temperature distributions. However, a further leap forward can be achieved with an integrated simulation, capable of reproducing the transport of unsteady fluctuations generated from the combustor through the turbine, which play a key role in presence of film cooling. This work, therefore, shows how separate analysis of combustor and NGVs can lead to a poor estimation of the thermal loads and ultimately to a wrong thermal design of the cooling system.


Author(s):  
Jun Su Park ◽  
Namgeon Yun ◽  
Hokyu Moon ◽  
Kyung Min Kim ◽  
Sin-Ho Kang ◽  
...  

This paper presents thermal analyses of the cooling system of a transition piece, which is one of the primary hot components in a gas turbine engine. The thermal analyses include heat transfer distributions induced by heat and fluid flow, temperature, and thermal stresses. The purpose of this study is to provide basic thermal and structural information on transition piece, to facilitate their maintenance and repair. The study is carried out primarily by numerical methods, using the commercial software, Fluent and ANSYS. First, the combustion field in a combustion liner with nine fuel nozzles is analyzed to determine the inlet conditions of a transition piece. Using the results of this analysis, pressure distributions inside a transition piece are calculated. The outside of the transition piece in a dump diffuser system is also analyzed. Information on the pressure differences is then used to obtain data on cooling channel flow (one of the methods for cooling a transition piece). The cooling channels have exit holes that function as film-cooling holes. Thermal and flow analyses are carried out on the inside of a film-cooled transition piece. The results are used to investigate the adjacent temperatures and wall heat transfer coefficients inside the transition piece. Overall temperature and thermal stress distributions of the transition piece are obtained. These results will provide a direction to improve thermal design of transition piece.


2012 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Imran Qureshi ◽  
Andy D. Smith ◽  
Thomas Povey

Modern lean burn combustors now employ aggressive swirlers to enhance fuel-air mixing and improve flame stability. The flow at combustor exit can therefore have high residual swirl. A good deal of research concerning the flow within the combustor is available in open literature. The impact of swirl on the aerodynamic and heat transfer characteristics of an HP turbine stage is not well understood, however. A combustor swirl simulator has been designed and commissioned in the Oxford Turbine Research Facility (OTRF), previously located at QinetiQ, Farnborough UK. The swirl simulator is capable of generating an engine-representative combustor exit swirl pattern. At the turbine inlet plane, yaw and pitch angles of over ±40 deg have been simulated. The turbine research facility used for the study is an engine scale, short duration, rotating transonic turbine, in which the nondimensional parameters for aerodynamics and heat transfer are matched to engine conditions. The research turbine was the unshrouded MT1 design. By design, the center of the vortex from the swirl simulator can be clocked to any circumferential position with respect to HP vane, and the vortex-to-vane count ratio is 1:2. For the current investigation, the clocking position was such that the vortex center was aligned with the vane leading edge (every second vane). Both the aligned vane and the adjacent vane were characterized. This paper presents measurements of HP vane surface and end wall heat transfer for the two vane positions. The results are compared with measurements conducted without swirl. The vane surface pressure distributions are also presented. The experimental measurements are compared with full-stage three-dimensional unsteady numerical predictions obtained using the Rolls Royce in-house code Hydra. The aerodynamic and heat transfer characterization presented in this paper is the first of its kind, and it is hoped to give some insight into the significant changes in the vane flow and heat transfer that occur in the current generation of low NOx combustors. The findings not only have implications for the vane aerodynamic design, but also for the cooling system design.


Author(s):  
Chong M. Cha ◽  
Sungkook Hong ◽  
Peter T. Ireland ◽  
Paul Denman ◽  
Vivek Savarianandam

Understanding the interaction between the combustor and turbine subsystems of a gas turbine engine is believed to be key in developing focused strategies for improving turbine performance. Past studies have approached the problem starting with an existing turbine rig with inlet conditions provided by “representative” hardware which attempts to mimic some key flow features exiting the combustor. In this paper, experiments are performed which center around complete engine hardware of the combustor, including engine geometry turbine nozzle guide vanes (NGVs) to solely represent the upstream impact of the complete turbine. This domain ensures that the traditional interface between combustor and turbine is sufficiently encompassed and not compromised by obfuscating or limiting effects due to approximating combustor hardware. The full-annular experimental measurements include all components of the velocity and pressure fields at various planar sections perpendicular to the primary flow direction. These include detailed, two-dimensional measurements both upstream and downstream of the NGVs. The combustor is a classic rich-burn design. Passive scalar (CO2) tracing measurements are performed to gain insight into the flow responsible for the temperature fields in the coupled system, including the impact of the NGVs on the upstream flow at the conventional combustor-turbine interface. CFD simulations are used to develop a complete picture of the combustor-turbine interface and the coupling between the two subsystems. The complementary experimental and simulation datasets are together intended to provide a benchmark for future, more traditional turbine rig tests and turbine CFD simulations where inlet conditions are at the exit plane of the combustor.


2016 ◽  
Vol 368 ◽  
pp. 49-52
Author(s):  
Jiří Habr ◽  
Martin Seidl ◽  
Jiří Bobek

This article deals with the impact evaluation of utilization of innovative cooling system exploiting liquid carbon dioxide injected into injection mould. Process of heat transfer from the polymeric melt and final part solidification has a direct impact on creation of morphology structure of semi-crystalline thermoplastic materials and their ultimate mechanical properties. Usually the heat processes in the production tools are controlled by tempering channels where heat transfer medium circulates (oil, water tec.). This conventional way of cooling has some limitations that cause an uneven distribution of temperature fields on the part surface. Spot cooling system is one of unconventional cooling ways that increase the uniformity of temperature fields distribution on the part surface. This system utilizes the cooling potential of liquid CO2. For the purpose of this study the special shaped insert was designed that was modified both for conventional cooling and for spot cooling system. Flexural modulus very responsively reflects the changes of morphology structure formed by different cooling progressions of the plastic melt and was chosen as an evaluating criterion.


Author(s):  
Aparna Vallury ◽  
Jason Matteson

With the extension of the 2011 ASHRAE Thermal Design Guidelines to incorporate a broader Class A3 and A4 specification, the server industry is trying to adapt to the changing landscape of industry best practices and initiatives, and adopt the new ASHRAE Class A3 and A4 environments. In order to accommodate the high ambient inlet conditions while meeting the IT efficiency initiatives in the industry, certain design considerations must occur and it becomes very important to understand the implication of adhering to Class A3 and A4 environments on the performance of the servers. This paper describes a study that was conducted to understand the impact on performance of different servers under various workloads and inlet ambient conditions specifically adhering to class A3 specification only. The results from the study are presented in this paper which shows that no performance impact was observed in a 35°C environment, and bounded by 2% running worst case applications at 40°C and 0% when running lighter loads.


Author(s):  
Imran Qureshi ◽  
Andy D. Smith ◽  
Thomas Povey

Modern lean burn combustors now employ aggressive swirlers to enhance fuel-air mixing and improve flame stability. The flow at combustor exit can therefore have high residual swirl. A good deal of research concerning the flow within the combustor is available in open literature. The impact of swirl on the aerodynamic and heat transfer characteristics of a HP turbine stage is not well understood, however. A combustor swirl simulator has been designed and commissioned in the Oxford Turbine Research Facility (OTRF), previously located at QinetiQ, Farnborough UK. The swirl simulator is capable of generating an engine-representative combustor exit swirl pattern. At the turbine inlet plane, yaw and pitch angles of over +/-40 degrees have been simulated. The turbine research facility used for the study is an engine scale, short duration, rotating transonic turbine, in which the non-dimensional parameters for aerodynamics and heat transfer are matched to engine conditions. The research turbine was the unshrouded MT1 design. By design, the centre of the vortex from the swirl simulator can be clocked to any circumferential position with respect to HP vane, and the vortex-to-vane count ratio is 1:2. For the current investigation, the clocking position was such that the vortex centre was aligned with the vane leading edge (every second vane). Both the aligned vane and the adjacent vane were characterised. This paper presents measurements of HP vane surface and endwall heat transfer for the two vane positions. The results are compared with measurements conducted without swirl. The vane surface pressure distributions are also presented. The experimental measurements are compared with full-stage three-dimensional unsteady numerical predictions obtained using the Rolls Royce in-house code Hydra. The aerodynamic and heat transfer characterisation presented in this paper is the first of its kind, and it is hoped to give some insight into the significant changes in the vane flow and heat transfer that occur in the current generation of low NOx combustors. The findings not only have implications for the vane aerodynamic design, but also for the cooling system design.


Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Jeremy Arancio ◽  
Ahmed Ould El Moctar ◽  
Minh Nguyen Tuan ◽  
Faradj Tayat ◽  
Jean-Philippe Roques

In the race for energy production, supplier companies are concerned by the thermal rating of offshore cables installed in a J-tube, not covered by IEC 60287 standards, and are now looking for solutions to optimize this type of system. This paper presents a numerical model capable of calculating temperature fields of a power transmission cable installed in a J-tube, based on the lumped element method. This model is validated against the existing literature. A sensitivity analysis performed using Sobol indices is then presented in order to understand the impact of the different parameters involved in the heating of the cable. This analysis provides an understanding of the thermal phenomena in the J-tube and paves the way for potential technical and economic solutions to increase the ampacity of offshore cables installed in a J-tube.


Author(s):  
Marvin Schmidt ◽  
Andreas Schütze ◽  
Stefan Seelecke

Energy saving and environmental protection are topics of growing interest. In the light of these aspects alternative refrigeration principles become increasingly important. Shape memory alloys (SMA), especially NiTi alloys, generate a large amount of latent heat during solid state phase transformations, which can lead to a significant cooling effect in the material. These materials do not only provide the potential for an energy-efficient cooling process, they also minimize the impact on the environment by reducing the need for conventional ozone-depleting refrigerants. Our paper, presenting first results obtained in a project within the DFG Priority Program SPP 1599 “Ferroic Cooling”, focuses on the thermodynamic analysis of a NiTi-based cooling system. We first introduce a suitable cooling process and subsequently illustrate the underlying mechanisms of the process in comparison with the conventional compression refrigeration system. We further introduce a graphical solution to calculate the energy efficiency ratio of the system. This thermodynamic analysis method shows the necessary work input and the heat absorption of the SMA in stress/strain- or temperature/entropy-diagrams, respectively. The results of the calculations underline the high potential of this solid-state cooling methodology.


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