Effect of Blade Secular Change on Unsteady Flows in Middle Pressure First-Stage Steam Turbines

Author(s):  
Akihiro Uemura ◽  
Hironori Miyazawa ◽  
Takashi Furusawa ◽  
Satoru Yamamoto ◽  
Koichi Yonezawa ◽  
...  

Abstract This paper presents the effect of blade secular changes in stator and rotor blade passages on unsteady flows through the first-stage in a middle pressure steam turbine. The scales from the boilers may collide with the stator and rotor blade surfaces, and the blades could become gradually thinned or adhered over time because of the collision. The secular-changed blades influence the performance of steam turbines and may further induce unexpected accidents. Therefore, the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) of steam turbines is essential. The optimization of MRO scheduling is quite crucial for electric power companies. We simulated unsteady steam flows through an actual middle pressure steam turbine working at a coal-fired power plant while setting manufactured and secular-changed blades. The shape of the secular-changed blades was measured from actual blades during overhaul. The numerical method developed at Tohoku University was employed for the simulation. The difference in the results between the manufactured and secular-changed blades is shown, and the effect of secular changes on unsteady flows is investigated. In addition, the possibility of utilizing the results in the MRO of real turbines is highlighted.

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (0) ◽  
pp. J05512
Author(s):  
Hironori MIYAZAWA ◽  
Akihiro UEMURA ◽  
Takashi FURUSAWA ◽  
Satoru YAMAMOTO ◽  
Koichi YONEZAWA ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 1381-1391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liina Mansukoski ◽  
William Johnson ◽  
Katherine Brooke-Wavell ◽  
J Andres Galvez-Sobral ◽  
Luis Furlán ◽  
...  

AbstractObjective:To investigate changes in socio-economic inequalities in growth in height, weight, BMI and grip strength in children born during 1955–1993 in Guatemala, a period of marked socio-economic-political change.Design:We modelled longitudinal data on height, weight, BMI and hand grip strength using Super-Imposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR). Internal Z-scores summarising growth size, timing and intensity (peak growth velocity, e.g. cm/year) were created to investigate inequalities by socio-economic position (SEP; measured by school attended). Interactions of SEP with date of birth were investigated to capture secular changes in inequalities.Setting:Urban and peri-urban schools in the region of Guatemala City, Guatemala.Participants:Participants were 40 484 children and adolescents aged 3–19 years of Ladino and Maya ancestry (nobservations 157 067).Results:The difference in height (SITAR size) between lowest and highest SEP decreased from −2·0 (95 % CI −2·2, −1·9) sd to −1·4 (95 % CI −1·5, −1·3) sd in males, and from −2·0 (95 % CI −2·1, −1·9) sd to −1·2 (95 % CI −1·3, −1·2) sd in females over the study period. Inequalities also reduced for weight, BMI and grip strength, due to greater secular increases in lowest-SEP groups. The puberty period was earlier and shorter in higher-SEP individuals (earlier SITAR timing and higher SITAR intensity). All SEP groups showed increases in BMI intensity over time.Conclusions:Inequality narrowed between the 1960s and 1990s. The lowest-SEP groups were still >1 sd shorter than the highest. Risks remain for reduced human capital and poorer population health for urban Guatemalans.


Author(s):  
Juri Bellucci ◽  
Federica Sazzini ◽  
Filippo Rubechini ◽  
Andrea Arnone ◽  
Lorenzo Arcangeli ◽  
...  

This paper focuses on the use of the CFD for improving a steam turbine preliminary design tool. Three-dimensional RANS analyses were carried out in order to independently investigate the effects of profile, secondary flow and tip clearance losses, on the efficiency of two high-pressure steam turbine stages. The parametric study included geometrical features such as stagger angle, aspect ratio and radius ratio, and was conducted for a wide range of flow coefficients to cover the whole operating envelope. The results are reported in terms of stage performance curves, enthalpy loss coefficients and span-wise distribution of the blade-to-blade exit angles. A detailed discussion of these results is provided in order to highlight the different aerodynamic behavior of the two geometries. Once the analysis was concluded, the tuning of a preliminary steam turbine design tool was carried out, based on a correlative approach. Due to the lack of a large set of experimental data, the information obtained from the post-processing of the CFD computations were applied to update the current correlations, in order to improve the accuracy of the efficiency evaluation for both stages. Finally, the predictions of the tuned preliminary design tool were compared with the results of the CFD computations, in terms of stage efficiency, in a broad range of flow coefficients and in different real machine layouts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (0) ◽  
pp. J05102
Author(s):  
Hironori MIYAZAWA ◽  
Akihiro UEMURA ◽  
Takashi FURUSAWA ◽  
Satoru YAMAMOTO ◽  
Shuichi UMEZAWA ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Koichi Yonezawa ◽  
Tomoki Kagayama ◽  
Masahiro Takayasu ◽  
Genki Nakai ◽  
Kazuyasu Sugiyama ◽  
...  

Deteriorations of nozzle guide vanes (NGVs) and rotor blades of a steam turbine through a long-time operation usually decrease a thermal efficiency and a power output of the turbine. In this study, influences of blade deformations due to erosion are discussed. Experiments were carried out in order to validate numerical simulations using a commercial software ANSYS-cfx. The numerical results showed acceptable agreements with experimental results. Variation of flow characteristics in the first stage of the intermediate pressure steam turbine is examined using numerical simulations. Geometries of the NGVs and the rotor blades are measured using a 3D scanner during an overhaul. The old NGVs and the rotor blades, which were used in operation, were eroded through the operation. The erosion of the NGVs leaded to increase of the throat area of the nozzle. The numerical results showed that rotor inlet velocity through the old NGVs became smaller and the flow angle of attack to the rotor blade leading edge became smaller. Consequently, the rotor power decreased significantly. Influences of the flow angle of at the rotor inlet were examined by parametric calculations and results showed that the angle of attack was an important parameter to determine the rotor performance. In addition, the influence of the deformation of the rotor blade was examined. The results showed that the degradation of the rotor performance decreased in accordance with the decrease of blade surface area.


Author(s):  
Kevin Cremanns ◽  
Dirk Roos ◽  
Arne Graßmann

In order to meet the requirements of rising energy demand, one goal in the design process of modern steam turbines is to achieve high efficiencies. A major gain in efficiency is expected from the optimization of the last stage and the subsequent diffuser of a low pressure turbine (LP). The aim of such optimization is to minimize the losses due to separations or inefficient blade or diffuser design. In the usual design process, as is state of the art in the industry, the last stage of the LP and the diffuser is designed and optimized sequentially. The potential physical coupling effects are not considered. Therefore the aim of this paper is to perform both a sequential and coupled optimization of a low pressure steam turbine followed by an axial radial diffuser and subsequently to compare results. In addition to the flow simulation, mechanical and modal analysis is also carried out in order to satisfy the constraints regarding the natural frequencies and stresses. This permits the use of a meta-model, which allows very time efficient three dimensional (3D) calculations to account for all flow field effects.


Author(s):  
Joerg Schuerhoff ◽  
Andrei Ghicov ◽  
Karsten Sattler

Blades for low pressure steam turbines operate in flows of saturated steam containing water droplets. The water droplets can impact rotating last stage blades mainly on the leading edge suction sides with relative velocities up to several hundred meters per second. Especially on large blades the high impact energy of the droplets can lead to a material loss particularly at the inlet edges close to the blade tips. This effect is well known as “water droplet erosion”. The steam turbine manufacturer use several techniques, like welding or brazing of inlays made of erosion resistant materials to reduce the material loss. Selective, local hardening of the blade leading edges is the preferred solution for new apparatus Siemens steam turbines. A high protection effect combined with high process stability can be ensured with this Siemens hardening technique. Furthermore the heat input and therewith the geometrical change potential is relatively low. The process is flexible and can be adapted to different blade sizes and the required size of the hardened zones. Siemens collected many years of positive operational experience with this protection measure. State of the art turbine blades often have to be developed with precipitation hardening steels and/or a shroud design to fulfill the high operational requirements. A controlled hardening of the inlet edges of such steam turbine blades is difficult if not impossible with conventional methods like flame hardening. The Siemens steam turbine factory in Muelheim, Germany installed a fully automated laser treatment facility equipped with two co-operating robots and two 6 kW high power diode laser to enable the in-house hardening of such blades. Several blade designs from power generation and industrial turbines were successfully laser treated within the first year in operation. This paper describes generally the setup of the laser treatment facility and the application for low pressure steam turbine blades made of precipitation hardening steels and blades with shroud design, including the post laser heat treatments.


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