Experimental and Numerical Assessment of the Impact of Part-Span Connectors on Turbine Efficiency and Flow Field

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Brüggemann ◽  
M. Schatz ◽  
D. M. Vogt ◽  
F. Popig
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Free Standing ◽  
Aerodynamic Loss ◽  
Turbine Efficiency ◽  
Numerical Assessment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Operating Points

Abstract This study presents the results of measurements in an industrial steam turbine test rig operated at the Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery and Machinery Laboratory (ITSM) in Stuttgart, Germany. In order to ensure safe operation over a wide range of operating conditions the last and penultimate rotor blade rows of this turbine feature Part-Span Connectors (PSC). The PSC provide additional coupling and mechanical damping during operation, however, they present a major obstacle to the flow, thus causing additional aerodynamic loss. The focus of the present work is on the aerodynamic impact of the PSC on the flow field of the last stage. To capture this impact, an extensive measurement campaign over a wide range of operating points was performed using two last blade row configurations that are identical with regard to the blade design, except for the fact that one features free-standing blades while the second is equipped with PSC. A performance assessment of these two configurations based on detailed probe measurements and overall turbine efficiency is presented. Additionally, a detailed comparison of 3D CFD-results employing an equilibrium steam (EQS) model and a non-equilibrium steam (NES) model for both configurations is shown with good agreement to the test data. However, comparing the two models reveals major differences whenever there is condensation occurring close to the evaluation plane, thus the advantage of applying the NES model is presented.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Flow in a Low-Pressure Industrial Steam Turbine With Part-Span Connectors

2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Häfele ◽  
Christoph Traxinger ◽  
Marius Grübel ◽  
Markus Schatz ◽  
Damian M. Vogt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Steam Turbine ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Engineering Practice ◽  
Cfd Model ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

An experimental and numerical study on the flow in a three-stage low-pressure (LP) industrial steam turbine is presented and analyzed. The investigated LP section features conical friction bolts in the last and a lacing wire in the penultimate rotor blade row. These part-span connectors (PSC) allow safe turbine operation over an extremely wide range and even in blade resonance condition. However, additional losses are generated which affect the performance of the turbine. In order to capture the impact of PSCs on the flow field, extensive measurements with pneumatic multihole probes in an industrial steam turbine test rig have been carried out. State-of-the-art three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applying a nonequilibrium steam (NES) model is used to examine the aerothermodynamic effects of PSCs on the wet steam flow. The vortex system in coupled LP steam turbine rotor blading is discussed in this paper. In order to validate the CFD model, a detailed comparison between measurement data and steady-state CFD results is performed for several operating conditions. The investigation shows that the applied one-passage CFD model is able to capture the three-dimensional flow field in LP steam turbine blading with PSC and the total pressure reduction due to the PSC with a generally good agreement to measured values and is therefore sufficient for engineering practice.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Flow in a LP Industrial Steam Turbine With Part-Span Connectors

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Häfele ◽  
C. Traxinger ◽  
M. Grübel ◽  
M. Schatz ◽  
D. M. Vogt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Steam Turbine ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Resonance Condition ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Measurement Data ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Engineering Practice ◽  
Wide Range

An experimental and numerical study on the flow in a three stage low pressure (LP) industrial steam turbine is presented and analyzed. The investigated LP section features conical friction bolts in the last and a lacing wire in the penultimate rotor blade row. These part-span connectors (PSC) allow safe turbine operation over an extremely wide range and even in blade resonance condition. However, additional losses are generated which affect the performance of the turbine. In order to capture their impact on the flow field, extensive measurements with pneumatic multi-hole probes in an industrial steam turbine test rig have been carried out. State-of-the-art three-dimensional CFD applying a non-equilibrium steam (NES) model is used to examine the aero-thermodynamic effects of the PSC on the wet steam flow. A detailed comparison between measurement data and CFD results is performed for several operating conditions. The investigation shows that the applied CFD model is able to capture the three-dimensional flow field in LP steam turbine blading with PSC and the total pressure reduction due to the PSC with a generally good agreement to measured values and is therefore sufficient for engineering practice.

An Investigation of Compressor Map Width Enhancement and the Inducer Flow Field Using Various Configurations of Shroud Bleed Slot

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subenuka Sivagnanasundaram ◽  
Stephen Spence ◽  
Juliana Early ◽  
Bahram Nikpour
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Incidence Angle ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Tip Vortex ◽  
Performance Measurements ◽  
Impeller Blade ◽  
Choked Flow ◽  
The Impact

This paper describes an investigation of various shroud bleed slot configurations of a centrifugal compressor using CFD with a manual multi-block structured grid generation method. The compressor under investigation is used in a turbocharger application for a heavy duty diesel engine of approximately 400hp. The baseline numerical model has been developed and validated against experimental performance measurements. The influence of the bleed slot flow field on a range of operating conditions between surge and choke has been analysed in detail. The impact of the returning bleed flow on the incidence at the impeller blade leading edge due to its mixing with the main through-flow has also been studied. From the baseline geometry, a number of modifications to the bleed slot width have been proposed, and a detailed comparison of the flow characteristics performed. The impact of slot variations on the inlet incidence angle has been investigated, highlighting the improvement in surge and choked flow capability. Along with this, the influence of the bleed slot on stabilizing the blade passage flow by the suction of the tip and over-tip vortex flow by the slot has been considered near surge.

scholarly journals Impact of Powder Properties on the Rheological Behavior of Excipients

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1198
Author(s):  
Pauline H. M. Janssen ◽  
Sébastien Depaifve ◽  
Aurélien Neveu ◽  
Filip Francqui ◽  
Bastiaan H. J. Dickhoff
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Rheological Behavior ◽  
Quality By Design ◽  
Filling Process ◽  
Dynamic Flow ◽  
Die Filling ◽  
Flow Characterization ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Powder Properties ◽  
The Impact

With the emergence of quality by design in the pharmaceutical industry, it becomes imperative to gain a deeper mechanistic understanding of factors impacting the flow of a formulation into tableting dies. Many flow characterization techniques are present, but so far only a few have shown to mimic the die filling process successfully. One of the challenges in mimicking the die filling process is the impact of rheological powder behavior as a result of differences in flow field in the feeding frame. In the current study, the rheological behavior was investigated for a wide range of excipients with a wide range of material properties. A new parameter for rheological behavior was introduced, which is a measure for the change in dynamic cohesive index upon changes in flow field. Particle size distribution was identified as a main contributing factor to the rheological behavior of powders. The presence of fines between larger particles turned out to reduce the rheological index, which the authors explain by improved particle separation at more dynamic flow fields. This study also revealed that obtained insights on rheological behavior can be used to optimize agitator settings in a tableting machine.

scholarly journals A New Method to Determine the Impact of Individual Field Quantities on Cycle-to-Cycle Variations in a Spark-Ignited Gas Engine

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4136
Author(s):  
Clemens Gößnitzer ◽  
Shawn Givler
Keyword(s):  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Turbulent Kinetic Energy ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Engine Operation ◽  
Gas Engine ◽  
Cycle Simulation ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
The Impact

Cycle-to-cycle variations (CCV) in spark-ignited (SI) engines impose performance limitations and in the extreme limit can lead to very strong, potentially damaging cycles. Thus, CCV force sub-optimal engine operating conditions. A deeper understanding of CCV is key to enabling control strategies, improving engine design and reducing the negative impact of CCV on engine operation. This paper presents a new simulation strategy which allows investigation of the impact of individual physical quantities (e.g., flow field or turbulence quantities) on CCV separately. As a first step, multi-cycle unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (uRANS) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of a spark-ignited natural gas engine are performed. For each cycle, simulation results just prior to each spark timing are taken. Next, simulation results from different cycles are combined: one quantity, e.g., the flow field, is extracted from a snapshot of one given cycle, and all other quantities are taken from a snapshot from a different cycle. Such a combination yields a new snapshot. With the combined snapshot, the simulation is continued until the end of combustion. The results obtained with combined snapshots show that the velocity field seems to have the highest impact on CCV. Turbulence intensity, quantified by the turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate, has a similar value for all snapshots. Thus, their impact on CCV is small compared to the flow field. This novel methodology is very flexible and allows investigation of the sources of CCV which have been difficult to investigate in the past.

Experimental investigation of isothermal and reacting flow characteristics downstream of axisymmetric bluff body stabilizers under stratified or fully premixed inlet mixture conditions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Γεώργιος Πατεράκης
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Turbulent Flow ◽  
Bluff Body ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Reacting Flow ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Flow Features ◽  
Air Mixing ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Stratified Flames

The current work describes an experimental investigation of isothermal and turbulent reacting flow field characteristics downstream of axisymmetric bluff body stabilizers under a variety of inlet mixture conditions. Fully premixed and stratified flames established downstream of this double cavity premixer/burner configuration were measured and assessed under lean and ultra-lean operating conditions. The aim of this thesis was to further comprehend the impact of stratifying the inlet fuelair mixture on the reacting wake characteristics for a range of practical stabilizers under a variety of inlet fuel-air settings. In the first part of this thesis, the isothermal mean and turbulent flow features downstream of a variety of axisymmetric baffles was initially examined. The effect of different shapes, (cone or disk), blockage ratios, (0.23 and 0.48), and rim thicknesses of these baffles was assessed. The variations of the recirculation zones, back flow velocity magnitude, annular jet ejection angles, wake development, entrainment efficiency, as well as several turbulent flow features were obtained, evaluated and appraised. Next, a comparative examination of the counterpart turbulent cold fuel-air mixing performance and characteristics of stratified against fully-premixed operation was performed for a wide range of baffle geometries and inlet mixture conditions. Scalar mixing and entrainment properties were investigated at the exit plane, at the bluff body annular shear layer, at the reattachment region and along the developing wake were investigated. These isothermal studies provided the necessary background information for clarifying the combustion properties and interpreting the trends in the counterpart turbulent reacting fields. Subsequently, for selected bluff bodies, flame structures and behavior for operation with a variety of reacting conditions were demonstrated. The effect of inlet fuel-air mixture settings, fuel type and bluff body geometry on wake development, flame shape, anchoring and structure, temperatures and combustion efficiencies, over lean and close to blow-off conditions, was presented and analyzed. For the obtained measurements infrared radiation, particle image velocimetry, laser doppler velocimetry, chemiluminescence imaging set-ups, together with Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy, thermocouples and global emission analyzer instrumentation was employed. This helped to delineate a number of factors that affectcold flow fuel-air mixing, flame anchoring topologies, wake structure development and overall burner performance. The presented data will also significantly assist the validation of computational methodologies for combusting flows and the development of turbulence-chemistry interaction models.

Unsteady Conjugate Heat Transfer Investigation of a Multistage Steam Turbine in Warm-Keeping Operation With Hot Air

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Łuczyński ◽  
Dennis Toebben ◽  
Manfred Wirsum ◽  
Wolfgang F. D. Mohr ◽  
Klaus Helbig
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Conjugate Heat Transfer ◽  
Flow Patterns ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Angle Of Incidence ◽  
Time Step ◽  
Hot Air ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Vortex Systems ◽  
Operating Points

In recent decades, the rising share of commonly subsidized renewable energy especially affects the operational strategy of conventional power plants. In pursuit of flexibility improvements, extension of life cycle, in addition to a reduction in start-up time, General Electric has developed a product to warm-keep high/intermediate pressure steam turbines using hot air. In order to optimize the warm-keeping operation and to gain knowledge about the dominant heat transfer phenomena and flow structures, detailed numerical investigations are required. Considering specific warm-keeping operating conditions characterized by high turbulent flows, it is required to conduct calculations based on time-consuming unsteady conjugate heat transfer (CHT) simulations. In order to investigate the warm-keeping process as found in the presented research, single and multistage numerical turbine models were developed. Furthermore, an innovative calculation approach called the Equalized Timescales Method (ET) was applied for the modeling of unsteady conjugate heat transfer (CHT). The unsteady approach improves the accuracy of the stationary simulations and enables the determination of the multistage turbine models. In the course of the research, two particular input variables of the ET approach — speed up factor (SF) and time step (TS) — have been additionally investigated with regard to their high impact on the calculation time and the quality of the results. Using the ET method, the mass flow rate and the rotational speed were varied to generate a database of warm-keeping operating points. The main goal of this work is to provide a comprehensive knowledge of the flow field and heat transfer in a wide range of turbine warm-keeping operations and to characterize the flow patterns observed at these operating points. For varying values of flow coefficient and angle of incidence, the secondary flow phenomena change from well-known vortex systems occurring in design operation (such as passage, horseshoe and corner vortices) to effects typical for windage, like patterns of alternating vortices and strong backflows. Furthermore, the identified flow patterns have been compared to vortex systems described in cited literature and summarized in the so-called blade vortex diagram. The comparison of heat transfer in the form of charts showing the variation of the Nusselt-numbers with respect to changes in angle of incidence and flow coefficients at specific operating points is additionally provided.

scholarly journals Improvement of Pump Performance at Off-Design Conditions

1985 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Paulon ◽  
C. Fradin ◽  
J. Poulain
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Mass Flow ◽  
Flow Characteristic ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pump Performance ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Mass Flows ◽  
Design Value

Industrial pumps are generally used in a wide range of operating conditions from almost zero mass flow to mass flows larger than the design value. It has been often noted that the head-mass flow characteristic, at constant speed, presents a negative bump as the mass flow is somewhat smaller than the design mass flows. Flow and mechanical instabilities appear, which are unsafe for the facility. An experimental study has been undertaken in order to analyze and if possible to palliate these difficulties. A detailed flow analyzis has shown strong three dimensional effects and flow separations. From this better knowledge of the flow field, a particular device was designed and a strong attenuation of the negative bump was obtained.

Uncertainty Analysis of Inflow Conditions on an HPT Gas Turbine Nozzle: Effect on Particle Deposition

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Friso ◽  
N. Casari ◽  
M. Pinelli ◽  
A. Suman ◽  
F. Montomoli
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Particle Deposition ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Gas Turbine Nozzle ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Inflow Conditions

Abstract Gas turbines (GT) are often forced to operate in harsh environmental conditions. Therefore, the presence of particles in their flow-path is expected. With this regard, deposition is a problem that severely affects gas turbine operation. Components’ lifetime and performance can dramatically vary as a consequence of this phenomenon. Unfortunately, the operating conditions of the machine can vary in a wide range, and they cannot be treated as deterministic. Their stochastic variations greatly affect the forecasting of life and performance of the components. In this work, the main parameters considered affected by the uncertainty are the circumferential hot core location and the turbulence level at the inlet of the domain. A stochastic analysis is used to predict the degradation of a high-pressure-turbine (HPT) nozzle due to particulate ingestion. The GT’s component analyzed as a reference is the HPT nozzle of the Energy-Efficient Engine (E3). The uncertainty quantification technique used is the probabilistic collocation method (PCM). This work shows the impact of the operating conditions uncertainties on the performance and lifetime reduction due to deposition. Sobol indices are used to identify the most important parameter and its contribution to life. The present analysis enables to build confidence intervals on the deposit profile and on the residual creep-life of the vane.

Experimental and Numerical Study for Improved Understanding of Mixed-Convection Type of Flows in Turbine Casing Cavities During Shut-Down Regimes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oguzhan Murat ◽  
Budimir Rosic ◽  
Koichi Tanimoto ◽  
Ryo Egami
Keyword(s):  
Natural Convection ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Mixed Convection ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Scale Model ◽  
Unsteady Temperature ◽  
Numerical Predictions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Turbine Casing

Abstract Due to increase in the power generation from renewable sources, steam and gas turbines will be required to adapt for more flexible operations with frequent start-ups and shut-downs to provide load levelling capacity. During shut-down regimes, mixed convection takes place with natural convection dominance depending on the operating conditions in turbine cavities. Buoyant flows inside the turbine that are responsible for non-uniform cooling leading to thermal stresses and compromise clearances directly limits the operational flexibility. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools are required to predict the flow field during these regimes since direct measurements are extremely difficult to conduct due to the harsh operating conditions. Natural convection with the presence of cross-flow -mixed convection has not been extensively studied to provide detailed measurements. Since the literature lacks of research on such flows with real engine representative operating conditions for CFD validation, the confidence in numerical predictions is rather inadequate. This paper presents a novel experimental facility that has been designed and commissioned to perform very accurate unsteady temperature and flow field measurements in a simplified turbine casing geometry. The facility is capable of reproducing a wide range of Richardson, Grashof and Reynolds numbers which are representative of engine realistic operating conditions. In addition, high fidelity, wall resolved LES with dynamic Smagorinsky subgrid scale model has been performed. The flow field as well as heat transfer characteristics have been accurately captured with LES. Lastly, inadequacy of RANS for mixed type of flows has been highlighted.

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