Aero-Thermal Optimization of Bladeless Turbines

Author(s):  
James Braun ◽  
Guillermo Paniagua ◽  
Francois Falempin

Abstract The harnessing of mechanical power from supersonic flows is constrained by physical limitations and substantial aerodynamic losses. Bladeless axial turbines are a viable alternative to extract power in such harsh conditions without restricting the operating conditions. In this paper, we present a shape optimization of the wavy surface of bladeless turbines to maximize the power extraction, while minimizing convective heat fluxes and pressure losses. First, a baseline geometry was defined and an experimental campaign was carried out on the baseline wavy surface of the bladeless turbine at supersonic conditions in the Purdue Experimental Aerothermal Lab. Pressure, heat flux and skin friction measurements were compared with the Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes results. Afterwards, the evaluation routine which consisted of the blade generation, grid generation, solving, and post-processing was implemented within an evolutionary optimizer with a multi-objective function to maximize the pressure force and minimize heat flux and pressure loss. Finally, a three-dimensional assessment in terms of power, heat load and pressure drop was performed for the best performing geometry with the commercial solver CFD++ of Metacomp. Turbulence closure was provided with the k-omega-SST turbulence model. The annular chamber of the bladeless turbine consisted of an unstructured mesh of approx. 8–10 million grid points.

Author(s):  
James Braun ◽  
Guillermo Paniagua ◽  
Francois Falempin

Abstract The harnessing of mechanical power from supersonic flows is constrained by physical limitations and substantial aerodynamic losses. Bladeless axial turbines are a viable alternative to extract power in such harsh conditions without restricting the operating conditions. In this paper, we present a shape optimization of the wavy surface of bladeless turbines to maximize the power extraction, while minimizing convective heat fluxes and pressure losses. First, a baseline geometry was defined and an experimental campaign was carried out on the baseline wavy surface of the bladeless turbine at supersonic conditions in the Purdue Experimental Aerothermal Lab. Pressure, heat flux and skin friction measurements were compared with the Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes results. Afterwards, the evaluation routine which consisted of the blade generation, grid generation, solving, and post-processing was implemented within an evolutionary optimizer with a multi-objective function to maximize the pressure force and minimize heat flux and pressure loss. Finally, a three-dimensional assessment in terms of power, heat load and pressure drop was performed for the best performing geometry with the commercial solver CFD++ of Metacomp. Turbulence closure was provided with the k-omega-SST turbulence model. The annular chamber of the bladeless turbine consisted of an unstructured mesh of approx. 8-10 million grid points.


2021 ◽  
Vol 143 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Henao Garcia ◽  
Aldo Benavides-Morán ◽  
Omar D. Lopez Mejia

Abstract This paper challenges the standard wind turbine design numerically assessing the wake and aerodynamic performance of two- and three-bladed wind turbine models implementing downwind and upwind rotor configurations, respectively. The simulations are conducted using the actuator line model (ALM) coupled with a three-dimensional Navier Stokes solver implementing the k−ω shear stress transport turbulence model. The sensitivity of the ALM to multiple simulation parameters is analyzed in detail and numerical results are compared against experimental data. These analyses highlight the most suitable Gaussian radius at the rotor to be equal to twice the chord length at 95% of the blade for a tip-speed ratio (TSR) of ten, while the Gaussian radius at the tower and the number of actuator points have a low incidence on the flow field computations overall. The numerical axial velocity profiles show better agreement upstream than downstream the rotor, while the discrepancies are not consistent through all the assessed operating conditions, thus highlighting that the ALM parameters are also dependent on the wind turbine's operating conditions rather than being merely geometric parameters. Particularly, for the upwind three-bladed wind turbine model, the accuracy of the total thrust computations improves as the TSR increases, while the least accurate wake predictions are found for its design TSR. Finally, when comparing both turbine models, an accurate representation of the downwind configuration is observed as well as realistic power extraction estimates. Indeed, the results confirm that rotors with fewer blades are more suitable to operate at high TSRs.


Author(s):  
Z. Liu ◽  
J. Braun ◽  
G. Paniagua

Rotating detonation combustors (RDCs) offer theoretically a significant total pressure increase, which may result in enhanced cycle efficiency. The fluctuating exhaust of RDC, however, induces low supersonic flow and large flow angle fluctuations at several kHz, which affects the performance of the downstream turbine. In this paper, a numerical methodology is proposed to characterize a supersonic turbine exposed to fluctuations from RDC without any dilution. The inlet conditions of the turbine were extracted from a three-dimensional (3D) unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulation of a nozzle attached to a rotating detonation combustor, optimized for minimum flow fluctuations and a mass-flow averaged Mach number of 2 at the nozzle outlet. In a first step, a supersonic turbine able to handle steady Mach 2 inflow was designed based on a method of characteristics solver and total pressure loss was assessed. Afterward, unsteady simulations of eight stator passages exposed to periodic oblique shocks were performed. Total pressure loss was evaluated for several oblique shock frequencies and amplitudes. The unsteady stator outlet profile was extracted and used as inlet condition for the unsteady rotor simulations. Finally, a full stage unsteady simulation was performed to characterize the flow field across the entire turbine stage. Power extraction, airfoil base pressure, and total pressure losses were assessed, which enabled the estimation of the loss mechanisms in supersonic turbine exposed to large unsteady inlet conditions.


Author(s):  
James D. Heidmann ◽  
David L. Rigby ◽  
Ali A. Ameri

A three-dimensional Navier-Stokes simulation has been performed for a realistic film-cooled turbine vane using the LeRC-HT code. The simulation includes the flow regions inside the coolant plena and film cooling holes in addition to the external flow. The vane is the subject of an upcoming NASA Lewis Research Center experiment and has both circular cross-section and shaped film cooling holes. This complex geometry is modeled using a multi-block grid which accurately discretizes the actual vane geometry including shaped holes. The simulation matches operating conditions for the planned experiment and assumes periodicity in the spanwise direction on the scale of one pitch of the film cooling hole pattern. Two computations were performed for different isothermal wall temperatures, allowing independent determination of heat transfer coefficients and film effectiveness values. The results indicate separate localized regions of high heat flux in the showerhead region due to low film effectiveness and high heat transfer coefficient values, while the shaped holes provide a reduction in heat flux through both parameters. Hole exit data indicate rather simple skewed profiles for the round holes, but complex profiles for the shaped holes with mass fluxes skewed strongly toward their leading edges.


2000 ◽  
Vol 122 (3) ◽  
pp. 450-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Martin ◽  
G. S. Dulikravich

An inverse computational method has been developed for the nonintrusive and nondestructive evaluation of the temperature-dependence of thermal conductivity. The methodology is based on an inverse computational procedure that can be used in conjunction with an experiment. Given steady-state heat flux measurements or convection heat transfer coefficients on the surface of the specimen, in addition to a finite number of steady-state surface temperature measurements, the algorithm can predict the variation of thermal conductivity over the entire range of measured temperatures. Thus, this method requires only one temperature probe and one heat flux probe. The thermal conductivity dependence on temperature (k-T curve) can be completely arbitrary, although a priori knowledge of the general form of the k-T curve substantially improves the accuracy of the algorithm. The influence of errors of measured surface temperatures and heat fluxes on the predicted thermal conductivity has been evaluated. It was found that measurement errors of temperature up to five percent standard deviation were not magnified by this inverse procedure, while the effect of errors in measured heat fluxes were even lower. The method is applicable to two-dimensional and three-dimensional solids of arbitrary shape and size. [S0022-1481(00)01703-5]


Author(s):  
P. E. Phelan ◽  
Y. Gupta ◽  
H. Tyagi ◽  
R. Prasher ◽  
J. Cattano ◽  
...  

Increasingly, military and civilian applications of electronics require extremely high heat fluxes, on the order of 1000 W/cm2. Thermal management solutions for these severe operating conditions are subject to a number of constraints, including energy consumption, controllability, and the volume or size of the package. Calculations indicate that the only possible approach to meeting this heat flux condition, while maintaining the chip temperature below 50 °C, is to utilize refrigeration. Here we report an initial optimization of the refrigeration system design. Because the outlet quality of the fluid leaving the evaporator must be held to approximately less than 20%, in order to avoid reaching critical heat flux, the refrigeration system design is dramatically different from typical configurations for household applications. In short, a simple vapor-compression cycle will require excessive energy consumption, largely because of the superheat required to return the refrigerant to its vapor state before the compressor inlet. A better design is determined to be a “two-loop” cycle, in which the vapor-compression loop is coupled thermally to a primary loop that directly cools the high-heat-flux chip.


1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Hah ◽  
A. J. Wennerstrom

The concept of swept blades for a transonic or supersonic compressor was reconsidered by Wennerstrom in the early 1980s. Several transonic rotors designed with swept blades have shown very good aerodynamic efficiency. The improved performance of the rotor is believed to be due to reduced shock strength near the shroud and better distribution of secondary flows. A three-dimensional flowfield inside a transonic rotor with swept blades is analyzed in detail experimentally and numerically. A Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equation is solved for the flow inside the rotor. The numerical solution is based on a high-order upwinding relaxation scheme, and a two-equation turbulence model with a low Reynolds number modification is used for the turbulence modeling. To predict flows near the shroud properly, the tip-clearance flow also must be properly calculated. The numerical results at three different operating conditions agree well with the available experimental data and reveal various interesting aspects of shock structure inside the rotor.


2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoqing Wu ◽  
Stephen Guimond

Abstract Two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) cloud-resolving model (CRM) simulations are conducted to quantify the enhancement of surface sensible and latent heat fluxes by tropical precipitating cloud systems for 20 days (10–30 December 1992) during the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE). The mesoscale enhancement appears to be analogous across both 2D and 3D CRMs, with the enhancement for the sensible heat flux accounting for 17% of the total flux for each model and the enhancement for the latent heat flux representing 18% and 16% of the total flux for 2D and 3D CRMs, respectively. The convection-induced gustiness is mainly responsible for the enhancement observed in each model simulation. The parameterization schemes of the mesoscale enhancement by the gustiness in terms of convective updraft, downdraft, and precipitation, respectively, are examined using each version of the CRM. The scheme utilizing the precipitation was found to yield the most desirable estimations of the mean fluxes with the smallest rms error. The results together with previous findings from other studies suggest that the mesoscale enhancement of surface heat fluxes by the precipitating deep convection is a subgrid process apparent across various CRMs and is imperative to incorporate into general circulation models (GCMs) for improved climate simulation.


2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 385-391
Author(s):  
Jörg Bergner ◽  
Dietmar K. Hennecke ◽  
Martin Hoeger ◽  
Karl Engel

For Darmstadt University of Technology's axial singlestage transonic compressor rig, a new three-dimensional aft-swept rotor was designed and manufactured at MTU Aero Engines in Munich, Germany. The application of carbon fiber–reinforced plastic made it possible to overcome structural constraints and therefore to further increase the amount of lean and sweep of the blade. The aim of the design was to improve the mechanical stability at operation that is close to stall.To avoid the hazard of rubbing at the blade tip, which is found especially at off-design operating conditions close to the stability limit of the compression system, aft-sweep was introduced together with excessive backward lean.This article reports an investigation of the impact of various amounts of lean on the aerodynamic behavior of the compressor stage on the basis of steady-state Navier-Stokes simulations. The results indicate that high backward lean promotes an undesirable redistribution of mass flow and gives rise to a basic change in the shock pattern, whereas a forward-leaning geometry results in the development of a highly back-swept shock front. However, the disadvantage is a decrease in shock strength and efficiency.


1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 835-843 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. V. Marathe ◽  
B. Lakshminarayana ◽  
Y. Dong

The objective of this investigation is to understand the nature of the complex flow field inside each element of the torque converter through a systematic experimental and numerical investigation of the flow field. A miniature five-hole probe was used to acquire the data at the exit of the stator at several operating conditions. The flow field is found to be highly three dimensional with substantial flow deviations, and secondary flow at the exit of the stator. The secondary flow structure, caused by the upstream radial variation of the through flow, induces flow overturning near the core. Flow separation near the shell causes flow underturning in this region. The rate of decay of stator wake is found to be slower than that observed in the wakes of axial flow turbine nozzles. The flow predictions by a Navier–Stokes code are in good agreement with the pressure and the flow field measured at the exit of the stator at the design and the off-design conditions.


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