A New Test Facility for Investigating Thermal Behaviour of Effusion Cooling Test Plates for RQL Combustors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Picchi ◽  
A. Andreini ◽  
R. Becchi ◽  
B. Facchini
Keyword(s):  
Film Cooling ◽  
Swirling Flow ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Mixture Fraction ◽  
Median Plane ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Cooling Systems ◽  
Ir Camera ◽  
Cooling Flows ◽  
Effectiveness Data

Abstract In aero engines the combustors are subjected to critical thermal conditions in terms of high temperatures and corrosive environment, which could affect the service life of the entire system. As well known, Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBC) and above all cooling systems represents the state-of-the-art in the nowadays protecting methods: the maximization of this beneficial effect is achieved by defining an optimal cooling arrangement and developing suitable manufacturing technologies for these systems. In modern aero-engine combustors, one of the most effective cooling scheme for liners is composed by an effusion perforation coupled with a slot system to start the film cooling. The cooling performances are deeply influenced by the mutual interactions between swirling and cooling flows. In addition, for typical Rich-Quench-Lean (RQL) combustor architectures, the injection of air provided to promoting the local break-down of the flame mixture fraction, deeply interacts with the swirled flow, generating recirculating structures capable of affecting the development of film cooling and making the design of cooling systems very challenging. A new test facility for testing effusion test plates for RQL combustors applications has been developed with the final aim of comparing different cooling strategies and at the same time to collect data for numerical model validation. The experimental set-up consists of a non-reactive planar sector rigs with 5 engine-scale swirlers fed with air up to 250 °C and 3 bar. The rig was equipped with outer/inner dilution ports, and a simple inner liner cooling scheme composed of effusion and a slot system: all these features, fed with air at ambient temperature, can be independently controlled in terms of mass flow. Using dedicated optical accesses, InfraRed (IR) camera tests were performed to retrieve overall effectiveness data imposing a temperature difference between swirling and cooling flows. To better understand those results, Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP) technique was used to obtain reliable film effectiveness data decoupling the contribution of slot and effusion flows. The thermal characterization was supported by Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) investigations on the median plane. Tests were performed at different pressure drops across swirler and varying the mass flows of slot and inner/outer liners. The analysis of the data highlighted the influences of the swirling flow on the overall thermal performance and the behaviour of the film cooling system.

Turbine Cooling Systems Design: Past, Present and Future

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
James P. Downs ◽  
Kenneth K. Landis
Keyword(s):  
Research And Development ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Systems Design ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Cooling Systems ◽  
Cooling Flows ◽  
Turbine Cooling

Over a half a century ago, the power and performance of the first gas turbine engines were constrained by material limits on operating temperature. In these machines, the combustor exit temperature could not exceed the capability of the materials used to construct the turbine. Eventually, cooling was introduced into turbine components to enable turbine power and efficiency to be increased. That revolutionary step enabled gas turbines to become competitive with other heat engines for business, particularly in the rapidly expanding aviation and electrical power generation sectors. Although the first cooled turbine components may be considered crude by present standards, the underlying foundation of internal convection cooling remains the backbone for cooled turbine components today. Since its introduction, many improvements and additions to the fundamental basis of turbine component cooling have been developed. The introduction of film cooling is a prominent example. With this past research and development, turbine cooling system designs have progressed to the point where they represent the norm, rather than the exception in today’s gas turbines. Further, the confidence and robustness of these systems has been elevated to the point where the working fluid temperatures can exceed the maximum temperature of the structural materials by wide margins. In this paper, from an engineering perspective, we explore some of the significant accomplishments that have led to the current state-of-the-art in turbine cooling systems design. These systems employ a delicate balance of structural material capabilities with advanced internal and film cooling and the use of thermal barrier coatings to satisfy the goals and objectives of specific applications. At the same time, it is widely recognized that the use of cooling flows in the turbine results in parasitic losses that reduce performance. To that end, we also consider some of the specific challenges that face cooling system designers to reduce cooling flows today. Based on the research and development that has been performed to date, we consider the current status of cooling technology relative to a theoretical peak. Finally, we explore some of the hurdles that must be overcome to effectively raise the bar and realize future advancement of the state-of-the-art. The goal is to measure and separate new technologies that are merely different from those that are superior to past designs. Clearly, the identification of risk and risk reduction will play an important role in the development of future turbine cooling systems.

Numerical simulation of swirling flow effect on the first stage vane film cooling distribution

2016 ◽  
Vol 07 (03) ◽  
pp. 1650031
Author(s):  
Hong Yin
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Swirling Flow ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Local Area ◽  
Swirl Flow ◽  
Flow Effect ◽  
Recirculation Flow

In advanced gas turbine technology, lean premixed combustion is an effective strategy to reduce peak temperature and thus, NO[Formula: see text] emissions. The swirler is adopted to establish recirculation flow zone, enhancing mixing and stabilizing the flame. Therefore, the swirling flow is dominant in the combustor flow field and has impact on the vane. This paper mainly investigates the swirling flow effect on the turbine first stage vane cooling system by conducting a group of numerical simulations. Firstly, the numerical methods of turbulence modeling using RANS and LES are compared. The computational model of one single swirl flow field is considered. Both the RANS and LES results give reasonable recirculation zone shape. When comparing the velocity distribution, the RANS results generally match the experimental data but fail to at some local area. The LES modeling gives better results and more detailed unsteady flow field. In the second step, the RANS modeling is incorporated to investigate the vane film cooling performance under the swirling inflow boundary condition. According to the numerical results, the leading edge film cooling is largely altered by the swirling flow, especially for the swirl core-leading edge aligned case. Compared to the pressure side, the suction side film cooling is more sensitive to the swirling flow. Locally, the film cooling jet is lifted and turned by the strong swirling flow.

scholarly journals Experimental Investigation of a Leading Edge Cooling System With Optimized Inclined Racetrack Holes

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Carcasci ◽  
Bruno Facchini ◽  
Lorenzo Tarchi ◽  
Nils Ohlendorf
Keyword(s):  
Film Cooling ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Cooling Flow ◽  
Nusselt Numbers ◽  
Nusselt Number Distribution ◽  
Scale Test ◽  
Film Cooling Holes

An experimental survey of a leading edge cooling scheme was performed to measure the Nusselt number distribution on a large scale test facility simulating the leading edge cavity of an high pressure turbine blade. Test section is composed by two adjacent cavities, a rectangular supply channel and the leading edge cavity. The cooling flow impinges on the concave leading edge internal walls, by means of an impingement array located between the two cavities, and it is extracted through showerhead and film cooling holes. The impingement geometry is composed by a double array of circular or shaped holes. The aim of the present study is to investigate the heat transfer performance of two optimized impingement schemes in comparison with a standard one with circular and orthogonal holes. Both the optimized arrays have inclined racetrack shaped holes and one of them has also a converging shape. Measurements were performed by means of a transient technique using narrow band Thermo-chromic Liquid Crystals (TLC). Jet Reynolds number was varied in order to cover the typical engine conditions of these cooling systems (Rej = 15000–45000). Results are reported in terms of detailed 2D maps, radial and tangential averaged Nusselt numbers.

Time-Resolved Flow Field Analysis of Effusion Cooling System With Representative Swirling Main Flow

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Lenzi ◽  
L. Palanti ◽  
A. Picchi ◽  
T. Bacci ◽  
L. Mazzei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Film Cooling ◽  
Swirling Flow ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Life Time ◽  
Open Loop ◽  
Main Flow ◽  
Field Analysis ◽  
Ansys Fluent ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Film Development

Abstract Film-cooling jets behavior in a combustor chamber is deeply affected by swirling flow interactions and unsteadiness; on the other hand, the jets behavior has a direct impact on different phenomena such as cooling capabilities and ignition. For these reasons, an in-depth characterization of the film-cooling flows in the presence of a swirling main flow and demands dedicated time-resolved analyses. The experimental setup consists of a nonreactive single-sector linear combustor simulator installed in an open-loop wind tunnel. It is equipped with a swirler and a multiperforated plate to simulate the effusion cooling system of the liner. The rig is scaled with respect to the engine configuration to increase spatial resolution and to reduce the characteristic frequencies of the unsteady phenomena. Time-resolved particle image velocimetry (TRPIV) was exploited for the investigation testing different values of liner pressure drop. In addition, numerical investigations were carried out to gain a deeper insight of the behavior highlighted by the experiments and to assess the capability of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in predicting the flow physics. In this work, the stress-blended eddy simulation (SBES) approach implemented in ansys fluent was adopted. Oscillations of the jets and intermittent interactions of the mainstream with the wall of the liner and hence with the film development have been investigated in detail. The results demonstrate how an unsteady analysis of the flow structures that characterize the jets, the turbulent mixing of coolant flows, and the interaction between mainstream and cooling jets is strictly necessary to have a complete knowledge of the behavior of the coolant, which in turn affects combustor operability and life time.

scholarly journals Unsteady Flow Field Characterization of Effusion Cooling Systems with Swirling Main Flow: Comparison Between Cylindrical and Shaped Holes

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 4993
Author(s):  
Tommaso Lenzi ◽  
Alessio Picchi ◽  
Tommaso Bacci ◽  
Antonio Andreini ◽  
Bruno Facchini
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Swirling Flow ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Complete Characterization ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Staggered Arrangement ◽  
Unsteady Characteristics

The presence of injectors with strongly swirled flows, used to promote flame stability in the combustion chambers of gas turbines, influences the behaviour of the effusion cooling jets and consequently of the liner’s cooling capabilities. For this reason, unsteady behaviour of the jets in the presence of swirling flow requires a characterization by means of experimental flow field analyses. The experimental setup of this work consists of a non-reactive single-sector linear combustor test rig, scaled up with respect to the real engine geometry to increase spatial resolution and to reduce the frequencies of the unsteadiness. It is equipped with a radial swirler and multi-perforated effusion plates to simulate the liner cooling system. Two effusion plates were tested and compared: with cylindrical and with laid-back fan-shaped 7-7-7 holes in staggered arrangement. Time resolved Particle Image Velocimetry has been carried out: the unsteady characteristics of the jets, promoted by the intermittent interactions with the turbulent mainstream, have been investigated as their vortex structures and turbulent decay. The results demonstrate how an unsteady analysis is necessary to provide a complete characterization of the coolant behaviour and of its turbulent mixing with mainflow, which affect, in turn, the film cooling capability and liner’s lifetime.

Novel Turbine Rotor Shroud Film-Cooling Design and Validation: Part 1

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. S. Chana ◽  
B. Haller
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Turbine Rotor ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Pressure Probe ◽  
Dimensional Approach ◽  
Flow Angle ◽  
Cooling Hole ◽  
Cooling Design

This paper is part one of a two part paper which considers a shroud film-cooling system designed using a two-dimensional approach. Heat transfer to rotor-casings has reached levels that are causing in-service difficulties to be experienced. Future designs are likely to need to employ film-cooling of some form. There is currently very little information available for film-cooling on shroudless turbine rotor-casing liners. Heat transfer literature on uncooled configurations is not extensive and in particular, spatially-detailed, time-accurate data are rare. This paper describes the aero-thermodynamic design and validation of a rotor casing film-cooling system for a transonic, high-pressure shroudless turbine stage. The design was carried out using a boundary layer code with the film-cooling hole geometry representative of an engine configuration and, has been subjected to mechanical constraints similar to those for an engine component. The design consists of two double rows of cooling holes and two ‘cooling-hole’ shape configurations, cylindrical and fan shaped. The design was tested in the QinetiQ short duration turbine test facility (TTF). Measurements taken include casing heat transfer using thin film gauges and stage exit total pressure, Mach number and flow angle using a three-hole pressure probe. Results showed that while the cooling produced a reduction in the heat transfer rate close to the injection point, the film was stripped off the casing and entrained in nozzle guide vane secondary and rotor overtip flow, where it was transported spanwise towards the hub in the rotor passage. Using the results obtained from this deign a second cooling design was carried out, using a three-dimensional approach this gave significantly better cooling performance. The thee-dimensional design and validation is reported in GT2009-60246 as part 2 of this paper.

scholarly journals Full Coverage Impingement Heat Transfer: Cooling Effectiveness

1988 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. A. Abdul Husain ◽  
G. E. Andrews ◽  
A. A. Asere ◽  
C. K. W. Ndiema
Keyword(s):  
Film Cooling ◽  
Pressure Loss ◽  
Combustion Process ◽  
Fixed Number ◽  
Cooling Effectiveness ◽  
Impingement Cooling ◽  
Cooling Flows ◽  
Impingement Plate ◽  
Impingement Heat Transfer ◽  
Effectiveness Data

Cooling effectiveness data are presented for impingement cooled surfaces with no film cooling and the results are directly compared with both effusion film and combined impingement/effusion cooling. The aim was to evaluate the potential of optimised impingement cooling designs to adequately cool combustor wall and turbine blade surfaces. Specific designs relevant to a combustor wall cooling application were investigated, and in particular the situation where all the combustor air flow was used for wall cooling prior to combustion. This requires the impingement pressure loss to be minimised so that an adequate pressure loss remains for the combustion process. Consequently, the impingement plate pressure loss or X/D was the major parameter investigated for a fixed number of holes of 4306/m2. It was shown that a high cooling effectiveness was achieved with a low pressure loss, thus establishing total impingement cooled combustors as a viable design possibly removing any requirement for the present large combustor film cooling flows.

Impact of Swirl Flow on Combustor Liner Heat Transfer and Cooling: A Numerical Investigation With Hybrid RANS-LES Models

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Mazzei ◽  
A. Andreini ◽  
B. Facchini ◽  
F. Turrini
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Numerical Investigation ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Swirling Flow ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Swirl Flow ◽  
Opening Angle ◽  
Lean Burn ◽  
Combustor Liner

This paper reports the main findings of a numerical investigation aimed at characterizing the flow field and the wall heat transfer resulting from the interaction of a swirling flow provided by lean burn injectors and a slot cooling system, which generates film cooling in the first part of the combustor liner. In order to overcome some well-known limitations of RANS approach, e.g. the underestimation of mixing, the simulations were performed with hybrid RANS-LES models, namely SAS-SST and DES-SST, which are proving to be a viable approach to resolve the main structures of the flow field. The numerical results were compared to experimental data obtained on a non-reactive three sector planar rig developed in the context of the EU project LEMCOTEC. The analysis of the flow field has highlighted a generally good agreement against PIV measurements, especially for the SAS-SST model, whereas DES-SST returns some discrepancies in the opening angle of the swirling flow, altering the location of the corner vortex. Also the assessment in terms of Nu/Nu0 distribution confirms the overall accuracy of SAS-SST, where a constant over-prediction in the magnitude of the heat transfer is shown by DES-SST, even though potential improvements with mesh refinement are pointed out.

Effect of Blowing Ratio on Mist-Assisted Air Film Cooling of a Flat Plate: An Experimental Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mallikarjuna Rao Pabbisetty ◽  
B. V. S. S. S. Prasad
Keyword(s):  
Flat Plate ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Density Ratio ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Cooling Effectiveness ◽  
Ir Camera ◽  
Film Cooling Effectiveness ◽  
Blowing Ratio ◽  
Cooling Enhancement ◽  
Air Film

Abstract A novel mist-assisted air film cooling scheme is proposed by Li and Wang (2006, “Simulation of Film Cooling Enhancement With Mist Injection,” ASME J. Heat Transfer, 128, pp. 509–519) to increase the film cooling effectiveness of a gas turbine cooled vane/blade. This scheme is further investigated experimentally in this article to determine the effect of the blowing ratio. The coolant is made to pass through the film holes on a flat plate mounted in a test facility. Tiny water droplets, characterized by Rosin-Rammler mean diameter of about 36.7 μm measured with a phase Doppler particle analyzer (PDPA) system is introduced into the cooling air. The effectiveness values are evaluated by measuring the plate surface temperature with the infrared (IR) camera. The maximum percentage of the mist-assisted film cooling effectiveness is 26% more than air film cooling effectiveness when 2.1% of mist is added to the air. In addition, the coolant coverage on the plate is found to be much better with mist cooling in both the streamwise and the spanwise directions. The net enhancement due to the mist-assisted air film cooling effectiveness (Δη) decreases with the increasing values of the blowing ratio in the range of 0.55–2.58 at a density ratio of 2.2.

Adiabatic Effectiveness on High Pressure Turbine Nozzle Guide Vanes Under Realistic Swirling Conditions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Bacci ◽  
R. Becchi ◽  
A. Picchi ◽  
B. Facchini
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Film Cooling ◽  
Swirling Flow ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Density Ratio ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Suction Side ◽  
Flame Stabilization ◽  
Lean Burn ◽  
Relevant Effect

In modern lean burn aero-engine combustors, highly swirling flow structures are adopted to control the fuel-air mixing and to provide the correct flame stabilization mechanisms. Aggressive swirl fields and high turbulence intensities are hence expected in the combustor-turbine interface. Moreover, to maximize the engine cycle efficiency, an accurate design of the high pressure nozzle cooling system must be pursued: in a film cooled nozzle the air taken from last compressor stages is ejected through discrete holes drilled on vane surfaces to provide a cold layer between hot gases and turbine components. In this context, the interactions between the swirling combustor outflow and the vane film cooling flows play a major role in the definition of a well performing cooling scheme, demanding for experimental campaigns at representative flow conditions. An annular three-sector combustor simulator with fully cooled high pressure vanes has been designed and installed at THT Lab of University of Florence. The test rig is equipped with three axial swirlers, effusion cooled liners and six film cooled high pressure vanes passages, for a vortex-to-vane count ratio of 1:2. The relative clocking position between swirlers and vanes has been chosen in order to have the leading edge of the central airfoil aligned with the central swirler. In this experimental work, adiabatic film effectiveness measurements have been carried out in the central sector vanes, in order to characterize the film-cooling performance under swirling inflow conditions. The Pressure Sensitive Paint technique, based on heat and mass transfer analogy, has been exploited to catch highly detailed 2D distributions. Carbon dioxide has been used as coolant in order to reach a coolant-to-mainstream density ratio of 1.5. Turbulence and five hole probe measurements at inlet/outlet of the cascade have been carried out as well, in order to highlight the characteristics of the flow field passing through the cascade and to provide precise boundary conditions. Results have shown a relevant effect of the swirling mainflow on the film cooling behaviour. Differences have been found between the central airfoil and the adjacent ones, both in terms of leading edge stagnation point position and of pressure and suction side film coverage characteristics.

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