Numerical Analysis of Non-Radial Blading in a Low Speed and Low Pressure Turbine for Electric Turbocompounding Applications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Alvarez-Regueiro ◽  
Esperanza Barrera-Medrano ◽  
Ricardo Martinez-Botas ◽  
Srithar Rajoo
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Analysis ◽  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Thermal Stresses ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Turbine Rotor ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Blade Angle ◽  
Low Speed

Abstract This paper presents a CFD-based numerical analysis on the potential benefits of non-radial blading turbine for low speed-low pressure applications. Electric turbocompounding is a waste heat recovery technology consisting of a turbine coupled to a generator that transforms the energy left over in the engine exhaust gases, which is typically found at low pressure, into electricity. Turbines designed to operate at low specific speed are ideal for these applications since the peak efficiency occurs at lower pressure ratios than conventional high speed turbines. The baseline design consisted of a vaneless radial fibre turbine, operating at 1.2 pressure ratio and 28,000rpm. Experimental low temperature tests were carried out with the baseline radial blading turbine at nominal, lower and higher pressure ratio operating conditions to validate numerical simulations. The baseline turbine incidence angle effect was studied and positive inlet blade angle impact was assessed in the current paper. Four different turbine rotor designs of 20, 30, 40 and 50° of positive inlet blade angle are presented, with the aim to reduce the losses associated to positive incidence, specially at midspan. The volute domain was included in all CFD calculations to take into account the volute-rotor interactions. The results obtained from numerical simulations of the modified designs were compared with those from the baseline turbine rotor at design and off-design conditions. Total-to-static efficiency improved in all the non-radial blading designs at all operating points considered, by maximum of 1.5% at design conditions and 5% at off-design conditions, particularly at low pressure ratio. As non-radial fibre blading may be susceptible to high centrifugal and thermal stresses, a structural analysis was performed to assess the feasibility of each design. Most of non-radial blading designs showed acceptable levels of stress and deformation.

The Port Width and Position Determination for Pressure-Exchange Ejector

2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjing Zhao ◽  
Dapeng Hu ◽  
Peiqi Liu ◽  
Yuqiang Dai ◽  
Jiupeng Zou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Performance Optimization ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Maximum Deviation ◽  
Dimensionless Time ◽  
Pressure Flow ◽  
Outlet Pressure ◽  
Pressure Exchange

A pressure-exchange ejector transferring energy by compression and expansion waves has the potential for higher efficiency. The width and position of each port are essential in pressure-exchange ejector design. A dimensionless time τ expressing both port widths and the positions of port ends was introduced. A prototype was designed and the experimental system was set up. Many sets of experiment with different geometrical arrangements were conducted. The results suggest that the efficiency greatly changes with the geometrical arrangements. The efficiency is about 60% at proper port widths and positions, while at improper geometrical arrangements, the efficiency is much lower and the maximum deviation may reach about 20%. The proper dimensionless port widths and positions at different operating conditions are obtained. For a fixed overall pressure ratio, the widths of the high pressure flow inlet and middle pressure flow outlet increase as the outlet pressure increases and the low pressure flow inlet width is reduced with a larger outlet pressure. The middle pressure flow outlet (MO) opening end remains constant at different outlet pressures. The positions of the high pressure flow inlet (HI) closed end and the low pressure flow inlet (LI) open end increase with the elevation of outlet pressure, however, the distance between the HI closing end and the LI opening end is constant. The port widths and positions have a significant influence on the performance of the pressure-exchange ejector. The dimensionless data obtained are very valuable for pressure-exchange ejector design and performance optimization.

The Off-Design Performance of a Low-Pressure Turbine Cascade

1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. P. Hodson ◽  
R. G. Dominy
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Numbers ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Turbine Rotor ◽  
Surface Flow ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Turbine Cascade ◽  
Linear Cascade ◽  
Design Performance ◽  
Low Pressure Turbine ◽  
Wide Range

The ability of a given blade profile to operate over a wide range of conditions is often of the utmost importance. This paper reports the off-design performance of a low-pressure turbine rotor root section in a linear cascade. Data were obtained using pneumatic probes and surface flow visualization. The effects of incidence (+9, 0, −20 deg), Reynolds (1.5, 2.9, 6.0 × 105), pitch-chord ratio (0.46, 0.56, 0.69), and inlet boundary layer thickness (0.011, 0.022 δ*/C) are discussed. Particular attention is paid to the three dimensionality of the flow field. Significant differences in the detail of the flow occur over the range of operating conditions investigated. It is found that the production of new secondary loss is greatest at lower Reynolds numbers, positive incidence, and the higher pitch-chord ratios.

scholarly journals Numerical Simulations of Temperature and Velocity Fields in the Storage Tank with the Three-Coil Heat Exchanger

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 74-79
Author(s):  
Robert Smusz ◽  
Joanna Wilk ◽  
Paweł Bałon
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Storage Tank ◽  
Thermal Stratification ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Velocity Fields ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Water Storage Tank ◽  
Coil Heat Exchanger ◽  
Temperature And Velocity Fields

AbstractThis article presents the results of the numerical investigation of the thermal stratification in the hot water storage tank. The exchanger consists of three tube coils that are immersed in the storage tank of hot water. Two coils—lower and upper—are designed to warm the water in the tank using the water as a heating medium. Another coil—uses the refrigerant for the waste heat transfer. The temperature stratification device is mounted in the thermal storage tank. The device’s task is to improve the thermal stratification level of heated water. The performed numerical simulations allowed us to obtain the temperature and velocity fields in the storage tank under the conditions of the work of coils filled with water. Calculations were made in the case of the use of the stratification device under the operating conditions of the upper and lower coils with water.

Thermodynamic Analysis on Optimum Pressure Ratio Split of Intercooled Recuperated Turbofan Engines

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hualei Li ◽  
Zhiyong Tan
Keyword(s):  
Thermodynamic Analysis ◽  
Explicit Solution ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Optimum Pressure ◽  
Solution Function ◽  
Turbofan Engines ◽  
Low Pressure Turbine ◽  
High Pressure Compressor

Intercooled recuperated turbofan engines with high bypass ratio are becoming a research focus in recent years due to its advantages of relatively better fuel economy, lower emission and noise characteristic. The re-heater can recover waste heat in the exhaust gas downstream of the low pressure turbine to reduce the specific fuel consumption, and the intercooler can improve compression ability of the compressors with sufficient temperature difference between the high pressure compressor and the low pressure turbine. An optimal pressure ratio split is often sought to maximize the effect of the intercooler on improving the compression ability of the compressors. To determine an optimal pressure ratio split, different combinations of pressure ratio between high and low pressure spools must be calculated, and this requires huge amount of work with the traditional method to achieve the suitable cycle selections. In this paper, theoretic thermodynamic analysis is carried out to derive an explicit solution of the optimum pressure ratio split for maximizing the efficiency of the whole compression path. The effects of different variables on the optimum pressure ratio split are investigated according to the correlated variables in the solution function. A comparison calculation is also made to validate the effectiveness and accuracy of the explicit solution. The results show that the optimum pressure ratio split can be achieved with the derived solution function, which will significantly simplify the process of the cycle parameter selection.

A High Performance Low Pressure Ratio Turbine for Engine Electric Turbocompounding

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aman M. I. Mamat ◽  
Muhamad H. Padzillah ◽  
Alessandro Romagnoli ◽  
Ricardo F. Martinez-Botas
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Gasoline Engine ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Design Procedure ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Exhaust Gases ◽  
Electric Generator ◽  
Turbine Design

In order to enhance energy extraction from the exhaust gases of a highly boosted downsized engine, an electric turbo-compounding unit can be fitted downstream of the main turbocharger. The extra energy made available to the vehicle can be used to feed batteries which can supply energy to electric units like superchargers, start and stop systems or other electric units. The current research focuses on the design of a turbine for a 1.0 litre gasoline engine which aims to reduce the CO2 emissions of a “cost-effective, ultra-efficient gasoline engine in small and large family car segment”. A 1-D engine simulation showed that a 3% improvement in brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) can be expected with the use of an electric turbocompounding. However, the low pressure available to the exhaust gases expanded in the main turbocharger and the constant rotational speed required by the electric motor, motivated to design a new turbine which gives a high performance at lower pressures. Accordingly, a new turbine design was developed to recover energy of discharged exhaust gases at low pressure ratios (1.05–1.3) and to drive a small electric generator with a maximum power output of 1.0 kW. The design operating conditions were fixed at 50,000 rpm with a pressure ratio of 1.1. Commercially available turbines are not suitable for this purpose due to the very low efficiencies experienced when operating in these pressure ranges. The low pressure turbine design was carried out through a conventional non-dimensional mixed-flow turbine design method. The design procedure started with the establishment of 2-D configurations and was followed by the 3-D radial fibre blade design. A vane-less turbine volute was designed based on the knowledge of the rotor inlet flow direction and the magnitude of the absolute speed. The overall dimensions of the volute design were defined by the area-to-radius ratios at each respective volute circumferential azimuth angle. Subsequently, a comprehensive steady-state turbine performance analysis was performed by mean of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and it was found that a maximum of 76% of total-static efficiency ηt-s can be achieved at design speed.

Effect of Speed Ratio and Axial Spacing Variations on the Performance of a High Aspect Ratio, Low Speed Contra-Rotating Fan

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chetan S. Mistry ◽  
A. M. Pradeep
Keyword(s):  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
High Aspect Ratio ◽  
Total Pressure ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Speed Ratio ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Low Speed

This paper explores the effect of speed ratio and axial spacing between high aspect ratio, low speed contra-rotating pair rotors on their aerodynamic performance. The blades were designed with a low hub-tip ratio of 0.35 and an aspect ratio of 3.0. Numerical and experimental studies are carried out on these contra-rotating rotors operating at a Reynolds number of 1.258 × 105 (based on blade chord). The first and second rotors were designed to develop a pressure rise of 1100 Pa and 900 Pa, respectively, for total mass flow rate of 6 kg/s when both operating at a design speed of 2400 rpm. The performance of the fan was evaluated based on variations of total pressure and flow angles at off-design operating conditions. The measurementsof total pressure rise, flow angles etc. are taken upstream of the first rotor and in between the two rotors and downstream of the second rotor. The performance of the contra rotating stage is mainly influenced by the axial spacing between the rotors and speed ratio of both the rotors. The study reveals that the aerodynamics of the contra-rotating stage and stall margin is significantly affected by both the speed ratio as well as the axial spacing between the rotors. It was found that with increasing the speed ratio, the strong suction generated by the second rotor, improves the stage pressure rise and stall margin. Lower axial spacing changes the flow incidence to the second rotor and thereby improves the overall performance of the stage. This however, is accompanied by an increased noise level. The performance is investigated at different speed ratios of the rotors at varying axial spacing. Detailed numerical simulations have been conducted using ANSYS CFX13© using mixing plane approach between rotors. Numerical simulations are compared with experimental results at off-design conditions. These results are validated using the experimental data. Numerical simulations are expected to provide deeper insight into the flow physics of contra-rotating rotors which may be difficult to capture experimentally.

scholarly journals Design Studies of Lift Fan Engines Suitable for Use in Civilian VTOL Aircraft

1972 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Roelke ◽  
Steve Zigan
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Design Studies ◽  
Low Speed ◽  
Engine Design ◽  
Vtol Aircraft

Low pressure ratio fan engines are receiving increasing attention as a means to provide low speed lift for civilian VTOL transports. Two general types of fan lift engines that are being studied are integral fans and remote powered fans. Preliminary engine design studies of both types of lift fan systems have been made. This paper summarizes a portion of the results of the engine design studies, including the crucial engine requirements, and some of the characteristics of the emerging engine designs of each type.

Numerical Study on Aeroelastic Instability for a Low-Speed Fan

2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuen-Bae Lee ◽  
Mark Wilson ◽  
Mehdi Vahdati
Keyword(s):  
Performance Test ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Computational Domain ◽  
Low Speed ◽  
Acoustic Liners ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Fan Blade ◽  
Flutter Margin

Over recent years, engine designs have moved increasingly toward low specific thrust cycles to deliver significant specific fuel consumption (SFC) improvements. Such fan blades may be more prone to aerodynamic and aeroelastic instabilities than conventional fan blades. The aim of this paper is to analyze the flutter stability of a low-speed/low pressure ratio fan blade. By using a validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model (AU3D), three-dimensional unsteady simulations are performed for a modern low-speed fan rig for which extensive measured data are available. The computational domain contains a complete fan assembly with an intake duct and the downstream outlet guide vanes (OGVs), which is a whole low-pressure (LP) domain. Flutter simulations are conducted over a range of speeds to understand flutter characteristics of this blade. Only the first flap (1F) mode is considered in this work. Measured rig data obtained by using the same fan set but with two different lengths of the intake showed a significant difference in the flutter boundary for the two intakes. AU3D computations were performed for both intakes and were used to explain this difference between the two intakes, and showed that intake reflections play an important role in flutter of this blade. This observation indicates that the experiment with the long intake used for the performance test may be misleading for flutter. In the next phase of this work, two possible modifications for increasing the flutter margin of the fan blade were explored: changing the mode shape of the blade and using acoustic liners in the casing. The results show that it is possible to increase the flutter margin of the blade by either decreasing the ratio of the twisting to plunging motion in 1F mode or by introducing deep acoustic liners in the intake. The liners have to be deep enough to attenuate the flutter pressure waves and hence influence the stability. The results indicate the importance of reflection in flutter stability of the fan blade and clearly show that intake duct needs to be included in flutter study of any fan blade.

Enhancing Energy and Economic Performances of Combined Cycle Power Plants by Means of Gas-Cycle Regeneration

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Carapellucci ◽  
Lorena Giordano
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Unit Cost ◽  
Combined Cycle ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Inlet Temperature ◽  
Efficiency Gain ◽  
Gas Power Plant

Efficiency improvement in the gas turbine sector has been mainly driven by increasing the turbine inlet temperature and compressor pressure ratio. For a fixed technology level, a further efficiency gain can be achieved through the utilization of waste thermal energy. Regeneration is an internal recovery technique that allows the reduction of heat input required at combustor, by preheating the air at compressor outlet. Under certain operating conditions, the temperature of exhaust gas leaving the regenerator is still enough high to allow the steam production via an heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). Regeneration in steam-gas power plants (CCGT) has the potential to enhance thermal efficiency, but reduces the margins for external recovery and then the bottoming steam cycle capacity. Moreover, the reduction of exhausts temperature at gas turbine outlet requires the reconsideration of HRSG operating parameters, in order to limit the increase of waste heat at the stack. The aim of this study is to explore the potential benefits that regeneration in the gas cycle gives on the whole steam-gas power plant. The extent of energy and economic performances improvement is evaluated, varying the gas turbine specifications and the layout and operating conditions of HRSG. Hence simple and regenerative configurations based on single and multi-pressure HRSG are compared, focusing on efficiency, specific CO2 emissions and unit cost of electricity (COE).

scholarly journals Natural Circulation Characteristics at Low-Pressure Conditions through PANDA Experiments and ATHLET Simulations

2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domenico Paladino ◽  
Max Huggenberger ◽  
Frank Schäfer
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Natural Circulation ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Stability Performance ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Circulation Characteristics

Natural circulation characteristics at low pressure/low power have been studied by performing experimental investigations and numerical simulations. The PANDA large-scale facility was used to provide valuable, high quality data on natural circulation characteristics as a function of several parameters and for a wide range of operating conditions. The new experimental data allow for testing and improving the capabilities of the thermal-hydraulic computer codes to be used for treating natural circulation loops in a range with increased attention. This paper presents a synthesis of a part of the results obtained within the EU-Project NACUSP “natural circulation and stability performance of boiling water reactors.” It does so by using the experimental results produced in PANDA and by showing some examples of numerical simulations performed with the thermal-hydraulic code ATHLET.

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