Numerical and experimental investigation into the accuracy of the fan scaling laws applied to large diameter axial flow fans

Author(s):  
Ockert PH Augustyn ◽  
Sybrand J van der Spuy ◽  
Theodor W von Backström
Author(s):  
J. A. Walsh ◽  
D. G. Gregory-Smith

This paper presents results of an experimental investigation into the effects of inlet skew on the flowfield of a large scale axial flow turbine cascade. The results are presented in terms of the development of the streamwise vorticity since, in classical terms, the streamwise vorticity generates the transverse velocity components that cause the generation of the secondary losses. Inlet skew is shown to have a profound effect on the distribution and magnitude of the generated losses. A number of correlations for the secondary losses are compared with the measured values and it is shown that the correlations are not adequate for accurate loss prediction purposes.


Author(s):  
Michael B. Wilkinson ◽  
Johan van der Spuy ◽  
Theodor W. von Backström

An axial flow fan design methodology is developed to design large diameter, low pressure rise, rotor-only fans for large air-cooled heat exchangers. The procedure aims to design highly efficient axial flow fans that perform well when subjected to off design conditions commonly encountered in air-cooled heat exchangers. The procedure makes use of several optimisation steps in order to achieve this. These steps include optimising the hub-tip ratio, vortex distribution, blading and aerofoil camber distributions in order to attain maximum total-to-static efficiency at the design point. In order to validate the design procedure a 24 ft, 8 bladed axial flow fan is designed to the specifications required for an air-cooled heat exchanger for a concentrated solar power (CSP) plant. The designed fan is numerically evaluated using both a modified version of the actuator disk model and a three dimensional periodic fan blade model. The results of these CFD simulations are used to evaluate the design procedure by comparing the fan performance characteristic data to the design specification and values calculated by the design code. The flow field directly down stream of the fan is also analysed in order to evaluate how closely the numerically predicted flow field matches the designed flow field, as well as determine whether the assumptions made in the design procedure are reasonable. The fan is found to meet the required pressure rise, however the fan total-to-static efficiency is found to be lower than estimated during the design process. The actuator disk model is found to under estimate the power consumption of the fan, however the actuator disk model does provide a reasonable estimate of the exit flow conditions as well as the total-to-static pressure characteristic of the fan.


Author(s):  
M. Ziabasharhagh ◽  
A. B. McKenzie ◽  
R. L. Elder

An experimental investigation has been carried out on the influence of a vaned recessed casing treatment on the stall margin improvement of axial flow fans with different hub to tip ratio, with and without inlet distortion. The inlet distortion tests were conducted on a 0.5 hub to tip ratio fan and significant increases in the flow range with only small drops in operating efficiency were observed. The clean flow tests were conducted on higher hub to tip ratio fans (0.7 and 0.9). In each case the stage characteristic was compared with the results obtained with a solid casing. Significant increases in the flow range, with only modest or no loss in operating efficiency, were observed for optimum configurations at both diameter ratios.


Author(s):  
Pierre Moussou ◽  
Vincent Fichet ◽  
Luc Pastur ◽  
Constance Duhamel ◽  
Yannick Tampango

Abstract In order to better understand the mechanisms of fretting wear damage of guide cards in some Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), an experimental investigation is undertaken at the Magaly facility in Le Creusot. The test rig consists of a complete Rod Cluster with eleven Guide Cards, submitted to axial flow inside a water tunnel. In order to mimic the effect of fretting wear, the four lower guide cards have enlarged gaps, so that the Control Rods are free to oscillate. The test rig is operated at ambient temperature and pressure, and Plexiglas walls can be arranged along its upper part, and a series of camera records the vibrations of the control rods above and below the guide cards. The vertical flow velocity is in the range of a few m/s. Beam-like pinned-pinned modes at about 5 Hz are observed, and oscillations of several mm of the central rods are measured, which come along with impacts at the higher flow velocities. A simple non-linear calculation reveals that the main effect of the impacts between Control Rods and Guide Cards is an increase of the natural frequency of the rods by about 10%. Furthermore, as the vibration spectra collapse remarkably well with the flow velocity, the experiments prove that turbulent forcing is responsible for the large oscillations of the control rods, no other mechanism being involved.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 5011
Author(s):  
Yanpeng Hao ◽  
Yifan Liao ◽  
Zhiqiang Kuang ◽  
Yijie Sun ◽  
Gaofeng Shang ◽  
...  

The discharges of water columns and droplets between the sheds make the leakage distance not effectively used, which is one of the main reasons for flashover of composite post insulators under heavy rainfall. To study the influence of shed parameters on surface rainwater characteristics, artificial rain tests were carried out on the large-diameter composite post insulators under the rainfall intensity of 2–15 mm/min. Lwc (the length of water columns at the edge of large sheds), Nwc (the number of water columns at the edge of large sheds), Nwde (the number of water droplets at the edge of large sheds) and Nwds (the number of water droplets in the space between two adjacent large sheds) were proposed as the parameters of surface rainwater characteristics. The influences of large shed spacing, large shed overhang and rod diameter on the parameters of surface rainwater characteristics under different rainfall intensities were analyzed. The experimental results show that, under the same rainfall intensity, with the rise in large shed spacing, large shed overhang or rod diameter, Lwc, Nwc, Nwde and Nwds all increase. Under different rainfall intensities, the trends of the parameters with the change in shed parameters are basically invariant; however, the change ranges of the parameters are different. The increases in the parameters with the rises in shed parameters and rainfall intensity are mainly attributed to the change in the rainfall on the insulator surface. The experimental results can provide references for the quantitative description of surface rainwater characteristics and the design of large-diameter composite post insulators for DC transmission systems.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (04) ◽  
pp. 1450047 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. ANWAR BEG ◽  
MD. MAINUL HOQUE ◽  
M. WAHIDUZZAMAN ◽  
MD. MAHMUD ALAM ◽  
M. FERDOWS

A computational simulation of magnetohydrodynamic laminar blood flow under pressure gradient through a curved bio-vessel, with circular cross-section is presented. Electrical conductivity and other properties of the biofluid (blood) are assumed to be invariant. A Newtonian viscous flow (Navier–Stokes magnetohydrodynamic) model is employed which is appropriate for large diameter blood vessels, as confirmed in a number of experimental studies. Rheological effects are therefore neglected as these are generally only significant in smaller diameter vessels. Employing a toroidal coordinate system, the steady-state, three-dimensional mass and momentum conservation equations are developed. With appropriate transformations, the transport model is non-dimensionalized and further simplified to a pair of axial and secondary flow momenta equations with the aid of a stream function. The resulting non-linear boundary value problem is solved with an efficient, spectral collocation algorithm, subject to physically appropriate boundary conditions. The influence of magnetic body force parameter, Dean number and vessel curvature on the flow characteristics is examined in detail. For high magnetic parameter and Dean number and low curvature, the axial flow is observed to be displaced toward the center of the vessel with corresponding low fluid particle vorticity strengths. Visualization is achieved with the MAPLE software. The simulations are relevant to cardiovascular biomagnetic flow control.


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