Optimal Twisting of Blades in Axial Turbomachines

1979 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 367-371
Author(s):  
Y. A. Lesokhin

One possible way to improve the aerodynamic performance of turbomachines is to analyse and generalize existing results obtained from design and testing. These can be applied to develop a quantitative relationship between the geometry of various regions of the flow path and turbomachine performance. An optimal correlation between various geometric parameters can be established in this manner. By studying blade geometry of various kinds of axial turbomachine (compressors, gas turbines, hydraulic turbines and pumps), the author has found some regularities in their geometry which enabled the design of highly efficient blades. Regularities in the twisting of impeller blades of axial compressors working over a wide range of Mach numbers are represented in this work. Information is presented showing that analogous regularities exist also for axial hydraulic turbine and pump blades.

Author(s):  
Lorenzo Cozzi ◽  
Filippo Rubechini ◽  
Andrea Arnone ◽  
Savino Depalo ◽  
Pio Astrua ◽  
...  

Abstract The overall fraction of the power produced by renewable sources in the energy market has significantly increased in recent years. The power output of most of these clean sources is intrinsically variable. At present day and most likely in the upcoming future, due to the lack of inexpensive and reliable large energy storage systems, conventional power plants burning fossil fuels will still be part of the energy horizon. In particular, power generators able to promptly support the grid stability, such as gas turbines, will retain a strategic role. This new energy scenario is pushing gas turbine producers to improve the flexibility of their turbomachines, increasing the need for reliable numerical tools adopted to design and validate the new products also in operating conditions far from the nominal one. Especially when dealing with axial compressors, i.e. machines experiencing intense adverse pressure gradients, complex flow structures and severe secondary flows, CFD modelling of offdesign operation can be a real challenge. In this work, a state-of-the art CFD framework for RANS analysis of axial compressors is presented. The various aspects involved in the whole setup are discussed, including boundary conditions, meshing strategies, mixing planes modelling, tip clearance treatment, shroud leakages and turbulence modelling. Some experiences about the choice of these aspects are provided, derived from a long-date practice on this kind of turbomachines. Numerical results are reported for different full-scale compressors of the Ansaldo Energia fleet, covering a wide range of operating conditions. Furthermore, details about the capability of the setup to predict compressor performance and surge-margin have been added to the work. In particular, the setup surge-margin prediction has been evaluated in an operating condition in which the turbomachine experiences experimental stall. Finally, thanks to several on-field data available at different corrected speeds for operating conditions ranging from minimum to full load, a comprehensive validation of the presented numerical framework is also included in the paper.


Author(s):  
Hasan Karim ◽  
Kent Lyle ◽  
Shahrokh Etemad ◽  
Lance Smith ◽  
William Pfefferle ◽  
...  

This paper describes the design and testing of a catalytically-stabilized pilot burner for current and advanced Dry Low NOx (DLN) gas turbine combustors. In this paper, application of the catalytic pilot technology to industrial engines is described using Solar Turbines’ Taurus 70 engine. The objective of the work described is to develop the catalytic pilot technology and document the emission benefits of catalytic pilot technology when compared to higher, NOx producing pilots. The catalytic pilot was designed to replace the existing pilot in the existing DLN injector without major modification to the injector. During high pressure testing, the catalytic pilot showed no incidence of flashback or autoignition while operating over wide range of combustion temperatures. The catalytic reactor lit off at a temperature of approximately 598K (325°C/617°F) and operated at simulated 100% and 50% load conditions without a preburner. At high pressure, the maximum catalyst surface temperature was similar to that observed during atmospheric pressure testing and considerably lower than the surface temperature expected in lean-burn catalytic devices. In single injector rig testing, the integrated assembly of the catalytic pilot and Taurus 70 injector demonstrated NOx and CO emission less than 5 ppm @ 15% O2 for 100% and 50% load conditions along with low acoustics. The results demonstrate that a catalytic pilot burner replacing a diffusion flame or partially-premixed pilot in an otherwise DLN combustor can enable operation at conditions with substantially reduced NOx emissions.


2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 879-884 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Karim ◽  
K. Lyle ◽  
S. Etemad ◽  
L. L. Smith ◽  
W. C. Pfefferle ◽  
...  

This paper describes the design and testing of a catalytically stabilized pilot burner for current and advanced Dry Low NOx (DLN) gas turbine combustors. In this paper, application of the catalytic pilot technology to industrial engines is described using Solar Turbines’ Taurus 70 engine. The objective of the work described is to develop the catalytic pilot technology and document the emission benefits of catalytic pilot technology when compared to higher, NOx producing pilots. The catalytic pilot was designed to replace the existing pilot in the existing DLN injector without major modification to the injector. During high-pressure testing, the catalytic pilot showed no incidence of flashback or autoignition while operating over wide range of combustion temperatures. The catalytic reactor lit off at a temperature of approximately 598 K (325°C/617°F) and operated at simulated 100% and 50% load conditions without a preburner. At high pressure, the maximum catalyst surface temperature was similar to that observed during atmospheric pressure testing and considerably lower than the surface temperature expected in lean-burn catalytic devices. In single-injector rig testing, the integrated assembly of the catalytic pilot and Taurus 70 injector demonstrated NOx and CO emission less than 5 ppm @ 15% O2 for 100% and 50% load conditions along with low acoustics. The results demonstrate that a catalytic pilot burner replacing a diffusion flame or partially premixed pilot in an otherwise DLN combustor can enable operation at conditions with substantially reduced NOx emissions.


Author(s):  
Simon Wagner ◽  
Colin Cole ◽  
Maksym Spiryagin

AbstractRolling stock connection systems are key to running longer and heavier trains as they provide both the connections of vehicles and the damping, providing the longitudinal suspension of the train. This paper focuses on the evolution of both connection and stiffness damping systems. Focus is on freight rolling stock, but passenger draw gears are also examined. It was found that connection systems have evolved from the buff and chain system used in the pioneer railways of the 1800s to the modern auto-coupler connection systems that are in-service worldwide today. Refined versions of the buff and chain coupling are, however, still in use in the EU, UK, South America and India. A wide range of auto-coupler systems are currently utilised, but the AAR coupler (Janney coupler) remains the most popular. A further variation that persists is the SA3 coupler (improved Wilson coupler) which is an alternative auto-coupler design used mainly throughout the former Soviet Union. Restricting the review to auto-coupler systems allowed the paper to focus on draft gears which revealed polymer, polymer-friction, steel spring-friction, hydraulic draft gears and sliding sill cushioning systems. Along with the single compressive draft gear units balanced and floating plate configurations are also presented. Typical draft gear acceptance standards are presented along with modelling that was included to aid in presentation of the functional characteristics of draft gears.


Author(s):  
Karl W. Karstensen ◽  
Jesse O. Wiggins

Gas turbines have been accepted in naval surface ship applications, and considerable effort has been made to improve their fuel consumption, particularly at part-load operation. This is an important parameter for shipboard engines because both propulsion and electrical-generator engines spend most of their lives operating at off-design power. An effective way to improve part-load efficiency of recuperated gas turbines is by using a variable power turbine nozzle. This paper discusses the successful use of variable power turbine nozzles in several applications in a family of engines developed for vehicular, industrial, and marine use. These engines incorporate a variable power turbine nozzle and primary surface recuperator to yield specific fuel consumption that rivals that of medium speed diesels. The paper concentrates on the experience with the variable nozzle, tracing its derivation from an existing fixed vane nozzle and its use across a wide range of engine sizes and applications. Emphasis is placed on its potential in marine propulsion and auxiliary gas turbines.


Author(s):  
P. A. Phillips ◽  
Peter Spear

After briefly summarizing worldwide automotive gas turbine activity, the paper analyses the power plant requirements of a wide range of vehicle applications in order to formulate the design criteria for acceptable vehicle gas turbines. Ample data are available on the thermodynamic merits of various gas turbine cycles; however, the low cost of its piston engine competitor tends to eliminate all but the simplest cycles from vehicle gas turbine considerations. In order to improve the part load fuel economy, some complexity is inevitable, but this is limited to the addition of a glass ceramic regenerator in the 150 b.h.p. engine which is described in some detail. The alternative further complications necessary to achieve satisfactory vehicle response at various power/weight ratios are examined. Further improvement in engine performance will come by increasing the maximum cycle temperature. This can be achieved at lower cost by the extension of the use of ceramics. The paper is intended to stimulate the design application of the gas turbine engine.


Author(s):  
Sadao Kurosawa ◽  
Kiyoshi Matsumoto

In this paper, numerical method for predicting critical cavitation performance in a hydraulic turbine is presented. The prediction method is based on unsteady cavitation flow analysis to use bubble two-phase flow model. The prediction of the critical cavitation performance was carried out for the aixal hydraulic turbine and the francis turbine as a typical examples. Results compared to the experiment showed a good agreement for the volume of cavity and the performance drop off and it was recognized that this method could be used as an engineering tool of a hydraulic turbine development.


Author(s):  
Marios Patinios ◽  
James A. Scobie ◽  
Carl M. Sangan ◽  
J. Michael Owen ◽  
Gary D. Lock

In gas turbines, hot mainstream flow can be ingested into the wheel-space formed between stator and rotor disks as a result of the circumferential pressure asymmetry in the annulus; this ingress can significantly affect the operating life, performance, and integrity of highly stressed, vulnerable engine components. Rim seals, fitted at the periphery of the disks, are used to minimize ingress and therefore reduce the amount of purge flow required to seal the wheel-space and cool the disks. This paper presents experimental results from a new 1.5-stage test facility designed to investigate ingress into the wheel-spaces upstream and downstream of a rotor disk. The fluid-dynamically scaled rig operates at incompressible flow conditions, far removed from the harsh environment of the engine which is not conducive to experimental measurements. The test facility features interchangeable rim-seal components, offering significant flexibility and expediency in terms of data collection over a wide range of sealing flow rates. The rig was specifically designed to enable an efficient method of ranking and quantifying the performance of generic and engine-specific seal geometries. The radial variation of CO2 gas concentration, pressure, and swirl is measured to explore, for the first time, the flow structure in both the upstream and downstream wheel-spaces. The measurements show that the concentration in the core is equal to that on the stator walls and that both distributions are virtually invariant with radius. These measurements confirm that mixing between ingress and egress is essentially complete immediately after the ingested fluid enters the wheel-space and that the fluid from the boundary layer on the stator is the source of that in the core. The swirl in the core is shown to determine the radial distribution of pressure in the wheel-space. The performance of a double radial-clearance seal is evaluated in terms of the variation of effectiveness with sealing flow rate for both the upstream and the downstream wheel-spaces and is found to be independent of rotational Reynolds number. A simple theoretical orifice model was fitted to the experimental data showing good agreement between theory and experiment for all cases. This observation is of great significance as it demonstrates that the theoretical model can accurately predict ingress even when it is driven by the complex unsteady pressure field in the annulus upstream and downstream of the rotor. The combination of the theoretical model and the new test rig with its flexibility and capability for detailed measurements provides a powerful tool for the engine rim-seal designer.


Author(s):  
Nobuhiko Fukuda ◽  
Satoshi Someya ◽  
Koji Okamoto

It is thought that the pressure fluctuation can occur due to the interaction between flow through guide vanes and flow into runner blades, resulting in a vibration of turbine and a blade cracking, in a hydraulic turbine operated in a wide range for flexible power demand. High accurate velocity measurement with high time/spatial resolution can help to clarify the mechanism of the interaction and to provide good experimental data for the validation of numerical procedure. So the aim of present study is to estimate the unstable velocity field quantitatively in the area between guide vanes and runner blades, using high time-resolved particle image velocimetry (PIV). Two types of velocity measurements were carried out, i.e., phase-locked measurement and high time sequential velocity measurement, in a pump-turbine model with 20 guide vanes and 6 runner blades. The characteristic of the flow field varied corresponding to the operating conditions such as flow rate and rotational speed. Opening angles of guide vanes were kept uniform. A clockwise vortex was generated at inside of the runner blade under smaller rotational speed. A counterclockwise vortex was separated at the backside of the runner blade under higher rotational speed. At any operating conditions, the velocity between guide vanes and runner blades oscillated periodically at the blade passing frequency.


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