scholarly journals Unsteady phenomena at the combustor-turbine interface

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 202-215
Author(s):  
Faisal Shaikh ◽  
Budimir Rosic

The combustor-turbine interface in a gas turbine is characterised by complex, highly unsteady flows. In a combined experimental and large eddy simulation (LES) study including realistic combustor geometry, the standard model of secondary flows in the nozzle guide vanes (NGV) is found to be oversimplified. A swirl core is created in the combustion chamber which convects into the first vane passages. Four main consequences of this are identified: variation in vane loading; unsteady heat transfer on vane surfaces; unsteadiness at the leading edge horseshoe vortex, and variation in the position of the passage vortex. These phenomena occur at relatively low frequencies, from 50–300 Hz. It seems likely that these unsteady phenomena result in non-optimal film cooling, and that by reducing unsteadiness designs with greater cooling efficiency could be achieved. Measurements were performed in a high speed test facility modelling a large industrial gas turbine with can combustors, including nozzle guide vanes and combustion chambers. Vane surfaces and endwalls of a nozzle guide vane were instrumented with 384 high speed thin film heat flux gauges, to measure unsteady heat transfer. The high resolution of measurements was such to allow direct visualisation in time of large scale turbulent structures over the endwalls and vane surfaces. A matching LES simulation was carried out in a domain matching experimental conditions including upstream swirl generators and transition duct. Data reduction allowed time-varying LES data to be recorded for several cycles of the unsteady phenomena observed. The combination of LES and experimental data allows physical explanation and visualisation of flow events.

Author(s):  
K. S. Chana

It has been shown that the secondary flows present within turbine nozzle guide vanes have a marked effect on heat transfer. The horse-shoe and passage vortices, for example, have a major impact on platform and vane suction surface heat transfer. To investigate these effects further, heat transfer and aerodynamic measurements have been made on an annular transonic turbine nozzle guide vane ring, with three different platform geometries. The measurements were taken in the Isentropic Light Piston test facility at RAE Pyestock at representative values of engine Reynolds number, Mach number and freestream gas-to-wall temperature ratio. This paper compares and discusses the measured platform and vane suction surface Nusselt and Mach number distributions for the three different endwall profiles. Comparisons with theoretical flow and heat transfer predictions are presented.


Author(s):  
Arash Farahani ◽  
Peter Childs

Strip seals are commonly used to prevent or limit leakage flows between nozzle guide vanes (NGV) and other gas turbine engine components that are assembled from individual segments. Leakage flow across, for example, a nozzle guide vane platform, leads to increased demands on the gas turbine engine internal flow system and a rise in specific fuel consumption (SFC). Careful attention to the flow characteristics of strip seals is therefore necessary. The very tight tolerances associated with strip seals provides a particular challenge to their characterisation. This paper reports the validation of CFD modelling for the case of a strip seal under very carefully controlled conditions. In addition, experimental comparison of three types of strip seal design, straight, arcuate, and cloth, is presented. These seals are typical of those used by competing manufacturers of gas turbine engines. The results show that the straight seal provides the best flow sealing performance for the controlled configuration tested, although each design has its specific merits for a particular application.


2012 ◽  
Vol 445 ◽  
pp. 1047-1052
Author(s):  
Alaaeldin H. Mustafa

Failure analysis investigation was conducted on 70 MW set of 1st stage turbine nozzle guide vanes (NGVs) of heavy industrial gas turbine. The failure was investigated using the light optical microscope (LOM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) in an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). The results of the analysis indicate that the NGVs which were made of Co base superalloy FSX-414 had been operated above the recommended operating hours under different fuel types in addition to inadequate repair process in previous repair removal. The XRD analysis of the fractured areas sample shows presence ofwhich might indicate the prolonged operation at high temperature. Keywords: cobalt-base; nozzle guide vanes, gas turbine.


1992 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 734-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Harasgama ◽  
C. D. Burton

Heat transfer and aerodynamic measurements have been made on the endwalls of an annular cascade of turbine nozzle guide vanes in the presence of film cooling. The results indicate that high levels of cooling effectiveness can be achieved on the endwalls of turbine nozzle guide vanes (NGV). The NGV were operated at the correct engine nondimensional conditions of Reynolds number, Mach number, gas-to-wall temperature ratio, and gas-to-coolant density ratio. The results show that the secondary flow and horseshoe vortex act on the coolant, which is convected toward the suction side of the NG V endwall passage. Consequently the coolant does not quite reach the pressure side/casing trailing edge, leading to diminished cooling in this region. Increasing the blowing rate from 0.52 to 1.1 results in significant reductions in heat transfer to the endwall. Similar trends are evident when the coolant temperature is reduced. Measured heat transfer rates indicate that over most of the endwall region the film cooling reduces the Nusselt number by 50 to 75 percent.


Author(s):  
S. P. Harasgama ◽  
C. D. Burton

Heat transfer and aerodynamic measurements have been made on the endwalls of an annular cascade of turbine nozzle guide vanes in the presence of film cooling. The results indicate that high levels of cooling effectiveness can be achieved on the endwalls of turbine nozzle guide vanes (NGV). The NGV were operated at the correct engine non-dimensional conditions of Reynolds number, Mach number, gas-to-wall temperature ratio and gas-to-coolant density ratio. The results show that the secondary flow and horse-shoe vortex act on the coolant which is converted towards the suction side of the NGV endwall passage. Consequently the coolant does not quite reach the pressure side/casing trailing edge, leading to diminished cooling in this region. Increasing the blowing rate from 0.52 to 1.1 results in significant reductions in heat transfer to the endwall. Similar trends are evident when the coolant temperature is reduced. Measured heat transfer rates indicate that over most of the endwall region the film cooling reduces the Nusselt number by 50% to 75%.


Author(s):  
S. P. Harasgama ◽  
E. T. Wedlake

Detailed heat transfer and aerodynamic measurements have been made on an annular cascade of highly loaded nozzle guide vanes. The tests were carried out in an Isentropic Light Piston test facility at engine representative Reynolds number, Mach number and gas-to-wall temperature ratio. The aerodynamics indicate that the vane has a weak shock at 65–70% axial chord (mid span) with a peak Mach number of 1.14. The influence of Reynolds number and Mach number on the Nusselt number distributions on the vane and endwall surfaces are shown to be significant. Computational techniques are used for the interpretation of test data.


Author(s):  
Kasem E. Ragab ◽  
Lamyaa El-Gabry

One of the approaches adopted to improve turbine efficiency and increase power to weight ratio is reducing vane count. In the current study, numerical analysis was performed for the heat transfer over the surface of nozzle guide vanes under the condition of reduced vane count using three dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. The investigation has taken place in two stages: the baseline nonfilm-cooled nozzle guide vane, and the film-cooled nozzle guide vane. A finite volume based commercial code (ANSYS CFX 15) was used to build and analyze the CFD models. The investigated annular cascade has no heat transfer measurements available; hence in order to validate the CFD models against experimental data, two standalone studies were carried out on the NASA C3X vanes, one on the nonfilm-cooled C3X vane and the other on the film-cooled C3X vane. Different modelling parameters were investigated including turbulence models in order to obtain good agreement with the C3X experimental data, the same parameters were used afterwards to model the industrial nozzle guide vanes. Three Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model variations were evaluated, the SST with Gamma-Theta transition model was found to yield the best agreement with the experimental results; model capabilities were demonstrated when the laminar to turbulent transition took place.


Author(s):  
S. Luque ◽  
V. Kanjirakkad ◽  
I. Aslanidou ◽  
R. Lubbock ◽  
B. Rosic ◽  
...  

This paper describes a new modular experimental facility that was purpose-built to investigate flow interactions between the combustor and first stage nozzle guide vanes of heavy duty power generation gas turbines with multiple can combustors. The first stage turbine nozzle guide vane is subjected to the highest thermal loads of all turbine components and therefore consumes a proportionally large amount of cooling air that contributes detrimentally to the stage and cycle efficiency. It has become necessary to devise novel cooling concepts that can substantially reduce the coolant air requirement but still allow the turbine to maintain its aerothermal performance. The present work aims to aid this objective by the design and commissioning of a high-speed linear cascade which consists of two can combustor transition ducts and four first stage nozzle guide vanes. This is a modular non-reactive air test platform with engine realistic geometries (gas path and near gas path), cooling system, and boundary conditions (inlet swirl, turbulence level and boundary layer). The paper presents the various design aspects of the high pressure blow down type facility, and the initial results from a wide range of aerodynamic and heat transfer measurements under highly engine realistic conditions.


1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (3) ◽  
pp. 384-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Harasgama ◽  
E. T. Wedlake

Detailed heat transfer and aerodynamic measurements have been made on an annular cascade of highly loaded nozzle guide vanes. The tests were carried out in an Isentropic Light Piston test facility at engine representative Reynolds number, Mach number, and gas-to-wall temperature ratio. The aerodynamics indicate that the vane has a weak shock at 65–70 percent axial chord (midspan) with a peak Mach number of 1.14. The influence of Reynolds number and Mach number on the Nusselt number distributions on the vane and endwall surfaces are shown to be significant. Computational techniques are used for the interpretation of test data.


Author(s):  
Lei-Yong Jiang ◽  
Yinghua Han ◽  
Prakash Patnaik

To understand the physics of volcanic ash impact on gas turbine hot-components and develop much-needed tools for engine design and fleet management, the behaviors of volcanic ash in a gas turbine combustor and nozzle guide vanes (NGV) have been numerically investigated. High-fidelity numerical models are generated, and volcanic ash sample, physical, and thermal properties are identified. A simple critical particle viscosity—critical wall temperature model is proposed and implemented in all simulations to account for ash particles bouncing off or sticking on metal walls. The results indicate that due to the particle inertia and combustor geometry, the volcanic ash concentration in the NGV cooling passage generally increases with ash size and density, and is less sensitive to inlet velocity. It can reach three times as high as that at the air inlet for the engine conditions and ash properties investigated. More importantly, a large number of the ash particles entering the NGV cooling chamber are trapped in the cooling flow passage for all four turbine inlet temperature conditions. This may reveal another volcanic ash damage mechanism originated from engine cooling flow passage. Finally, some suggestions are recommended for further research and development in this challenging field. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first study on detailed ash behaviors inside practical gas turbine hot-components in the open literature.


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