Leading Edge Film Cooling of a Turbine Blade Model Through Single and Double Row Injection: Effects of Coolant Density

Experiments have been conducted on a large model of a turbine blade. Attention has been focussed on the leading edge region, which has a semi-circular shape and four rows of film cooling holes positioned symmetrically about the stagnation line. The cooling holes were oriented in a spanwise direction with an inclination of 30° to the surface, and had streamwise locations of ±15° and ±44° from the stagnation line. Film cooling effectiveness was measured using a heat/mass analogy. Single row cooling from the holes at 15° and 44° showed similar patterns: spanwise averaged effectiveness which rises from zero at zero coolant mass flow to a maximum value η* at some value of mass flow ratio M*, then drops to low values of η at higher M. The trends can be quantitatively explained from simple momentum considerations for either air or CO2 as the coolant gas. Close to the holes, air provides higher η values for small M. At higher M, particularly farther downstream, the CO2 may be superior. The use of an appropriately defined momentum ratio G collapses the data from both holes using either CO2 or air as coolant onto a single curve. For η*, the value of G for all data is about 0.1. Double row cooling with air as coolant shows that the relative stagger of the two rows is an important parameter. Holes in line with each other in successive rows can provide improvements in spanwise averaged film cooling effectiveness of as much as 100% over the common staggered arrangement. This improvement is due to the interaction between coolant from rows one and two, which tends to provide complete coverage of the downstream surface when the rows are placed correctly with respect to each other.

A Summary of the Cooled Turbine Blade Tip Heat Transfer and Film Effectiveness Investigations Performed by Dr. D. E. Metzger

The clearance gap between the stationary outer air seal and blade tips of an axial turbine allows a clearance gap leakage flow to be driven through the gap by the pressure-to-suction side pressure difference. The presence of strong secondary flows on the pressure side of the airfoil tends to deliver air from the hottest regions of the mainstream to the clearance gap. The blade tip region, particularly near the trailing edge, is very difficult to cool adequately with blade internal coolant flow. In this case, film cooling injection directly onto the blade tip region can be used in an attempt to directly reduce the heat transfer rates from the hot gases in the clearance gap to the blade tip. The present paper is intended as a memorial tribute to the late Professor Darryl E. Metzger who has made significant contributions in this particular area over the past decade. A summary of this work is made to present the results of his more recent experimental work that has been performed to investigate the effects of film coolant injection on convection heat transfer to the turbine blade tip for a variety of tip shapes and coolant injection configurations. Experiments are conducted with blade tip models that are stationary relative to the simulated outer air seal based on the result of earlier works that found the leakage flow to be mainly a pressure-driven flow which is related strongly to the airfoil pressure loading distribution and only weakly, if at all, to the relative motion between blade tip and shroud. Both heat transfer and film effectiveness are measured locally over the test surface using a transient thermal liquid crystal test technique with a computer vision data acquisition and reduction system for various combinations of clearance heights, clearance flow Reynolds numbers, and film flow rates with different coolant injection configurations. The present results reveal a strong dependency of film cooling performance on the choice of the coolant supply hole shapes and injection locations for a given tip geometry.

Uprated 501F Gas Turbine, 501FA

This paper introduces the engineering approach taken in developing the 501FA gas turbine, which is an uprated version of the existing 501F 150MW class gas turbine. The concepts and procedures which were utilized to uprate this gas turbine are also presented. To achieve better performance, new techniques were incorporated which reflected test results and operating experience. No advanced technologies were introduced. Instead, well experienced techniques are adopted so as not to deteriorate reliability. Improvement of the performance was mainly achieved mainly due to the reduction of cooling air. Tip clearances were also optimized based on shop test and field results.

Local Heat Transfer Coefficient and Adiabatic Wall Temperature Measurement Beneath Arrays of Staggered and Inline Impinging Jets

Recent work, Van Treuren et al. (1993), has shown the transient method of measuring heat transfer under an array of impinging jets allows the determination of local values of adiabatic wall temperature and heat transfer coefficient over the complete surface of the target plate. Using this technique, an inline array of impinging jets has been tested over a range of average jet Reynolds numbers (10,000–40,000) and for three channel height to jet hole diameter ratios (1, 2, and 4). The array is confined on three sides and spent flow is allowed to exit in one direction. Local values are averaged and compared with previously published data in related geometries. The current data for a staggered array is compared to those from an inline array with the same hole diameter and pitch for an average jet Reynolds number of 10,000 and channel height to diameter ratio of one. A comparison is made between intensity and hue techniques for measuring stagnation point and local distributions of heat transfer. The influence of the temperature of the impingement plate through which the coolant gas flows on the target plate heat transfer has been quantified.

Compressor Washing Maintains Plant Performance and Reduces Cost of Energy Production

This paper reports about the results of a field test conducted over a period of 8000 operating hours on the effect of combined on line and off line compressor washing on a 66 MW gas turbine operating in a combined cycle plant at UNA’s Lage Weide 5 power plant in Utrecht. Observations have shown a sustained high output level close to the nominal guaranteed rating, despite difficult atmospheric conditions. Investigations on the correlations between fouling gradients in the compressor and atmospheric conditions are also presented. The evaluation of the results demonstrate the importance of implementing an optimised regime of on line and off line washing in the preventive turbine maintenance program. It will improve the plant profitability by reducing the costs of energy production.

Development of the Trent Econopac

Through an alliance established in 1992 between Westinghouse Electric Corporation and Rolls-Royce plc, a program has been implemented that will bring the industrial Trent aero engine to the power generation marketplace. The Rolls-Royce Trent has been initially sized at 50 MW, with a development potential to higher power ratings, and is offered by Westinghouse as a complete power generation package, the “Trent EconoPac”. The Trent EconoPac sets a new performance standard in the industry with a nominal simple cycle efficiency of 42 percent. It is also ideal for combined cycle and cogeneration applications; a net combined cycle power of 63 MW at 52 percent efficiency can be developed. This paper describes the Trent industrial engine and EconoPac and reviews the development program with emphasis on unique features that benefit the power plant operator.

Film Cooling With Compound Angle Holes: Heat Transfer

Heat transfer coefficients have been measured for film cooling injection from a single row of holes laterally directed with a compound angle of 60°. Two hole configurations were tested, round holes and holes with a diffusing expansion at the exit. Streamwise directed round holes were also tested as a basis for comparison. All the holes were inclined at 35° with respect to the surface. The density ratio was 1.0, momentum flux ratios ranged from I = 0.16 to 3.9 and mass flux ratios from M = 0.4 to 2.0. Results are presented in terms of hf/h0, the ratio of film cooling heat transfer coefficient to the heat transfer coefficient for the undisturbed turbulent boundary layer at the same location. Results indicate that for the streamwise directed holes, the heat transfer rates are close to the levels that exist without injection. Similarly, at low momentum flux ratio, holes with a large compound angle had little effect on heat transfer rates. But at high momentum flux ratios, holes with a large compound angle had significantly increased heat transfer levels. The results were combined with adiabatic effectiveness results to evaluate the overall performance of the three geometries. It is shown that for evaluation of film cooling performance with compound angle injection, especially at high momentum flux ratios, it is critical to know the heat transfer coefficient, as the adiabatic effectiveness alone does not determine the performance. Compound angle injection at high momentum flux ratios gives higher effectiveness values than streamwise directed holes, but the higher heat transfer levels result in poorer overall performance.

The Highly Nonlinear Thermal Behavior of Film Cooling

The current view of film cooling/heating behavior is largely the result of room temperature experiments in which the high temperatures typical of gas turbines were only simulated. The simulation rests on the assumption/deduction that the effect of temperature on film cooling behavior is due solely to the effect of temperature on fluid density. A few experiments reported in the literature have included wide variation in temperature. In this article, the data from several of these are examined in order to determine the actual, observed effect of temperature on film cooling behavior. Literature data exhibit a highly linear relationship between Taw and Tfc when the film is injected through a slot, and Tfc/Tms lies in the range 0.8 to 1.27. The data also indicate that this relationship is highly nonlinear when Tfc/Tms is less than approximately 0.8. The nonlinearity is so pronounced that Taw may not decrease even though (Tfc/Tms) is decreased from 0.57 to 0.35. Nonlinearity in the relationship between Taw and Tfc has a major impact on optimum system design whenever the thermal designer has design control over the film coolant temperature.

Studies on Wake-Affected Heat Transfer Around the Circular Leading Edge of Blunt Body

Detailed measurements are performed about time-averaged beat transfer distributions around the leading edge of a blunt body which is affected by incoming periodic wakes from the upstream moving bars. The blunt body is a test model of a front portion of a turbine blade in gas turbines and consists of a semicircular cylindrical leading edge and a flat plate afterbody. A wide range of the steady and unsteady flow conditions are adopted as for the Reynolds number based on the diameter of the leading edge and the bar-passing Strouhal number. The measured heat transfer distributions indicate that the wakes passing over the leading edge cause significant increase in beat transfer before the separation and the higher Strouhal number results in higher heat transfer. From this experiment, a correlation for the heat transfer enhancement around the leading edge due to the periodic wakes is deduced as a function of the Stanton number and it is reviewed by comparison with the other experimental works.

Operating Experience and Economic Benefit of a 3-MW Gas Turbine in an Industrial Peak Shaving Application

In the late 1970’s, due to increasing electric energy costs and the potential for power interruption at Solar Turbines Incorporated’s Harbor Drive manufacturing facility, management evaluated several self-generating options available at the time. With large fluctuating loads and a very limited need for thermal energy, the appropriate solution was determined to be peak shaving. In 1980, a 2.5-MW dual fuel industrial gas turbine generator set was installed. Its intended operating cycle was during on-peak billing periods, 5 days a week throughout the year. Through August 31, 1993, the system has accumulated 22,743 hours of use and 3879 starts. Its overall start reliability has been 99.9% with an availability of 98.2%. Payback on the installation was in 4.2 years. It has continued to generate savings since installation, with net savings for 1992 alone exceeding $470,000. This paper highlights the key aspects of the economic methodology justifying installation of the peak shaving system, operating procedures, maintenance practices and system modifications put in place over the life of the installation.