Recent Advances in Turbine Heat Transfer—With A View of Transition to Coal-Gas Based Systems

2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Minking K. Chyu

The performance goal of modern gas turbine engines, both land-base and air-breathing engines, can be achieved by increasing the turbine inlet temperature (TIT). The level of TIT in the near future can reach as high as 1700 °C for utility turbines and over 1900 °C for advanced military engines. To ensure the turbine airfoil component integrity operated under such a condition, advanced cooling capacity by both external and internal means was necessary to remove the excessive heat load from the turbine airfoil. This paper discusses state-of-the-art airfoil cooling technologies along with the associated thermal transport issues. Discussion is given based on five key regions on and around an airfoil: leading edge, main body, trailing edge, endwall, and near-tip. Potential implications and challenges of near-term developments in coal-gas based turbines on the cooling technologies are identified. A literature survey focusing primarily on the past 4–5years since the last International Heat Transfer Conference has also been performed.

Author(s):  
Minking K. Chyu

The performance goal of modern gas turbine engines, both land-base and air-breathing engines, can be achieved by increasing the turbine inlet temperature (TIT). The level of TIT in the near future can reach as high as 1700°C for utility turbines and over 1900°C for advanced military engines. To ensure the turbine airfoil component integrity operated under such a condition, advanced cooling capacity by both external and internal means is necessary to remove the excessive heat load from the turbine airfoil. This paper discusses state-of-the-art airfoil cooling technologies along with the associated thermal transport issues. Discussion is given based on five key regions on and around an airfoil: leading edge, main body, trailing edge, endwall and near tip. Potential implications and challenges of near-term developments in coal-gas based turbines on the cooling technologies are identified. A literature survey focusing primarily on the past four to five years since the last International Heat Transfer Conference has also been performed.


2011 ◽  
Vol 115 (1164) ◽  
pp. 83-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Bao ◽  
J. Qin ◽  
W. X. Zhou

Abstract A re-cooled cycle has been proposed for a regeneratively cooled scramjet to reduce the hydrogen fuel flow for cooling. Upon the completion of the first cooling, fuel can be used for secondary cooling by transferring the enthalpy from fuel to work. Fuel heat sink (cooling capacity) is thus repeatedly used and fuel heat sink is indirectly increased. Instead of carrying excess fuel for cooling or seeking for any new coolant, the cooling fuel flow is reduced, and fuel onboard is adequate to satisfy the cooling requirement for the whole hypersonic vehicle. A performance model considering flow and heat transfer is build. A model sensitivity study of inlet temperature and pressure reveals that, for given exterior heating condition and cooling panel size, fuel heat sink can be obviously increased at moderate inlet temperature and pressure. Simultaneously the low-temperature heat transfer deterioration and Mach number constrains can also be avoided.


Author(s):  
Kazuto Kakio ◽  
Y. Kawata

Recently, the number of gas turbine combined cycle plants is rapidly increasing in substitution of nuclear power plants. The turbine inlet temperature (TIT) is being constantly increased in order to achieve higher efficiency. Therefore, the improvement of the cooling technology for high temperature gas turbine blades is one of the most important issue to be solved. In a gas turbine, the main flow impinging at the leading edge of the turbine blade generates a so called horseshoe vortex by the interaction of its boundary layer and generated pressure gradient at the leading edge. The pressure surface leg of this horseshoe vortex crosses the passage and reaches the blade suction surface, driven by the pressure gradient existing between two consecutive blades. In addition, this pressure gradient generates a crossflow along the endwall. This all results into a very complex flow field in proximity of the endwall. For this reason, burnouts tend to occur at a specific position in the vicinity of the leading edge. In this research, a methodology to cool the endwall of the turbine blade by means of film cooling jets from the blade surface is proposed. The cooling performance and heat transfer coefficient distribution is investigated using the transient thermography method. CFD analysis is also conducted to know the phenomena occurring at the end wall and calculate the heat transfer distribution.


Author(s):  
P. J. Disimile ◽  
D. M. Paule

The primary objective of this paper is to present the results of research into the effects of periodic excitation upon the local heat transfer characteristics of a turbine blade cooled by an impinging jet of air. A curved plate (used to simulate the inner leading edge of a turbine blade) was subjected to a two-dimensional jet flow field (Re = 10,000) with a superimposed periodic acoustic disturbance. When compared to the naturally disturbed flow, the excited flow field was found to reduce the local Nusselt number and cool the blade less efficiently (by as much as ten percent in the extreme cases). The results of the study appear to indicate that harmonic disturbances present a serious controlling factor in the quest for optimization of turbine blade cooling techniques. By isolating dominant frequencies in gas turbine engines and working to suppress them, the authors believe it possible to make significant contributions towards the desired increase in turbine inlet temperature.


Author(s):  
Dieter E. Bohn ◽  
Volker J. Becker ◽  
Karsten A. Kusterer ◽  
Agnes U. Rungen

This paper presents the experimental investigation of the flow and the numerical analysis of the flow and heat transfer in a turbine guide vane with showerhead cooling for two different blowing ratios. The aerodynamic results are compared with those of the experiments. Starting with a showerhead design of two rows of ejection holes, two additional rows have to be used in an enhanced design due to hot gas contact in the leading edge area. Thus, the cooling gas mass flow is doubled when keeping the blowing ratio constant at m = 1.5. Lowering the amount of cooling gas needed whilst still guaranteeing sufficient cooling is the motivation for the analysis of the influence of a lower blowing ratio on the cooling efficiency. The investigated blowing ratios are m = 1.5 and m = 1.0. The experiments are conducted using a non-intrusive LDA technique. The numerical results are gained with a conjugate heat transfer and flow computer code that has been developed at the Institute of Steam and Gas Turbines. The results show that the blowing ratio has to be chosen carefully as the leading edge flow pattern and the heat transfer are strongly influenced by the blowing ratio. Lower blowing ratios lead to a better attachment of the cooling film and thus they hardly disturb the main flow. With the lower blowing ratio, the material temperature increases up to 1.5% of the total inlet temperature in the leading edge area on the pressure side, whereas it decreases locally for about 0.8% for the lower blowing ratio on the suction side. This is due to the enhanced attachment of the cooling gas film.


Author(s):  
Akira Murata ◽  
Satomi Nishida ◽  
Hiroshi Saito ◽  
Kaoru Iwamoto ◽  
Yoji Okita ◽  
...  

Internal convective cooling of gas-turbine airfoil is essential because turbine inlet temperature becomes higher for pursuing higher thermal efficiency. For higher cooling performance, heat transfer is often enhanced by installing ribs and/or pin-fins in the internal passage. In this study, in order to enhance heat transfer, the combination of spherical dimples, cylindrical protrusions, and transverse square ribs was applied to one wall of a narrow passage. As for the cylindrical protrusions, two different diameter cases were examined. The heat transfer enhancement was measured by a transient infrared thermography method for the Reynolds number of 2,000, 6,000, and 10,000. The pressure loss was also measured in the experiments, and RANS simulation was performed to give a rationale for the experimental results. The present results clearly showed the spatial variation of the local Nusselt number: the high Nusselt number was observed on the rib top-surface and also near the leading edge on the protrusion top-surface. In addition, the areas around the dimple’s trailing-edge on the oblique line connecting the neighbor dimples showed moderately enhanced heat transfer. When two different protrusion-diameter cases were compared, both the mean Nusselt number and the friction factor were similarly higher in the larger protrusion case than the smaller protrusion case, and therefore the larger protrusion case was more effective in cooling even when the pressure loss was taken into account.


Author(s):  
Shian Li ◽  
Gongnan Xie ◽  
Bengt Sundén ◽  
Weihong Zhang

A problem involved in the increase of the turbine inlet temperature of gas turbine engine is the failure of material because of excessive thermal stresses. This requires cooling methods to withstand the increase of the inlet temperature. Rib turbulators are often used in the mid-section of internal cooling ducts to augment the heat transfer from blade wall to the coolant. This study numerically investigates side-wall heat transfer of a rectangular passage with the leading/trailing walls being roughened by staggered ribs whose length is less than the passage width. Such a passage corresponds to the internal cooling passage near the leading edge of a turbine blade. The inlet Reynolds number is ranging from 12,000 to 60,000. The detailed 3D fluid flow and heat transfer over the side-wall are presented. The overall performances of several ribbed passages are evaluated and compared. It is found that the side-wall heat transfer coefficients of the passage with truncated (continuous) ribs on opposite walls are about 20%–27% (28%–43%) higher than those of a passage without ribs, while the pressure loss could be reduced compared to a passage with continuous ribs. It is suggested that the usage of truncated ribs is a suitable way to augment the side-wall heat transfer and improve the flow structure near the leading edge.


2011 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Mathison ◽  
C. W. Haldeman ◽  
M. G. Dunn

As controlled laboratory experiments using full-stage turbines are expanded to replicate more of the complicated flow features associated with real engines, it is important to understand the influence of the vane inlet temperature profile on the high-pressure vane and blade heat transfer as well as its interaction with film cooling. The temperature distribution of the incoming fluid governs not only the input conditions to the boundary layer but also the overall fluid migration. Both of these mechanisms have a strong influence on surface heat flux and therefore component life predictions. To better understand the role of the inlet temperature profile, an electrically heated combustor emulator capable of generating uniform, radial, or hot streak temperature profiles at the high-pressure turbine vane inlet has been designed, constructed, and operated over a wide range of conditions. The device is shown to introduce a negligible pressure distortion while generating the inlet temperature conditions for a stage-and-a-half turbine operating at design-corrected conditions. For the measurements described here, the vane is fully cooled and the rotor purge flow is active, but the blades are uncooled. Detailed temperature measurements are obtained at rake locations upstream and downstream of the turbine stage as well as at the leading edge and platform of the blade in order to characterize the inlet temperature profile and its migration. The use of miniature butt-welded thermocouples at the leading edge and on the platform (protruding into the flow) on a rotating blade is a novel method of mapping a temperature profile. These measurements show that the reduction in fluid temperature due to cooling is similar in magnitude for both uniform and radial vane inlet temperature profiles.


Author(s):  
Yuting Jiang ◽  
Qun Zheng ◽  
Guoqiang Yue ◽  
Ping Dong ◽  
Yu Jiang

In this paper, the idea of utilizing finely dispersed water-in-air mixture in the swirl channel to cool the leading edge of a turbine blade is proposed and investigated. The computational techniques are verified and the results are compared with dry air experimental data. Heat transfer enhancement is achieved by application of mist injection to the swirl cooling configuration that is modified from the well-known C3X airfoil. The results indicate that swirl cooling can take full advantage of mist addition. The effects of parameters, such as mist concentration, diameters, inlet temperature and inject velocity etc. are simulated and analyzed in this study.


Author(s):  
Paolo Adami ◽  
Simone Salvadori ◽  
Kam S. Chana

High pressure gas turbine stages are nowadays working under very challenging conditions. An usual HP stage design is based on transonic highly loaded blades cooled through impingement and film cooling techniques. An important research field for such type of turbine stages is presently represented by the investigation of unsteady performances for loss reduction and heat transfer optimization. Two special issues related to the unsteady stage interaction are addressed in the present work: the first concerns the casing/tip leakage flow, the second the effect and redistribution of inlet temperature hot-spots. The investigation of both requires unsteady modeling since these phenomena are mostly driven by the rotor-stator interaction. High temperature spots, for example, travel through the stator vane as a “hot streaks” of fluid that is mainly redistributed and steered: a simple model of this process is known as Kerrebrock and Mikolajczak’s “segregation effect”. A series of steady and unsteady simulations have been made on the HP MT1 turbine stage test rig of QinetiQ. Given an inlet uniform total pressure field, three different total temperature distributions have been simulated. The first is a uniform reference distribution of total temperature, while the other two non-uniform distributions have been obtained from experimental data with a different alignment with respect to the NGV leading edge. The numerical results have been compared with the experimental values provided by QinetiQ. The comparisons have been discussed focusing on the rotor blade and casing unsteady pressure and heat transfer rate.


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