Uncertainty Propagation Analyses of Lean Burn Combustor Exit Conditions for a Robust Nozzle Cooling Design

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Schneider ◽  
Heinz-Peter Schiffer ◽  
Knut Lehmann

Abstract Knowing the flow conditions at the combustor turbine interface is a key asset for an efficient cooling design of high-pressure turbines. However, measurements and numerical predictions of combustor exit conditions are challenging due to the extreme temperatures and complex flow patterns in modern combustors. Even the time-averaged flow fields at the combustor exit which are commonly used as inlet condition for simulations of the turbine are therefore subject to uncertainty. The goal of this paper is to illustrate how aleatory uncertainties in the magnitude and position of residual swirl and hot spots at the combustor exit affect uncertainties in the prediction of cooling and heat load of the first nozzle guide vane. Also, it is identified which of these uncertain parameters have the greatest impact. An iso-thermal test rig and an engine realistic setup with lean burn inflow conditions are investigated. The analysis combines a parameterized model for combustor exit flow fields with uncertainty quantification methods. It is shown that the clocking position of turbine inlet swirl has a large effect on the formation of secondary flows on the vane surface and thus affects the uncertainty of thermal predictions on the hub and vanes.

Author(s):  
Mahmood H. Alqefl ◽  
Kedar P. Nawathe ◽  
Pingting Chen ◽  
Rui Zhu ◽  
Yong W. Kim ◽  
...  

Abstract Flow over gas turbine endwalls is complex and highly three-dimensional. As boundaries for modern engine designs are pushed, this already-complex flow is affected by aggressive application of film cooling flows that actively interact. This two-part study describes, experimentally, the aero-thermal interaction of cooling flows near the endwall of a first stage nozzle guide vane passage. The approach flow conditions represent flow exiting a low-NOx combustor. The test section includes geometric and cooling details of a combustor-turbine interface in addition to endwall film cooling flows injected upstream of the passage. The first part of this study describes in detail, the passage aerodynamics as affected by injection of cooling flows. It reveals a system of secondary flows, including the newly-discovered Impingement Vortex, which redefines our understanding of the aerodynamics of flow in a modern, film-cooled, first-stage vane row. The second part investigates, through thermal measurements, the distribution, mixing and disruption of cooling flows over the endwall. Measurements are made with and without active endwall film cooling. Descriptions are made through adiabatic surface effectiveness measurements and correlations with in-passage velocity (presented in part one) and thermal fields. Results show that the newly-discovered impingement vortex has a positive effect on coolant distribution through passage vortex suppression and by carrying the coolant to hard-to-cool regions in the passage, including the pressure surface near the endwall.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-39
Author(s):  
Mahmood H. Alqefl ◽  
Kedar P. Nawathe ◽  
Pingting Chen ◽  
Rui Zhu ◽  
Yong Kim ◽  
...  

Abstract Flow over gas turbine endwalls is complex and highly three-dimensional. As boundaries for modern engine designs are pushed, this already-complex flow is affected by aggressive application of film cooling flows that actively interact. This two-part study describes, experimentally, the aero-thermal interaction of cooling flows near the endwall of a first stage nozzle guide vane passage. The approach flow conditions represent flow exiting a low-NOx combustor. The test section includes geometric and cooling details of a combustor-turbine interface in addition to endwall film cooling flows injected upstream of the passage. The first part of this study describes in detail, the passage aerodynamics as affected by injection of cooling flows. It reveals a system of secondary flows, including the newly-discovered Impingement Vortex, which redefines our understanding of the aerodynamics of flow in a modern, film-cooled, first-stage vane row. The second part investigates, through thermal measurements, the distribution, mixing and disruption of cooling flows over the endwall. Measurements are made with and without active endwall film cooling. Descriptions are made through adiabatic surface effectiveness measurements and correlations with in-passage velocity (presented in part one) and thermal fields. Results show that the newly-discovered impingement vortex has a positive effect on coolant distribution through passage vortex suppression and by carrying the coolant to hard-to-cool regions in the passage, including the pressure surface near the endwall.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Town ◽  
Cengiz Camci

Five-Hole Probes (FHP), being a dependable and accurate aerodynamic tool, are an excellent choice for measuring three-dimensional flow fields in turbomachinery. To improve spatial resolution, a subminiature FHP with a diameter of 1.68 mm is employed. High length to diameter ratio of the tubing and manual pitch and yaw calibration cause increased uncertainty. A new FHP calibrator is designed and built to reduce the uncertainty by precise, computer controlled movements and reduced calibration time. The calibrated FHP is then placed downstream of the nozzle guide vane (NGV) assembly of a low-speed, large-scale, axial flow turbine. The cold flow HP turbine stage contains 29 vanes and 36 blades. A fast and computer controllable traversing system is implemented using an adaptive grid method for the refinement of measurements in regions such as vane wake, secondary flows, and boundary layers. The current approach increases the possible number of measurement points in a two-hour period by 160%. Flow structures behind the NGV measurement plane are identified with high spatial resolution and reduced uncertainty. The automated pitch and yaw calibration and the adaptive grid approach introduced in this study are shown to be a highly effective way of measuring complex flow fields in the research turbine.


Author(s):  
Jonathan Hilgert ◽  
Martin Bruschewski ◽  
Holger Werschnik ◽  
Heinz-Peter Schiffer

In order to fully understand the physical behavior of lean burn combustors and its influence on high pressure turbine stages in modern jet engines, the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) promises to be a valuable addition to experimental techniques. The numerical investigations of this paper are based on the Large Scale Turbine Rig (LSTR) at Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany which has been set up to explore the aerothermal combustor turbine interaction. The underlying numerical grids of the simulations take account of the complex cooling design to the fullest extent, considering coolant cavities, cooling holes and vane trailing edge slots within the meshing process. In addition to the k-ω-SST turbulence model, Scale-Adaptive Simulation (SAS) is applied for a computational domain comprising swirl generator and nozzle guide vanes in order to overcome the shortcomings of eddy viscosity turbulence models with regard to streamline curvature. The numerical results are compared with Five Hole Probe measurements at different streamwise locations showing good agreement and allowing for a more detailed examination of the complex flow physics caused by the interaction of turbine flow with lean-burn combustion and advanced film-cooling concepts. Moreover, numerically predicted Nu-contours on the hub end wall of the nozzle guide vane are validated by means of Infrared Thermography measurements.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmood Alqefl ◽  
Kedar Nawathe ◽  
Pingting Chen ◽  
Rui Zhu ◽  
Yong Kim ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Johan Hja¨rne ◽  
Valery Chernoray ◽  
Jonas Larsson ◽  
Lennart Lo¨fdahl

In this paper 3D numerical simulations of turbulent incompressible flows are validated against experimental data from the linear low pressure turbine/outlet guide vane (LPT/OGV) cascade at Chalmers in Sweden. The validation focuses on the secondary flow-fields and loss developments downstream of a highly loaded OGV. The numerical simulations are performed for the same inlet conditions as in the test-facility with engine-like properties in terms of Reynolds number, boundary-layer thickness and inlet flow angles with the goal to validate how accurately and reliably the secondary flow fields and losses for both on- and off-design conditions can be predicted for OGV’s. Results from three different turbulence models as implemented in FLUENT, k-ε Realizable, kω-SST and the RSM are validated against detailed measurements. From these results it can be concluded that the RSM model predicts both the secondary flow field and the losses most accurately.


2021 ◽  
Vol 143 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmood H. Alqefl ◽  
Kedar P. Nawathe ◽  
Pingting Chen ◽  
Rui Zhu ◽  
Yong W. Kim ◽  
...  

Abstract Modern gas turbines are subjected to very high thermal loading. This leads to a need for aggressive cooling to protect components from damage. Endwalls are particularly challenging to cool due to a complex system of secondary flows near them that wash and disrupt the protective coolant films. This highly three-dimensional flow not only affects but is also affected by the momentum of film cooling flows, whether injected just upstream of the passage to intentionally cool the endwall or as combustor cooling flows injected further upstream in the engine. This complex interaction between the different cooling flows and passage aerodynamics has been recently studied in a first stage nozzle guide vane. The present paper presents a detailed study on the sensitivity of aero-thermal interactions to endwall film cooling mass flow to mainstream flow ratio. The test section represents a first stage nozzle guide vane with a contoured endwall and endwall film cooling injected just upstream of it. The test section also includes an engine-representative combustor–turbine interface geometry with combustor cooling flows injected at a constant rate. The approach flow conditions represent flow exiting a low-NOx combustor. Adiabatic surface thermal measurements and in-passage velocity and thermal field measurements are presented and discussed. The results show the dynamics of passage vortex suppression and the increase of impingement vortex strength as MFR changes. The effects of these changes of secondary flows on coolant distribution are presented.


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):  
Mahmood H. Alqefl ◽  
Kedar P. Nawathe ◽  
Pingting Chen ◽  
Rui Zhu ◽  
Yong W. Kim ◽  
...  

Abstract The first stage turbine of a modern gas turbine is subjected to high thermal loads which lead to a need for aggressive cooling schemes to protect its components from melting. Endwalls are particularly challenging to cool due to the complex system of secondary flows near them that wash the protective film coolants into the mainstream. This paper shows that without including combustor cooling, the complex secondary flow physics are not representative of modern engines. Aggressive injection of all cooling flows upstream of the passage is expected to interact and change passage aerodynamics and, subsequently, mixing and transport of coolants. This study describes, experimentally, the aero-thermal interaction of cooling flows near the endwall of a first stage nozzle guide vane passage. The test section involves an engine-representative combustor-turbine interface geometry, combustor coolant flow and endwall film cooling flow injected upstream of a linear cascade. The approach flow conditions represent flow exiting a cooled, low-NOx combustor. This first part of this two-part study aims to understand the complex aerodynamics near the endwall through detailed measurements of passage three-dimensional velocity fields with and without endwall film cooling. The aerodynamic measurements reveal a dominant vortex in the passage, named here as the Impingement Vortex, that opposes the passage vortex formed at the airfoil leading edge plane. This Impingement Vortex completely changes our description of flow over a modern film cooled endwall.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-54
Author(s):  
Mahmood H. Alqefl ◽  
Kedar P. Nawathe ◽  
Pingting Chen ◽  
Rui Zhu ◽  
Yong W. Kim ◽  
...  

Abstract The first stage turbine of a modern gas turbine is subjected to high thermal loads which lead to a need for aggressive cooling schemes to protect its components from melting. Endwalls are particularly challenging to cool due to the complex system of secondary flows near them that wash the protective film coolants into the mainstream. This paper shows that without including combustor cooling, the complex secondary flow physics are not representative of modern engines. Aggressive injection of all cooling flows upstream of the passage is expected to interact and change passage aerodynamics and, subsequently, mixing and transport of coolants. This study describes, experimentally, the aero-thermal interaction of cooling flows near the endwall of a first stage nozzle guide vane passage. The test section involves an engine-representative combustor-turbine interface geometry, combustor coolant flow and endwall film cooling flow injected upstream of a linear cascade. The approach flow conditions represent flow exiting a cooled, low-NOx combustor. This first part of this two-part study aims to understand the complex aerodynamics near the endwall through detailed measurements of passage three-dimensional velocity fields with and without endwall film cooling. The aerodynamic measurements reveal a dominant vortex in the passage, named here as the Impingement Vortex, that opposes the passage vortex formed at the airfoil leading edge plane. This Impingement Vortex completely changes our description of flow over a modern film cooled endwall.


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