Numerical Comparison of Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop in Gas Turbine Blade Cooling Channels With Dimples and Rib-Turbulators

Author(s):  
R. S. Amano ◽  
Krishna S. Guntur ◽  
Sourabh Kumar ◽  
Jose Martinez Lucci

In order to enhance the performance of a gas turbine and to maintain the blade material within operating temperature range, cooling channels are made within the blade materials that extract the heat. The walls of these cooling channels are usually enhanced with some sort of turbulence generators — ribs and dimples being the most common. While both the geometries provide improvement in enhancing the heat transfer, dimples usually have a lower pressure drop. It is essential to improve the heat transfer rate with a minimal pressure loss. In this study, the heat transfer and pressure loss are determined numerically and combined to show the effect of both in channels with ribs and dimples on one wall of the channel. Similar geometric and boundary conditions are used for both the turbulators. Reynolds numbers of 12,500 and 28,500, based on the hydraulic diameter are used for the study. The Reynolds-Stress Model was used for all the computations as a turbulence model by employing Fluent.

Author(s):  
Arash Saidi ◽  
Bengt Sundén

Internal cooling channels are commonly used to reduce the thermal loads on the gas turbine blades to improve overall efficiency. In this study a numerical investigation has been carried out to provide a validated and consistent method to deal with the prediction of the fluid flow and the heat transfer of such channels with square cross sections. The rotation modified Navier-Stokes and energy equations together with a low-Re number version of the k-ε turbulence model are solved with appropriate boundary conditions. The solution procedure is based on a numerical method using a collocated grid, and the pressure-velocity coupling is handled by the SIMPLEC algorithm. The computations are performed with the assumption of fully developed periodic conditions. The calculations are carried out for smooth ducts with and without rotation and effects of rotation on the heat transfer are described. Similar numerical calculations have carried out for channels with rib-roughened walls. The obtained results are compared with available experimental data and empirical correlations for the heat transfer rate and the friction factor. Some details of the flow and heat transfer fields are also presented.


Author(s):  
Shinjan Ghosh ◽  
Jayanta S. Kapat

Abstract Gas Turbine blade cooling is an important topic of research, as a high turbine inlet temperature (TIT) essentially means an increase in efficiency of gas turbine cycles. Internal cooling channels in gas turbine blades are key to the cooling and prevention of thermal failure of the material. Serpentine channels are a common feature in internal blade cooling. Optimization methods are often employed in the design of blade internal cooling channels to improve heat-transfer and reduce pressure drop. Topology optimization uses a variable porosity approach to manipulate flow geometries by adding or removing material. Such a method has been employed in the current work to modify the geometric configuration of a serpentine channel to improve total heat transferred and reduce the pressure drop. An in-house OpenFOAM solver has been used to create non-traditional geometries from two generic designs. Geometry-1 is a 2-D serpentine passage with an inlet and 4 bleeding holes as outlets for ejection into the trailing edge. Geometry-2 is a 3-D serpentine passage with an aspect ratio of 3:1 and consists of two 180-degree bends. The inlet velocity for both the geometries was used as 20 m/s. The governing equations employ a “Brinkman porosity parameter” to account for the porous cells in the flow domain. Results have shown a change in shape of the channel walls to enhance heat-transfer in the passage. Additive manufacturing can be employed to make such unconventional shapes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 140 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharine K. Ferster ◽  
Kathryn L. Kirsch ◽  
Karen A. Thole

The demand for higher efficiency is ever present in the gas turbine field and can be achieved through many different approaches. While additively manufactured parts have only recently been introduced into the hot section of a gas turbine engine, the manufacturing technology shows promise for more widespread implementation since the process allows a designer to push the limits on capabilities of traditional machining and potentially impact turbine efficiencies. Pin fins are conventionally used in turbine airfoils to remove heat from locations in which high thermal and mechanical stresses are present. This study employs the benefits of additive manufacturing to make uniquely shaped pin fins, with the goal of increased performance over conventional cylindrical pin fin arrays. Triangular, star, and spherical shaped pin fins placed in microchannel test coupons were manufactured using direct metal laser sintering (DMLS). These coupons were experimentally investigated for pressure loss and heat transfer at a range of Reynolds numbers. Spacing, number of pin fins in the array, and pin fin geometry were variables that changed pressure loss and heat transfer in this study. Results indicate that the additively manufactured triangles and cylinders outperform conventional pin fin arrays, while stars and dimpled spheres did not.


Author(s):  
Katharine K. Ferster ◽  
Kathryn L. Kirsch ◽  
Karen A. Thole

The demand for higher efficiency is ever-present in the gas turbine field and can be achieved through many different approaches. While additively manufactured parts have only recently been introduced into the hot section of a gas turbine engine, the manufacturing technology shows promise for more widespread implementation since the process allows a designer to push the limits on capabilities of traditional machining and potentially impact turbine efficiencies. Pin fins are conventionally used in turbine airfoils to remove heat from locations in which high thermal and mechanical stresses are present. This study employs the benefits of additive manufacturing to make uniquely shaped pin fins, with the goal of increased performance over conventional cylindrical pin fin arrays. Triangular, star, and spherical shaped pin fins placed in microchannel test coupons were manufactured using Direct Metal Laser Sintering. These coupons were experimentally investigated for pressure loss and heat transfer at a range of Reynolds numbers. Spacing, number of pin fins in the array, and pin fin geometry were variables that changed pressure loss and heat transfer in this study. Results indicate that the additively manufactured triangles and cylinders outperform conventional pin fin arrays, while stars and dimpled spheres did not.


Author(s):  
A. P. Le ◽  
J. S. Kapat

In the quest for enhancing heat-transfer for the internal cooling channels of advanced turbo-machines, many schemes have been used and developed over the years. One such scheme is the use of rib turbulators. There have been fundamental studies in the past to understand the heat transfer enhancement phenomena caused by flow separation due to the presence of ribs. Typical ribs investigated in laboratory type experiments are square in nature i.e. the height, e, of the rib and the width, w, is the same. Although the literature deals with the effects of various rib shapes, little is known about the effect of having e/w not equal to unity. In this paper we investigate the degree of heat transfer enhancement caused by ribs with e/w not equal to unity. Experiments are carried out in a straight duct with ribs oriented normal to the main flow. The P/e ratio, P being the pitch of the ribs, is kept at a constant value of 10 while the ratio w/P is varied systematically from 0.1 to 0.5. Results are reported for Reynolds numbers ranging from 20,000 to 40,000. The aspect ratio of the channel is varied from 1:4 to 1:8 (Height : Width) and their effect is also shown. For all the cases investigated, pressure drop penalty is also presented.


Author(s):  
Lesley M. Wright ◽  
Wen-Lung Fu ◽  
Je-Chin Han

An experimental study was performed to measure the heat transfer distributions and frictional losses in rotating ribbed channels with an aspect ratio of 4:1. Angled, discrete angled, V-shaped, and discrete V-shaped ribs were investigated, as well as the newly proposed W-shaped and discrete W-shaped ribs. In all cases, the ribs are placed on both the leading and trailing surfaces of the channel, and they are oriented 45° to the mainstream flow. The rib height-to-hydraulic diameter ratio (e/D) is 0.078, and the rib pitch-to-height ratio (P/e) is 10. The channel orientation with respect to the direction of rotation is 135°. The range of flow parameters includes Reynolds number (Re = 10000–40000), rotation number (Ro = 0.0–0.15), and inlet coolant-to-wall density ratio (Δρ/ρ = 0.12). Both heat transfer and pressure measurements were taken, so the overall performance of each rib configuration could be evaluated. It was determined that the W-shaped and discrete W-shaped ribs had the superior heat transfer performance in both non-rotating and rotating channels. However, these two configurations also incurred the greatest frictional losses while the discrete V-shaped and discrete angled ribs resulted in the lowest pressure drop. Based on the heat transfer enhancement and the pressure drop penalty, the discrete V-shaped ribs and the discrete W-shaped ribs exhibit the best overall thermal performance in both rotating and non-rotating channels. These configurations are followed closely by the W-shaped ribs. The angled rib configuration resulted in the worst performance of the six configurations of the present study.


2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad O. Hamdan ◽  
Emad Elnajjar ◽  
Yousef Haik

The paper investigates experimentally and numerically the heat transfer augmentation from a semicircular heated surface due to confined slot-jet impingement. For different Reynolds numbers, the average and local Nusselt numbers are calculated by reporting the heater thermal image obtained by an infrared camera, the inlet and outlet flow temperature via thermocouples, the flow rate via rotameter, and the pressure drop across the inlet and outlet flow via pressure transducers. The single enclosed jet flow is used to create a single cyclone inside the internal semicircular channel to promote the heat transfer at different jet Reynolds numbers (Rejet = 1000–5000). Three turbulence models, namely, the standard k – ɛ, k – ω and the Reynolds stress model (RSM) have been investigated in the present paper by comparing Nusselt number and normalized pressure drop distribution against the experimental data, helping ascertain on the relative merits of the adopted models. The computational fluid dynamics results show that the RSM turbulent model reasonably forecast the experimental data.


2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 604-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley M. Wright ◽  
Wen-Lung Fu ◽  
Je-Chin Han

An experimental study was performed to measure the heat transfer distributions and frictional losses in rotating ribbed channels with an aspect ratio of 4:1. Angled, discrete angled, V-shaped, and discrete V-shaped ribs were investigated, as well as the newly proposed W-shaped and discrete W-shaped ribs. In all cases, the ribs are placed on both the leading and trailing surfaces of the channel, and they are oriented 45 deg to the mainstream flow. The rib height-to-hydraulic diameter ratio e/D is 0.078, and the rib pitch-to-height ratio P/e is 10. The channel orientation with respect to the direction of rotation is 135 deg. The range of flow parameters includes Reynolds number (Re=10,000–40,000), rotation number Ro=0.0-0.15, and inlet coolant-to-wall density ratio (Δρ/ρ=0.12). Both heat transfer and pressure measurements were taken, so the overall performance of each rib configuration could be evaluated. It was determined that the W-shaped and discrete W-shaped ribs had the superior heat transfer performance in both nonrotating and rotating channels. However, these two configurations also incurred the greatest frictional losses while the discrete V-shaped and discrete angled ribs resulted in the lowest pressure drop. Based on the heat transfer enhancement and the pressure drop penalty, the discrete V-shaped ribs and the discrete W-shaped ribs exhibit the best overall thermal performance in both rotating and nonrotating channels. These configurations are followed closely by the W-shaped ribs. The angled rib configuration resulted in the worst performance of the six configurations of the present study.


Author(s):  
I. Borisov ◽  
A. Khalatov ◽  
S. Kobzar ◽  
B. Glezer

Achieving a high heat transfer effectiveness at low pressure losses in narrow channels continue to present a significant challenge for designers of gas turbine components and heat exchangers. The task of low pressure losses often requires that some of these components, particularly heat exchangers, have to operate at a flow rate that corresponds to relatively low Reynolds numbers ranging from 200 to 800. The operation at higher Reynolds numbers permits to improve the recuperator performance, however it leads to unacceptable pressure losses. Introduction of hemispherical dimples for heat transfer augmentation has become recently one of the promising techniques for achieving higher heat transfer performance in narrow channels at an acceptable pressure loss level. A structural support between the primary heat transfer surfaces is usually required for a double walled back-side cooled turbine components and multichannel heat exchangers (recuperators), operating with pressure differential between cold and hot channels. For this purpose in the current study spherical protrusions (reversed dimples) were employed on a panel opposing a dimpled panel. This structural arrangement was expected to result in additional blockage of the channel cross-section and certain increases in a pressure loss. The experimental study has been performed to assess the effect of spherical dimples and protrusions on heat transfer and pressure losses in a formed narrow channel. The airflows in the experiments corresponded to the Reynolds number ranging from 800 to 6,500. A dimple diameter and depth were 10.0 mm and 2.0 mm, correspondingly; the protrusions established the 2.0 mm height of the channels. Both the in-line and staggered dimple arrangements were studied with the x-pitch ranging from 9.0 to 18.0 mm and z-pitch changing from 13.0 to 18.0 mm. The data presented in this paper include results for measurements of average heat transfer coefficients and pressure losses. Reynolds analogy factor and thermal performance of the primary surface were obtained and discussed in the paper. Considering potential application of studied surfaces for gas turbine heat exchangers, the paper provided a comparison between a “pure” dimpled channel, dimpled channel with protrusions against a more traditional channel with sinusoidal corrugated primary surface. As expected, the protrusions in the channel enhanced the heat transfer, but led to increased pressure losses due to the partial destruction of the dimple-generated vortex structures. Nevertheless, it was demonstrated that the Reynolds analogy factor of 0.4 could be achieved in a dimpled channel with protrusions, resulting in overall pressure losses of under 5% for the application in a recuperator core.


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