Turbine Geometry
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Durham E-Theses The Application of Non-Axisymmetric Endwall Contouring in a 1 Stage, Rotating Turbine SNEDDEN, GLEN,CAMPBELL How to cite: SNEDDEN, GLEN,CAMPBELL (2011) The Application of Non-Axisymmetric Endwall Contouring in a 1 Stage, Rotating Turbine, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3343/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 The Application of Non-Axisymmetric Endwall Contouring in a 1½ Stage, Rotating Turbine Glen Campbell Snedden A thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Engineering Durham University England 2011 ii The Application of Non-Axisymmetric Endwall Contouring in a 1½ Stage, Rotating Turbine Glen Campbell Snedden Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2011 Abstract Today gas turbines are a crucial part of the global power generation and aviation industries. Small improvements to the efficiencies of individual components within the gas flow path can, over time, lead to dramatic cost savings for the operator and at the same time improve on the amount of carbon dioxide gas emissions to the environment. One such technology is the reduction of secondary flow losses in individual blade rows within the compressor or turbine section of the gas turbine through the use of non-axisymmetric endwall contouring. By introducing subtle geometrical features onto the endwall it has been shown to be possible to improve the efficiency of individual blade rows by between 1 and 2%. Few studies of these non-axisymmetric endwalls have been performed outside of the two dimensional cascade and computational domain, in addition these endwalls have been designed and tested to improve the performance of blade rows at a single design point with the off design performance having been ignored. The work presented here is aimed at investigating the use of such endwalls in a rotating blade row both at design and off-design conditions and in the presence of an upstream blade row. To this end a 1½ stage, low speed, turbine test rig has been refurbished and a new set of blades was designed to accommodate the profile of the Durham cascade at the hub. The Durham cascade is a de facto industry test case for non-axisymmetric endwall applications and therefore a generic, cascade proven, endwall design is available from the literature. The design of this new blade set is unique in that it is openly available. The results include steady-state 5-hole pressure probe measurements between blade rows and computational fluid dynamics solutions to provide detailed analysis of the flow quality found within the turbine. These results are reproduced for a turbine with annular or reference endwalls and one with the generic P2 endwall design obtained from the Durham cascade. Experimentally a 1.5% improvement in mixed out stage efficiency at the design condition has been found with a positive trend with increasing load. Additionally the rotor exit flows are show to be generally more uniform in the presence of profiled endwalls. The rotor torque is however reduced by as much as 3.5% and the improved flow uniformity does not always translate into a improved performance in the downstream row. iii Insight into the overall performance and fluid mechanics of the generic non-axisymmetric endwall at a variety of load conditions has been gained and an analysis of the parameters commonly used in optimising these endwalls is discussed with Cske being clearly shown to be the superior parameter in this case. CFD evidence suggests that while the cross passage pressure gradient is reduced by endwall profiling the extent of the effect of the change in hub endwalls reaches as far as the tip. The mechanism by which the overall loss is reduced appears to be a through a change in the relative strengths of the suction and pressure side horseshoe vortices and through the delayed migration of the passage cross flow, this change the relationship of these two vortex structures; dispersing the vortex structures as they leave the row and reducing the potential for mixing losses downstream. iv “They hadn‟t dreamed, in the way that people usually used the word, but they‟d imagined a different world, and bent metal round it.” Terry Pratchett v Declaration The work in this thesis is based on research carried out at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa by the author, while enrolled at the University of Durham. No part of this thesis has been submitted elsewhere for any other degree or qualification and it is all my own work unless referenced to the contrary in the text. Copyright © 2011 CSIR vi Acknowledgements The author would like to thank the following people and institutions for their contributions to the completion of this work: My supervisors Dr David Gregory-Smith and Dr Grant Ingram for their invaluable input and support in particular taking the time and trouble to travel out to South Africa during the course of this study. Dwain Dunn for willingly taking the role of research assistant, programming the data reduction software and performing the CFD runs. Thomas Roos for his expertise with NREC‟s design codes. Professor Jeffery Bindon and the University of KwaZulu Natal for willingly giving the CSIR the 1½ stage test rig and their assistance with it. Central University of Technology, and in particular Gerrie Booysen for providing the manufacturing technology that enabled this work, with skill and efficiency. Abacus Automation for the installation of the test rig control systems. Siemens Automation and Control for supplying the equipment at cost. The European Union and Project VITAL who by funding the parallel effort to look at unsteady measurements provided the author with the support and momentum required to make this thesis a reality. Rhulani Mathebula and the staff at Maintenance Services for their constant willingness to help with the refurbishment and maintenance of the test rig. Douggie van der Walt of ProMech Engineering also deserves thanks for his innovative solution to the traverse problem and providing us with a network of competent engineering services providers from his vast experience in the industry. The CSIR and the Department of Science and Technology for funding the effort and sustaining the funding long enough to make it possible to complete a PhD degree. For this I also owe a special thanks to Beeuwen Gerryts. Thomas Hildebrandt and the NUMECA Ingenieursburo for their software, friendship and assistance. Jonathan Bergh for challenging me when I needed it most. Finally I wish to thank Cynthia my wife and children Robert and Julia for their patience and love throughout the extended period of this study and the many hours that I could not spend with them. vii Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................. ii Declaration ............................................................................................................................. v Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. vi Contents .............................................................................................................................. vii List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... ix Nomenclature ..................................................................................................................... xiv 1 Introduction................................................................................................................... 1 2 Literature Review ......................................................................................................... 4 2.1 The development of gas turbines 4 2.2 Turbine endwall secondary flows 7 2.2.1 Main features of turbine endwall secondary flows 8 2.2.2 Other features of interest 10 2.3 Tip clearance flows 12 2.3.1 Effect of rotation on tip clearance flows 15 2.4 Methods of limiting the generation of endwall loss 15 2.4.1 Air injection or suction 15 2.4.2 Three-dimensional airfoil design 16 2.4.3 Endwall modifications 19 2.4.4 Combined approaches 25 2.5 Overview 26 3 Experimental Method ................................................................................................. 28 3.1 The 1½ stage test rig 28 3.1.1 Origins and refurbishment 28 3.2 General assembly 29 3.3 Instrumentation and control 30 3.3.1 Transducer Calibrations 30 3.3.2 Inlet measurement ring 32 3.3.3 Hot-film probe 33 3.3.4 Inlet turbulence intensity measurements 33 3.3.5 Control philosophy 34 3.4 Blade and Profiled Endwall Design 36 3.4.1 Design Constraints 36 3.4.2 Aerofoil design 36 3.4.3 Test conditions 39 3.4.4 Blade attachment design 40 3.4.5 Endwall