Thesis-2005-Jayatunga.pdf (16.2 MB)
Download fileAn aerodynamic study of industrial gas turbine exhaust turbines.
thesis
posted on 2013-07-09, 11:46 authored by Charith JayatungaA combined expenmental and computational study has been carried out on a scale
model of an industrial gas turbine exhaust system to improve understanding of its
complex flow field and to validate CFD predictions. The model consists of a set of
OGVs which guide flow into a strutted annular diffuser followed by a volute box and
an exit duct. Turbulent flow diffusion and turning processes occurring inside a typical
industrial gas turbine exhaust system are complex and three-dimensional in nature.
With a growing trend towards high-efficiency/low-noise gas turbine power plants,
both aerodynamic and acoustic management of gas turbine exhaust systems are
receiving attention in more recent designs The aerodynamic and acoustic
performance of such systems is particularly influenced by off-design conditions
(power turbine operatmg at part load) when the incidence angle onto the OGV s
increases considerably. This aspect is given particular attention in the present work.
Detailed 3D velocity measurements were carried out inside the annular diffuser and in
the exit duct using five-hole pneumatic probes and hotwires. The performance was
shown to be particularly sensitive to the inlet OGV wake conditions Measurements
carried out downstream of the diffuser struts indicated that there was no evidence of
dominant vortex shedding from the struts, which was initially thought to be a potential
source of noise generation in exhaust systems.
Numerical analysis was performed using a multi-block 3D RANS solver utilising a
pressure-correction method and a k-s turbulence model. When the inlet conditions for
the CFD predictions were matched to the measured wake structure, the flow within
the annular diffuser and the system total pressure loss coefficient were predicted
adequately. The calculations were analysed to investigate the distribution of loss
between individual components. This indicated that 50% of the loss was due to flow
turning and mixing in the volute, and this allowed possible geometric modifications to
reduce system loss to be suggested. Based on the overall comparison between the
measurements and predictions, this study concludes that the applied CFD method is
capable of predicting complex gas turbine exhaust system flow sufficiently and
accurately for design applications.
History
School
- Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering
Department
- Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering
Publisher
© Charith JayatungaPublication date
2005Notes
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University.EThOS Persistent ID
uk.bl.ethos.416677Language
- en