Transient simulation of a pump-turbine with misaligned guide vanes during turbine model start-up

Experimental studies of a model pump-turbine S-curve characteristics and its improvement by misaligned guide vanes （MGV） were extended to prototype pump turbine through 3-D transient flow simulations. The unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the SST turbulence model were used to model the transient flow within the entire flow passage of a reversible pump-turbine with and without misaligned guide vanes during turbine model start-up. The unstable S-curve and its improvement by using misaligned guide vane were verified by model test and simulation. The transient flow calculations were used to clarify the variations of pressure pulse and internal flow behavior in the entire flow passage. The use of misaligned guide vanes can eliminate the S-curve characteristics of a pump-turbine, and can significantly increase the pressure pulse amplitude in the entire flow passage and the runner radial forces during start-up. The MGV only decreased the pulse amplitude on the guide vane suction side when the rotating speed was less than 50% rated speed. The hydraulic reason is that the MGV dramatically changed the flow patterns inside the entire flow passage, and destroyed the symmetry of the flow distribution inside the guide vane and runner.

Influence of propagation direction on operation performance of rotating detonation combustor with turbine guide vane

Due to the pressure gain combustion characteristics,the rotating detonation combustor(RDC)can enhance thermodynamic cycle efficiency.Therefore,the performance of gas-turbine engine can be further improved with this combustion technology.In the present study,the RDC operation performance with a turbine guide vane(TGV)is experimentally investigated.Hydrogen and air are used as propellants while hydrogen and air mass flow rate are about 16.1 g/s and 500 g/s and the equivalence ratio is about 1.0.A pre-detonator is used to ignite the mixture.High-frequency dynamic pressure transducers and silicon pressure sensors are employed to measure pressure oscillations and static pressure in the combustion chamber.The experimental results show that the steady propagation of rotating detonation wave(RDW)is observed in the combustion chamber and the mean propagation velocity is above 1650 m/s,reaching over 84%of theoretical Chapman-Jouguet detonation velocity.Clockwise and counterclockwise propagation directions of RDW are obtained.For clockwise propagation direction,the static pressure is about 15%higher in the combustor compared with counterclockwise propagation direction,but the RDW dominant frequency is lower.When the oblique shock wave propagates across the TGV,the pressure oscillations reduces significantly.In addition,as the detonation products flow through the TGV,the static pressure drops up to 32%and 43%for clockwise and counterclockwise propagation process respectively.

Analysis of the Impact of the Space Guide Vane Wrap Angle on the Performance of a Submersible Well Pump

In order to study the influence of the wrap angle relating to the space guide vane of a submersible well pump(250QJ125)on the flow field and pump performance,seven possible configurations have been considered(obtained by changing the blade wrap angle while keeping unchanged all the other parameters).Such configurations have been numerically simulated in the framework of a computational model based on the Reynolds time-averaged N-S equations,the RNG k-εturbulence approach and the SIMPLE algorithm.The impact exerted by different wrap angles of the guide vane on the performance of the pump,the internal losses of the guide vane and the flow field distribution in the bladeless area at the guide vane outlet has been assessed via cross-comparison of all these cases.The results show that the wrap angle has a significant influence:the wrap angle with the highest head is different from that with the highest efficiency,and changes in this angle have a more significant effect on the head than efficiency.A moderate raise of the wrap angle can improve the properties of the flow,reduce turbulence losses and enhance the energy conversion rate inside the guide vane.Different wrap angles can also lead to different fluid circulation modes in the bladeless area from guide vane outlet to impeller inlet,while they have a weak influence on the absolute value of the velocity of the fluid entering the impeller.

Influence of the Axial Position of the Guide Vane on the Fluctuations of Pressure in a Nuclear Pump

The influence of the axial mount position of the guide vane on the pressure fluctuation in a nuclear pump(AP1000)is investigated.The characteristics of the three-dimensional flow inside the nuclear pump are analyzed by means of numerical simulation.Results indicate that when the axial relative distance between the guide vane and the pumping chamber is reduced,in conditions of“small flow,”the efficiency of the pump increases,the pressure inside the pumping chamber decreases,while the losses related to the guide vane grow.Under large flow conditions,as the efficiency of the pump decreases,the losses for the guide vane and the pumping chamber increase.The pressure fluctuation in the annular pumping chamber is basically determined by the rotation frequency and the blade passing frequency.The magnitude of these fluctuations is affected by the guide vane axial position.In particular,the smallest possible amplitude is obtained when the outlet central plane of the guide vane coincides with the outlet axis of the pumping chamber.

Performance Assessment of a Heat Recovery Unit Utilizing Turbine with Variable Inlet Guide Vanes Configuration for Application in Passenger Vehicles

This study explores the potentials of employing an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system with variable inlet guide vanes (VIV) turbine geometry designed on a GT-Suite platform for effective exhaust heat recovery (EHR) application onboard passenger vehicles. The ORC model simulation was based on vehicle speed mode using R245fa as working fluid to assess the thermal performance of the ORC system when utilizing modified turbine geometry. Interestingly, the model achieved a very improved performance in contrast to the model without a modified turbine configuration. The results revealed the average 2.32 kW ORC net output, 4.93% thermal efficiency, 6.1% mechanical efficiency, and 5.0% improved brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) for the developed model. As determined by the performance indicators, these promising results from the model study show the prospect of EHR technology application in the transportation sector for reduction in exhaust emissions and fuel savings.

Thermodynamic Performance Analysis of E/F/H-Class Gas Turbine Combined Cycle with Exhaust Gas Recirculation and Inlet/Variable Guide Vane Adjustment under Part-Load Conditions

Exhaust gas recirculation control(EGRC),an inlet air heating technology,can be utilized in combination with inlet/variable guide vane control(IGV/VGVC) and fuel flow control(FFC) to regulate the load,thereby effectively improving the part-load(i.e.,off-design) performance of the gas turbine combined cycle(GTCC).In this study,the E-,F-,and H-Class EGR-GTCC design and off-design system models were established and validated to perform a comparative analysis of the part-load performance under the EGR-IGV-FFC and conventional IGV-FFC strategies in the E/F/H-Class GTCC.Results show that EGR-IGV-FFC has considerable potential for the part-load performance enhancement and can show a higher combined cycle efficiency than IGV-FFC in the E-,F-,and H-Class GTCCs.However,the part-load performance improvement in the corresponding GTCC was weakened for the higher class of the gas turbine because of the narrower load range of EGR action and the deterioration of the gas turbine performance.Furthermore,EGR-IGV-FFC was inferior to IGV-FFC in improving the performance at loads below 50% for the H-Class GTCC.The results obtained in this paper could help guide the application of EGR-IGV-FFC to enhance the part-load performance of various classes of GTCC systems.

Optimization of closing law of turbine guide vanes based on improved artificial ecosystem algorithm

Optimization of the closing law of the guide vane is the most economical and efficient way to reduce the risk incurred by pressure and speed excursions,thus guaranteeing the security of the hydro-turbine and the whole hydraulic network.In order to optimize the closing law of the guide vane of hydraulic turbine,an improved artificial ecosystem optimization algorithm was proposed(IAEO).The reverse learning was used to initialize the population,multi-strategy bound handing schemes was used to improve the algorithm convergence speed.Twenty-three mathematical benchmark functions were used to test the IAEO.Results showed an improvement in the IAEO algorithm convergence speed and a stronger exploration than other algorithms.IAEO algorithm was used to optimize the closing law of the guide vane of hydraulic turbine based on the hydraulic transient calculation.The results showed that the maximum pressure in the spiral casing inlet,the minimum pressure in the draft tube inlet and the maximum speed all meet the design requirements by use of the closing law of the guide vane optimized by IAEO.Compared with other algorithms such as particle swarm optimization(PSO),artificial ecosystem-based optimization(AEO)and grey wolf optimizer(GWO),the closing law of the guide vane optimized by IAEO algorithm was proved to be of great advantages in distribution of safety margin of each optimization goal.

Numerical predictions of pressure pulses in a Francis pump turbine with misaligned guide vanes

Previous experimental and numerical analyses of the pressure pulse characteristics in a Francis turbine are extended here by using the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the shear stress transport （SST） turbulence model to model the unsteady flow within the entire flow passage of a large Francis pump turbine with misaligned guide vanes at the rated rotational speed. The S-curve characteristics are analyzed by a combined use of the model test and the steady state simulation with the aligned guide vane firstly. Four misaligned guide vanes with two different openings are chosen to analyze the influence of pressure pulses in the turbine. The characteristics of the dominant unsteady flow frequencies in different parts of the pump turbine for various misaligned guide vane openings are investigated in detail. The predicted hydraulic performance and the pressure fluctuations show that the misaligned guide vanes reduce the relative pressure fluctuation amplitudes in the stationary part of the flow passage, but not the runner blades. The misaligned guide vanes have changed the low frequencies in the entire flow passage with the change of the pulse amplitudes mainly due to changes in the rotor-stator interaction and the low frequency vortex rope flow behavior.

Multi-scale thermodynamic analysis method for 2D SiC/SiC composite turbine guide vanes

Ceramic Matrix Composite （CMC） turbine guide vanes possess multi-scale stress and strain with inhomogeneity at the microscopic scale. Given that the macroscopic distribution cannot reflect the microscopic stress fluctuation, the macroscopic method fails to meet the requirements of stress and strain analysis of CMC turbine guide vanes. Furthermore, the complete thermodynamic properties of 2D woven SiC/SiC-CMC cannot be obtained through experimentation, Accordingly, a method to calculate the thermodynamic properties of CMC and analyze multi-scale stress and strain of the turbine guide vanes should be established. In this study, the multi-scale thermodynamic analysis is investigated. The thermodynamic properties of Chemical Vapor Infiltration （CVI） pro- cessed SiC/SiC-CMC are predicted by a Representative Volume Element （RVE） model with porosity, leading to the result that the relative error between the calculated in-plane tensile modulus and the experimental value is 4.2%. The macroscopic response of a guide vane under given conditions is predicted. The relative error between the predicted strain on the trailing edge and the experimental value is 9.7%. The calculation of the stress distribution of micro-scale RVE shows that the maximum value of microscopic stress, which is located in the interlayer matrix, is more than 1.5 times that of macroscopic stress in the same direction and the microscopic stress distribution of the interlayer matrix is related to the pore distribution of the composite.

NUMERICAL STUDY OF CAVITATION ON THE SURFACE OF THE GUIDE VANE IN THREE GORGES HYDROPOWER UNIT

Large-area erosions such as rust and obvious cavitation were found on the surface of the guide vane in Three Gorges hydropower units. A numerical explanation of the cavitation is given in this article. At first, based on the characteristic performance curves of the prototype hydro-turbine supplied by ALSTOM together with the actual operating conditions, an operating point is chosen for numerical analysis using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes （RANS） equations. The flow passages from the inlet of the spiral case to the outlet of the draft tube are included in the computational domain. The results show that the static pressure on the guide vane surface is much higher than the critical pressure of cavitation. Secondly, a tiny protrusion on the guide vane surface is considered and the problem is simplified to a 2-D problem to study the local detailed flow near the guide vane surface. The protrusion is 0.5 mm in height and is 5.0 mm in width. On the basis of the results of RANS simulations, the 2-D problem is studied using the Large Eddy Simulation （LES）. It is shown that there exists a region in which the static pressure reaches a level below the vapor pressure of the water. Thirdly, a cavitation model is included for the 0.5 mm protrusion case and another tiny pit case, with a tiny pit 0.3 mm in depth and 1.0 mm in width. The results show that vapor bubble exists at the protrusion entrance and the pit exit as the low pressure regions.

Artificial intelligence aided design of film cooling scheme on turbine guide vane

In recent years,artificial intelligence(AI)technologies have been widely applied in many different fields including in the design,maintenance,and control of aero-engines.The air-cooled turbine vane is one of the most complex components in aero-engine design.Therefore,it is interesting to adopt the existing AI technologies in the design of the cooling passages.Given that the application of AI relies on a large amount of data,the primary task of this paper is to realize massive simulation automation in order to generate data for machine learning.It includes the parameterized three-dimensional(3-D)geometrical modeling,automatic meshing and computational fluid dynamics(CFD)batch automatic simulation of different film cooling structures through customized developments of UG,ICEM and Fluent.It is demonstrated that the trained artificial neural network(ANN)can predict the cooling effectiveness on the external surface of the turbine vane.The results also show that the design of the ANN architecture and the hyper-parameters have an impact on the prediction precision of the trained model.Using this established method,a multi-output model is constructed based on which a simple tool can be developed.It is able to make an instantaneous prediction of the temperature distribution along the vane surface once the arrangements of the film holes are adjusted.

Design and development of guide vane cascade for a low speed number Francis turbine

Guide vane cascade of a low speed number Francis turbine is developed for the experimental investigations. The test setup is able to produce similar velocity distributions at the runner inlet as that of a reference prototype turbine. Standard analytical methods are used to design the reference turbine. Periodic walls of flow channel between guide vanes are identified as the starting profile for the boundary of the cascade. Two alternative designs with three guide vanes and two guide vanes, without runner, are studied. A new approach, for the hydraulic design and optimization of the cascade test setup layout, is proposed and investigated in details. CFD based optimization methods are used to define the final layout of the test setup. The optimum design is developed as a test setup and experimental validation is done with PIV methods. The optimized design of cascade with one guide vane between two flow channels is found to produce similar flow conditions to that in the runner inlet of a low speed number Francis turbine.

Prediction of thermal fatigue life of a turbine nozzle guide vane

Thermal fatigue (TF) is one of the most important factors that influence turbine's life.This paper establishes a 3D solid-fluid coupling model for a steady temperature analysis of a high-pressure turbine nozzle at different turbine inlet gas total temperatures (TIGTTs).The temperature analysis supplies the temperature load for subsequent 3D finite element analysis to obtain the strain values.Following this,the prediction of the TF life is made on the basis of equivalent strain range.The results show that the strain increases with TIGTT,and the predicted TF life decreases correspondingly.This life prediction was confirmed by one TF test.

Aero-thermal redesign of a high pressure turbine nozzle guide vane

The current article presents conceptual,preliminary and detailed aero-thermal redesign of a typical high pressure turbine nozzle guide vane.Design targets are lower coolant consumption,reduced manufacturing costs and improved durability.These goals are sought by 25%reduction in vane count number and lower number of airfoils per segment.Design challenges such as higher airfoil loading,associate aerodynamic losses and higher thermal loads are discussed.In order to maximize coolant flow reduction and avoid higher aerodynamic losses,airfoil Mach distribution is carefully controlled.There has been an effort to limit design changes so that the proven design features of the original vane are used as much as possible.Accordingly,the same cooling concept is used with minor modifications of the internal structures in order to achieve desired coolant flow and internal heat transfer distribution.Platforms of the new design are quite similar to the original one except for cooling holes and application of thermal barrier coating(TBC).Detailed aerodynamics/heat transfer simulations reveals that the reduced trailing edge(T.E.)blockage and skin friction dominated the negative effect of increased secondary losses.As a result the reduced design performs acceptable in terms of total pressure loss and improving stage efficiency for a wide range of varying pressure ratio.Moreover,more than 20%cooling mass flow can be saved;while maximum and average metal temperatures as well as cross sectional temperature gradients have not been changed much.

Effect of structure parameters of the flow guide vane on cold flow characteristics in trapped vortex combustor

The cold flow characteristics are investigated to show the effect of the structural parameters of the flow guide vane on the trapped vortex combustor（TVC）. The results show that the structural parameters have significant effects on the TVC. As a/ H increases, the total pressure loss, the wall shear stress at the bottom of the cavity and the turbulent intensity in the main combustion zone increase. b/ B does not have a significant effect on the cavity flow structure and the total pressure loss, and the wall shear stress at the bottom of the cavity increases as b/ B increases. There is no significant increase of the turbulent intensity with the increase of b/ B. The increase of c/ L has little effect on the total pressure loss, and it is not conducive to a stable combustion. As c/ L increases, the wall shear stress at the bottom of the cavity decreases. When a/ H= 0.4, b/ B= 0.4, c/ L= 0.1, a desirable dual-vortex structure is formed with an acceptable pressure loss to achieve a stable combustion. Moreover, to ascertain that the flame is stable for different values of Vm a with the optimal structural parameters, the effect of Vm a on the flow field is discussed. Results suggest that the dual-vortex structure has no relationship with the increase of Vm a. Furthermore, an unsteady simulation is conducted to show the generation and the development of the dual-vortex.

A low-resistance elbow with a bionic sawtooth guide vane in ventilation and air conditioning systems

Elbow resistance is an important part of energy consumption in ventilation and air conditioning(VAC)systems.By considering the structural characteristics of bat wings and humpback whale pectoral fins,a simplified leading edge for sawtooth guide vanes is designed.Based on the theory of fluid mechanics,the resistance reduction mechanism of the sawtooth guide vane is analyzed.The numerical calculation results show that proper sawtooth groove parameters for the guide vane can effectively reduce the elbow resistance.Compared with that for a normal guide vane,the maximum resistance can be reduced by approximately 9%with the new design.In addition,we analyze the influence of the sawtooth guide vane on the entropy production of the duct elbow and the relationship between entropy production and the resistance of the duct elbow.Finally,the resistance reduction performance of the sawtooth guide vane is verified through full-scale tests.

Effect of Guide Vane on Pressure Loss and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Supercritical CO_(2)in U-Shaped Channel

U-shaped channel is a common unit structure in heat exchanger.The pressure loss and heat transfer characteristics of U-shaped channel have important influence on the comprehensive performance of heat exchanger.In this paper,combined with the thermo-physical property of supercritical CO_(2)(SCO_(2)),the influence of the guide vanes on the pressure loss and heat transfer characteristics of SCO_(2)in U-shaped channel was studied numerically.The four different guide vanes included integral guide vane,two-stage symmetric guide vane,two-stage asymmetric guide vane and discrete guide vane.CO_(2)Real Gas Property file(RGP)was imported into ANSYS CFX commercial software for calculation,and the turbulence model was SST k-ω.At the same time,the influence of different inlet Reynolds numbers and heating conditions of channel wall were also studied.

Design optimization of guide vane for mitigating elbow erosion using computational fluid dynamics and response surface methodology

A90°elbow equipped with guide vanes was developed with the intent of reducing elbow erosion.Numerical models were formed to predict the maximum erosion rate of elbow and Face-1,and the response surface methodology was used to study the relationship between the erosion rate and structural parameters of guide vane.A second-order response surface model was established to determine the relationship between R and variables,and a reduced cubic(RC)polynomial model was obtained to reveal the relation-ship between R2 and the three factors.The numerical results show that the low-speed region is expended and the maximum discrete particle matter(DPM)concentration is reduced after installing the guide vane.This internal component provides a shelter for the elbow from the direct impact of high-speed solids.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE GUIDE-VANE FLOW AND THE INFLUENCE FROM THE LEAKAGE FLOW

This paper presents numerical and experimental results of the flow in the tipclearance region of the guide vane row in hydraulic turbine. The 3-D Navier-Stokes equations wereemployed to model the flow in end clearance region of guide vane cascade, the Reynolds stressdifferential model was used for turbulence closure, and the body-fitted curvilinear coordinates andthe SIMPLE! algorithm were adopted. The governing equations were discretized with the non-staggeredgrids by means of the finite volume method. Detailed comparison of hydrodynamical characteristics ofguide vane in hydraulic turbine with or without tip gap was made. Special attention was paid to theinfluence of leakage flow on the main flow and to the movement of tip leakage flow in the end guidevane. The position and strength of the roll-vortex on the sides of guide vane in were determined.The numerical solutions agree with the experimental results obtained by particle image ve-locimetry.The results help to clarify the loss, wear and cavi-tation erosion between the guide vane andrings, especially for those used in the Yellow River which has a high sediment content.

Numerical Investigation on the Secondary Flow Control by Using Splitters at Different Positions with Respect to the Main Blade

In turbomachinery,strong secondary flow can produce significant losses of total pressure near the endwall and reduce the efficiency of the considered turbomachine.In this study,splitters located at different positions with respect to the main blade have been used to reduce such losses and improve the efficiency of the outlet guide vane(OGV).Three different relative positions have been considered assuming a NACA 65-010 profile for both the main blade and the splitter.The numerical results indicate that splitters can effectively reduce the total pressure loss by suppressing the secondary flow around the main blade,but the splitters themselves also produce flow losses,which are caused by flow separation effects.