Effects of Endwall Film Coolant Flowrate on Secondary Flows and Coolant Mixing in a First Stage Nozzle Guide Vane

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.

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 MFR (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.


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.


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.


Author(s):  
Mahmood H. Alqefl ◽  
Yong W. Kim ◽  
Hee-Koo Moon ◽  
Luzeng Zhang ◽  
Terrence W. Simon

Endwalls impose a challenge to cool because of the complex system of secondary flows and separation lines disrupting surface film coolant coverage. The interaction of film cooling flows with secondary flow structures is coupled. The momentum exchange of the film coolant with the mainstream affect the formation the secondary flows, which in turn affect the coolant coverage. Therefore, to develop better endwall cooling schemes, a good understanding of passage aerodynamics as affected by interactions with coolant flows is required. This study presents experimental and computational results for cascade representing the first stage nozzle guide vane of a high-pressure gas turbine. The cascade is subsonic, linear, and stationary with an axisymmetrically-contoured endwall. Two cooling flows are simulated; upstream combustor liner coolant-in the form of an aero-thermal profile simulated in the approach flow and endwall slot film cooling, which is injected immediately upstream of the passage inlet. The experiment is run with engine representative combustor exit flow turbulence intensity and integral length scales, with high turbine passage exit Reynolds number of 1.61 × 106. Measurements are performed with various slot film cooling mass flow rate to mainstream flow rate ratios (MFR). Aerodynamic effects are documented with five-hole probe measurements at the exit plane. Varying the slot film cooling MFR results in minimal effects on total pressure loss for the range tested. Vorticity distributions show a very thin, yet intense, cross-pitch flow on the contoured endwall side. Coolant distribution fields that were previously presented for the same cascade are discussed in context of the aerodynamic measurements. A coolant vorticity parameter presenting the advective mixing of the coolant due to secondary flow vorticity is introduced. This parameter gives developers a new prospective on aerodynamic-thermal performance associated with cooled turbine endwall. The numerical study is conducted for the same test section geometry and is run under the same conditions. The applicability of using RANS turbulence closure models for simulating this type of flow is discussed. The effects of including the combustor coolant in the approach flow is also briefly discussed in context of the numerical results.


Author(s):  
Nicholas E. Holgate ◽  
Peter T. Ireland ◽  
Eduardo Romero

Recent advances in experimental methods have allowed researchers to study nozzle guide vane film cooling in the presence of combustor dilution ports and endwall films. The dilution injection creates nonuniformities in temperature, velocity, and turbulence, and an understanding of the vane film cooling performance is complicated by competing influences. In this study, dilution port temperature profiles have been measured in the absence of vane film cooling and compared to film effectiveness measurements in the presence of both films and dilution, illustrating the effects of the dilution port turbulence on film cooling performance. It is found that dilution port injection can create significant effectiveness benefits at the difficult-to-cool vane stagnation region, due to the more turbulent hot mainstream enhancing the mixing of film coolant jets that have left the airfoil surface. Also explored are the implications of endwall film cooling for infrared vane surface temperature measurements. The reduced endwall temperatures reduce the thermal emissions from this surface, so reducing the amount of extraneous radiation reflected from the vane surface where measurements are being made. The results of a detailed calibration show that the maximum local film effectiveness measurement error could be up to 0.05 if this effect were to go unaccounted for.


2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Kunze ◽  
Konrad Vogeler ◽  
Glenn Brown ◽  
Chander Prakash ◽  
Kenneth Landis

Endwall film-cooling investigations are conducted with a single row of fan-shaped holes in a low-speed, six-bladed linear cascade. The incidence of the inlet flow was changed between −5 deg and 40 deg to achieve higher loading conditions, which results in an intensification of the secondary flow and enhanced interaction with the injected coolant. The investigated profile is based on a near-hub section of the nozzle guide vane of a highly loaded gas turbine. The aerodynamic performance was investigated using pneumatic probes. The film-cooling effectiveness distribution is determined using the temperature-sensitive paint technique. Carbon dioxide was used as coolant to provide elevated density ratios of about 1.4. Although low thermal conductivity material is used for the endwall test plate, the measured temperature fields show influences of 3D-heat conduction inside the test plate. To measure film effectiveness and the heat transfer separately, an adiabatic test surface is needed. Therefore, the effects of heat conduction are modeled using the finite-element-method. With the resulting convective heat flux pattern derived from the computations, the endwall film-cooling measurements are corrected. Furthermore, this approach is applied to evaluate the heat loss inside the holes and the film discharge temperature at the hole exit.


Author(s):  
T. I-P. Shih ◽  
Y.-L. Lin ◽  
T. W. Simon

Computations were performed to study the three-dimensional flow and temperature distribution in a nozzle guide vane that has one flat and one contoured endwall with and without film cooling injected from two slots, one on each endwall located just upstream of the airfoil. For the contoured endwall, two locations of the same contouring were investigated, one with all contouring upstream of the airfoil and another with the contouring starting upstream of the airfoil and continuing through the airfoil passage. Results obtained show that when the contouring is all upstream of the airfoil, secondary flows on both the flat and the contoured endwalls are similar in magnitude. When the contouring starts upstream of the airfoil and continues through the airfoil passage, secondary flows on the contoured endwall are markedly weaker than those on the flat endwall. With weaker secondary flows on the contoured endwall, film-cooling effectiveness there is greatly improved. This computational study is based on the ensemble-averaged conservation equations of mass, momentum (compressible Navier-Stokes), and energy. Effects of turbulence were modeled by the low Reynolds number shear-stress transport k-ω model. Solutions were generated by a cell-centered, finite-volume method that uses third-order accurate flux-difference splitting of Roe with limiters and multigrid acceleration of a diagonalized ADI scheme with local time stepping on patched/embedded structured grids.


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