Michael Sell

Influence of Stator Clocking on the Unsteady Three-Dimensional Flow in a Two-Stage Turbine

To give insight into the influence of the clocking and the stator-rotor interaction, the unsteady three-dimensional (3D) flow through a two-stage turbine is simulated numerically, using a time marching Navier-Stokes computer code with a sliding mesh approach. A stator clocking is applied to the second stator vane over several circumferential positions. The numerical results are compared with the experimental one to check the availability of the code. Clocking effects on the turbine performance, wake trajectories, and outlet flow field are focused. A relative efficiency variation of about 0.52% is concluded among clocking positions. A link between the turbine efficiency and the wake trajectories on the midspan is shown based on the presented clocking analysis in the 3D unsteady flow field. The detailed illustration of the outlet flow field shows that the influence of the clocking at the outlet is focused on the temperature distribution.

Influence of Open and Closed Shroud Cavities on the Flowfield in a 2-Stage Turbine With Shrouded Blades

An important goal of the development of turbine bladings is to increase the efficiency for an optimized use of energy resources. This necessitates the most possible insight into the complex flow phenomena in multi-stage turbine bladings. This paper presents a combined numerical and experimental investigation of the flow field in a 2-stage axial turbine with shrouded blades, where the axial gap between the shroud and the endwall is varied between 1mm (closed cavities) and 5 mm (opened cavities). In the experimental setup at the Institute of Steam and Gas Turbines, Aachen University, the turbine is operated at a low pressure ratio of 1.4 with an inlet pressure of 3.2 bar. The rotating speed is adjusted by a water brake, which is integrated into a swing frame running in hydrostatic bearings. The rotor power dissipates in the water brake, which enables a very accurate angular momentum determination. The mass flow is measured through a calibrated nozzle installed upstream of the turbine inlet at an accuracy of better than 1%, from which stage efficiencies can be derived. For both geometric configurations (open and closed shroud cavities), the flow field at both inlet and outlet is measured using 5-hole probes as well as temperature probes at three operating conditions. The test rig is especially designed to investigate the influence of the cavity size. Therefore, the radial gaps between shroud and casing is held near zero in order to prevent an axial flow through the cavities. The experimental results are used as boundary conditions for corresponding numerical multi-stage calculations of the 3D flow through the 2-stage turbine, using the highly accurate steady Navier-Stokes inhouse computer code, CHT-Flow. The flow field measurements and the numerical simulations give deeper insight into some of the cavity-related flow field phenomena. The measurement results as well as the simulations indicate that the stator leading edge has little influence on the inlet flow field. The flow through the shroud cavities has a significant influence on the field and therefore on the machine’s performance.Copyright

Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling of Low Pressure Steam Turbine Radial Diffuser Flow by Using a Novel Multiple Mixing Plane Based Coupling—Simulation and Validation

The diffuser and exhaust of low pressure steam turbines show significant impact on the overall turbine performance. The amount of recovered enthalpy leads to a considerable increase of the turbine power output, and therefore a continuous focus of turbine manufacturers is put on this component. On the one hand, the abilities to aerodynamically design such components are improved, but on the other hand a huge effort is required to properly predict the resulting performance and to enable an accurate modeling of the overall steam turbine and therewith plant heat rate. A wide range of approaches is used to compute the diffuser and exhaust flow, with a wide range of quality. Today, it is well known and understood that there is a strong interaction of rear stage and diffuser flow, and the accuracy of the overall diffuser performance prediction strongly depends on a proper coupling of both domains. The most accurate, but also most expensive method is currently seen in a full annulus and transient coupling. However, for a standard industrial application of diffuser design in a standard development schedule, such a coupling is not feasible and more simplified methods have to be developed. The paper below presents a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of low pressure steam turbine diffusers and exhausts based on a direct coupling of the rear stage and diffuser using a novel multiple mixing plane (MMP). It is shown that the approach enables a fast diffuser design process and is still able to accurately predict the flow field and hence the exhaust performance. The method is validated against several turbine designs measured in a scaled low pressure turbine model test rig using steam. The results show a very good agreement of the presented CFD modeling against the measurements.

Experimental Investigation Into Thermal Behavior of Steam Turbine Components: Part 3 — Startup and the Impact on LCF Life

Steam turbine start-up has a significant impact on the cyclic fatigue life. Modern steam turbines are operated at high temperatures for optimal efficiency, which results in high temperature differences relative to the condition before start-up. To achieve the fastest possible start-up time without reducing the lifetime of the turbine components due to excessive thermal stress, the start-up procedure of cyclic turbines is optimized to follow the specific material low cycle fatigue limit. For such optimization and to ensure reliable operation, it is essential to fully understand the thermal behavior of the components during start-up. This is especially challenging in low flow conditions, i.e. during pre-warming and early loading phase. A two-dimensional numerical procedure is described for the assessment of the thermal regime during start-up. The calculation procedure includes the rotor, casings, valves and main pipes. The concept of the start-up calculation is to replace the convective effect of the steam in the turbine cavity by an equivalent fluid over-conductivity that gives the same thermal effect on metallic parts. This approach allows simulating accurately the effect of steam ingestion during pre-warming phase. The fluid equivalent over-conductivity is calibrated with experimental data. At the end of the paper the impact of ingested steam temperature and mass-flow on the rotor cyclic lifetime is demonstrated. This paper is a continuation of papers [1] and [2].Copyright

Validation of Conjugate Heat Transfer Predictions on Labyrinth Seals and Novel Designs for Improved Component Lifetime

Cyclic lifetime assessment of steam turbine components has become increasingly important for several reasons. In the last years and decades the nominal steam temperatures and pressures were further increased to improve cycle efficiency. In addition, the market constantly demands increased flexibility and reliability for given lifetime exploiting the limits of the existing materials. A number of components in a steam turbine are critical in the focus of lifetime predictions such as the rotor and front stage blades, the inner casing and the area of labyrinth seals connected to the life steam. For this reason, it becomes extremely important to rely on accurate predictions of local temperatures and heat-transfer-coefficients of components in the steam path. The content of this paper aims on the validation of the numerical tools based on CHT (conjugate heat transfer) approach against experimental data of a labyrinth seal regarding discharge coefficients and measured heat transfer coefficients. Furthermore, a real steam turbine application has been optimized in design and operation to improve lifetime. The improved prediction of temperature and heat transfer allowed novel designs of labyrinth seals of a single flow high-pressure turbine and a combined intermediate and low-pressure turbine, which helped to strongly increase the component lifetime of a steam turbine rotor by more than 100%.Copyright

Experimental and Numerical Investigation Into the Aerodynamics of a Novel Steam Turbine Valve and its Field Application

Control valves are one of the key steam turbine components that guarantee operational safety in a power plant.There are two aerodynamic aspects, which are the current focus for the development of Alstom’s valves. One is the reduction of the aerodynamic loss to increase the efficiency of the power plant. The other is operational flexibility, which is increasingly demanded to react faster to load requirements from the electric grid. This is becoming more important as power generation becomes increasingly decentralized, with a growing contribution from renewable energy sources. For this reason, a fast control loop is required for valve operation, which depends on an accurate linearization of the valve characteristic.In this paper the flow fields in an existing steam control valve have been analysed and subsequently optimized using CFD techniques. The approach specifically designed for drilled strainers is further illustrated. Following the validation of the baseline design with model testing, an improved diffuser has been designed using CFD analysis and the resulting performance benefit has been confirmed with further testing.The required grid frequency support requires control valve throttling. For this reason, an accurate prediction of the linearization table is extremely important to support the required response time limits. Further numerical work has been carried out with various opening positions of the valve, leading to an improved valve linearization characteristic. It is demonstrated that the numerical prediction of the linearization curve agrees very well with data obtained from operating power plants.Copyright

Influence of the Radial and Axial Gap of the Shroud Cavities on the Flowfield in a 2-Stage Turbine

An important goal in the development of turbine bladings is to improve their efficiency for an optimized usage of energy resources. This requires a detailed insight into the complex 3D-flow phenomena in multi-stage turbines. In order to investigate the flow characteristics of modern highly loaded turbine profiles a test rig with a two stage axial turbine has been set up at the Institute of Steam and Gas Turbines, RWTH Aachen University. The test rig is especially designed to investigate the influence of different cavity sizes. In order to analyze the influence of the cavity size on the secondary flow and to discuss the effects of the blade loading, the 3D flow through the 2-stage turbine with shrouded blades is investigated numerically, using the steady Navier-Stokes inhouse computer code, CHT-Flow. The turbine blading is designed to concentrate the mass flow in the middle of the passage in order to keep the main flow away from the secondary flow regions at the endwalls of the blade. The simulations include a comparison of a configuration without cavities (design case) and two configurations, where the axial gap between the shroud and the endwalls is about 5 mm and the radial gap between the shroud and the endwall is varied between 0.8 mm (open radial gap) and radial gaps “near zero” (closed radial gap). The investigations are done with focus on the secondary flow phenomena in the second guide vane. For a detailed analysis of the blade load the design point and an off-design point are simulated for each blading. The flow conditions are taken from experimental investigations performed at the Institute of Steam and Gas Turbines, Aachen University. In the experimental setup, the turbine is operated at a low pressure ratio of 1.4 with an inlet pressure of 3.2·105 Pa. The numerical results will also be compared to the corresponding experimental data at the outlet of the second stage.© 2006 ASME

Influence of Stator Clocking on the Unsteady 3-Dimensional Flow in a 2-Stage Turbine

To give insight into the influence of the clocking and the stator-rotor interaction, the unsteady 3D flow through a two-stage turbine is simulated numerically, using a time marching Navier-Stokes computer code with a sliding mesh approach. A stator clocking is applied to the second stator vane over several circumferential positions. The numerical results are compared with the experimental one to check the availability of the code. Clocking effects on the turbine performance, wake trajectories and outlet flow field is focused. A relative efficiency variation of about 0.52% is concluded among clocking positions. A link between the turbine efficiency and the wake trajectories on the midspan is shown based on the presented clocking analysis in the 3D unsteady flow field. The detailed illustration of the outlet flow field shows that the influence of the clocking at the outlet is focused on the temperature distribution.© 2004 ASME

CFD Modeling of Low Pressure Steam Turbine Radial Diffuser Flow by Using a Novel Multiple Mixing Plane Based Coupling: Simulation and Validation

The diffuser and exhaust of low pressure steam turbines shows significant impact on the overall turbine performance. The amount of recovered enthalpy leads to a considerable increase of the turbine power output, and therefore a continuous focus of turbine manufacturers is put on this component. On the one hand, the abilities to aerodynamically design such components is improved, but on the other hand a huge effort is required to properly predict the resulting performance and to enable an accurate modeling of the overall steam turbine and therewith plant heat rate. A wide range of approaches is used to compute the diffuser and exhaust flow, with a wide range of quality. Today it is well known and understood, that there is a strong interaction of rear stage and diffuser flow, and the accuracy of the overall diffuser performance prediction strongly depends on a proper coupling of both domains. The most accurate, but also most expensive method is currently seen in a full annulus and transient coupling. However, for a standard industrial application of diffuser design in a standard development schedule, such a coupling is not feasible and more simplified methods have to be developed.The paper below presents a CFD modeling of low pressure steam turbine diffusers and exhausts based on a direct coupling of the rear stage and diffuser using a novel multiple mixing plane. It is shown that the approach enables a fast diffuser design process and is still able to accurately predict the flow field and hence the exhaust performance. The method is validated against several turbine designs measured in a scaled low pressure turbine model test rig using steam. The results show a very good agreement of the presented CFD modeling against the measurements.Copyright

Experimental Investigation Into Thermal Behavior of Steam Turbine Components: Part 4 — Natural Cooling and Robustness of the Over-Conductivity Function

Steam turbine transient maneuvers have a significant impact on the cyclic fatigue life. Modern steam turbines are operated at high temperatures for optimal efficiency, which results in high time and space temperature gradients. A low initial metal temperature after standstill results in a high temperature difference to be overcome during the next startup and consequently a low lifetime at critical locations. To achieve the fastest possible start-up time without reducing the lifetime of the turbine components, the natural cooling must be captured accurately in calculation and the start-up procedure optimized. At the past two ASME conferences we presented three papers [1], [2], [3], about a 2D numerical procedure for the thermal regime calculation during natural cooling and startup. The analysis included the rotor, casings, valves and pipes. The main concept was to replace the thermal effect of the fluid convectivity by a fluid function K(T) called “over-conductivity”, which is calibrated vs. experimental data. The paper below shows: (a) the theoretical background of the over-conductivity function K(T) and (b) the equation of the correlation function f(T,p) between the fluid velocity and fluid temperature gradient. Both K(T) and f(T,p) are applicable for the flow within the large turbine cavities with negligible pressure gradient. The robustness of the K(T) function is verified on three different turbine configurations. For each machine a separate transient thermal model was built and the calculated temperatures were compared with the corresponding measured temperatures. At the end of the paper conclusions about the natural cooling features are presented.Copyright