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Micro Gas Turbines - A Short Survey of Design Problems

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RTO-EN-AVT-131 1 - 1
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
R.A. Van den Braembussche
von Kármán Institute for Fluid Dynamics
Waterloose steenweg, 72
B-1640, Rhode-St-Genèse
BELGIUM
vdb@vki.ac.be
INTRODUCTION
Micro gas turbines have experienced a growing interest during the last decade. Their large energy density
(Whr/kg) makes them attractive for portable power units as well as for propulsion of small airplanes
(UAV). They are also of interest for distributed power generation in applications where heat and power
generation can be combined. The need for high performance in both applications is at the origin of a
worldwide interest and research on micro gas turbines and the motivation for the present lecture series.
Scaling is a common technique to define larger or smaller geometries with similar characteristics.
However a simple scaling of a high performance large gas turbine will not result in a good micro gas
turbine. The main factors perturbing such a scaling are:
The large change in Reynolds number.
Massive heat transfer between the hot and cold components (negligible in large machines).
Geometrical restrictions related to material and manufacturing of miniaturized components.
The purpose of the present lecture is to provide a first insight into the aero-thermal problems of micro gas
turbines.
1.0 GAS TURBINE SCALING
1.1 Scaling Model
Conservation of the characteristics of the thermodynamic cycle is a first requirement when scaling a gas
turbine. This means the same exchange of the energy between fluid and rotating components but at a
smaller mass flow. Hence the enthalpy change in the compressor and turbine should be conserved.
H = ω
2
.R
2
2 (1)
This provides a relation between RPM and impeller diameter that can easily be satisfied. It also means that
the power in each component,
E = Q.H
(2)
and hence the gas turbine power will be proportional to the mass flow Q. Another consequence of
maintaining the same velocities and pressures is that the mass flow and power depend on the cross section
area and scale with R
2
2
.
Van den Braembussche, R.A. (2005) Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems. In Micro Gas Turbines (pp. 1-1 – 1-18).
Educational Notes RTO-EN-AVT-131, Paper 1. Neuilly-sur-Seine, France: RTO. Available from: http://www.rto.nato.int/abstracts.asp.
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
1 - 2 RTO-EN-AVT-131
The main conditions to maintain the level of efficiency of compressors and turbines is the conservation of
velocity triangles, Reynolds number and Mach number.
The conservation of Mach number
TR
R
M
G
..
2
γ
ω
=
(3)
does not create problems except for applications with big changes of inlet temperature (T) or gas
characteristics (γ, R
G
).
Conservation of Reynolds number
HRR == ..Re
2
2
µ
ρ
µ
ρ
ω
(4)
conflicts with the conservation of enthalpy change when changing the dimensions of the rotor. A reduction
of Reynolds number with decreasing dimensions is unavoidable unless also the viscosity and/or pressure
level are modified. The impact of reducing dimensions on compressor performance can be obtained taken
from Fig. 1 where the change in efficiency with decreasing mass flow is indicated by the vertical dashed
line.
Figure 1: Variation of Compressor Performance with Pressure Ratio and Mass Flow (acc. [1]).
The “Specific speed”
4/3
/.
H
Q
Ns
=
ρω
(5)
is a non-dimensional parameter characterizing the shape of a radial compressor and can be used to
estimate the achievable performance. Experience has shown that the highest efficiencies can be obtained
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
RTO-EN-AVT-131 1 - 3
for Ns values between .6 and .8 (Fig. 2). Once the enthalpy rise (H) and mass flow (Q) are known it
defines the required radial compressor rotational speed. Optimum Ns values result in a higher RPM for a
required mass flow. Designing for a lower Ns value allows a lower RPM for the same mass flow
(or power) but penalizes on efficiency. The higher values of Ns lead to RPM that may not be reachable
(rotor-dynamic and bearing problems) and a lower value of Ns may be a design option to alleviate the
bearing problems. The corresponding penalty on efficiency can be obtained from figure 2.
Figure 2: Variation of Achievable Compressor Efficiency with Specific Speed (acc. [2]).
1.2 Performance Predictions
Previous model has been used to predict the compressor performance at different values of impeller RPM.
The results for high and low values of Ns and high and low values of the turbine inlet temperature are
summarized in table 1 to 4. Each table shows the variation of the gas turbine characteristics and performance
when decreasing the dimensions to finger tip size impellers. The pressure ratio, compressor inlet
temperature T1, Turbine inlet temperature Tit, Specific speed Ns, radial compressor slip factor, Turbine
efficiency etaT, specific heat Cp and Gas constant R
G
, at which the calculations are made, are listed in the
first rows. Calculations are made for a simple cycle without recuperator.
The compressor efficiency is predicted in two steps. The variation of Eta-Comp (column 8) accounts for
the reduction in efficiency with decreasing Reynolds number (Fig. 1). The second step corrects for non-
optimum specific speed (Fig. 2). The global result is listed under Eta-C(corr) (column 9).
The turbine efficiency, needed to define the cycle efficiency, is assumed to be independent of the size and
fixed at a low (70.%) and high value (80.%). The lower value stands for the worst case when the
efficiency is limited by geometrical or manufacturing restrictions (2D instead of 3D impellers).
All predictions are made for pressure ratio = 3. Losses in the piping and combustor are neglected.
An increase in H and hence peripheral velocity U2 is required to compensate for the decrease in
compressor efficiency with decreasing size. The important decrease in cycle efficiency with decreasing
size, shown on Table 1, illustrates the large impact of compressor and turbine performance at moderate
values (1200.
o
K) if Tit.
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
1 - 4 RTO-EN-AVT-131
Table 1: Variation of Gas Turbine Performance with Size (Tit = 1200.
o
K, Ns = .3)
Table 2 illustrates the favorable influence of an increase in specific speed (from .3 to .5) on compressor
efficiency. Together with an increase of turbine efficiency (etaT = 80% instead of 70.%) it results in a
considerable increase of cycle efficiency. At the smallest dimensions the cycle efficiency has increased to
10% and the gas turbine power has changed from 0. to a small positive value. The mass flow is doubled
and the power output is increased with a factor 5. This comparison illustrates the large impact of compressor
and turbine efficiency on overall performance and emphasizes the need for optimized components [3].
Table 2: Variation of Gas Turbine Performance with Size (Tit = 1200.
o
K, Ns = .5)
Comparing the results on Table 3 with those on Table 1 illustrates the performance improvements when
increasing the Tit from 1200
o
K to 1500
o
K, without any change in compressor and turbine characteristics.
It also results in a considerable increase of the power output without change in mass flow.
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
RTO-EN-AVT-131 1 - 5
Table 3: Variation of Gas Turbine Performance with Size (Tit = 1500.
o
K, Ns = .3)
The best results are obtained with increased Tit and high compressor and turbine performance as shown on
Table 4. However it is questionable if this performance level is realistic in small gas turbines where the
small dimensions prohibit any blade cooling. Even the use of new materials as SiN will not allow such
temperatures and the achievable cycle efficiency may be closer to the one listed in Table 1. The use of
these unconventional materials for gas turbine rotors requires new manufacturing techniques and may
impose restrictions on the geometry (i.e. two-dimensional rotors with low Ns) and have a negative effect
on performance.
Table 4: Variation of Gas Turbine Performance with Size (Tit = 1500.
o
K, Ns = .5)
The extreme high RPM that are required together with the high temperatures, impose the use of oil free
bearings. Pushing the air-bearings and electrical generators beyond the present limits is a challenging task.
The most advanced knowledge on small high temperature turbomachines is in the field of turbochargers,
operating up to 200.000 RPM, and Auxiliary Power Units (APU). All operations above this limit require
new developments as well in terms of material and manufacturing techniques as in terms of aero-
thermodynamics [4]. There is also no guarantee that the existing flow solvers and turbulence models are
still accurate also for these extremely low Reynolds numbers.
Previous study shows that the design of a small gas turbine with positive power output is a challenging
task.
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
1 - 6 RTO-EN-AVT-131
2.0 HEAT TRANSFER
Internal heat transfer has an important impact on the performance of the very small turbomachines, used in
micro- and nano- gas turbines. The heat flux from the hot turbine to the colder compressor results in a
cooling of the flow in the turbine and a heating of the flow in the compressor. The performance changes
and can no longer be evaluated by the flow conditions measured at inlet and outlet of the components.
This problem has first been recognized and studied for small turbochargers where it was shown that the
distance between the hot turbine and the cold compressor might have a considerable impact on the flow
conditions [5]. The impact on micro-turbomachinery performance has been discussed by Gong et al. [6]
and Ribaud [7]. Procedures to correct for this internal heat transfer have been proposed [8].
2.1 Prediction Model
The diabatic compressor and turbine performance prediction is based on the assumption that the impeller
friction losses are not changed by the heat transfer. However, heating the flow during the compression
results in a higher outlet temperature, hence lower density at the compressor outlet. The main
consequences are less diffusion than with adiabatic flow and, as can easily be evaluated from the outlet
velocity triangles, lower work input and pressure rise. The latter ones result in a further decrease of the
density at impeller outlet.
In what follows one will assume that the corresponding velocity increase at the outlet is compensated by a
proportional increase of the impeller exit width. As a consequence the velocity is unchanged along the
flow path. The original velocity triangles are re-established and friction losses can be evaluated from the
polytropic efficiency of an adiabatic compression on an equivalent geometry. This can eventually be
verified by a diabatic Navier-Stokes calculation.
Heating the flow during compression has a negative effect on the efficiency because the enthalpy dh
needed for an elementary isentropic compression dP increases with the temperature.
TR
P
dPdP
dh
G
.==
ρ
(6)
Cooling the flow during the expansion in a turbine has also a negative effect on the efficiency because the
energy dh obtained from an isentropic pressure drop dP decreases with decreasing temperature.
The first law of thermodynamics provides the relation for non isentropic diabatic compression:
dQdL
dP
TdS
dP
dh ++=+=
ρρ
(7)
where dL is the heat produced by the internal friction losses and dQ is the amount of heat transmitted
trough the walls (Fig. 3).
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
RTO-EN-AVT-131 1 - 7
Figure 3: H,S Diagram for a Diabatic Compression (left) or Expansion (right).
Expressing the losses and heat addition as a linear function of the enthalpy rise
dh
hh
L
dL
12
2,1
=
dh
hh
Q
dQ
12
2,1
=
(8)
and substituting it into (7) provides following relation.
ρ
dP
dh
hh
Q
hh
L
=
12
12
12
12
1
(9)
Using the relations for perfect gas to calculate the density and expressing the enthalpy in function of the
temperature change and constant specific heat coefficient Cp, one obtains:
P
dP
TdT
TTCp
Q
TTCp
L
γ
γ
1
).().(
1
12
12
12
12
=
(10)
Integration from T
1
to T
2
(compressor) results in
1
2
12
1212
1
2
ln
1
).(
1ln
P
P
TTCp
QL
T
T
γ
γ
=
+
(11)
or
µ
1
2
1
2
P
P
T
T
=
(12)
where
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
1 - 8 RTO-EN-AVT-131
).(
1
1
12
1212
TTC
QL
p
+
=
γ
γ
µ
(13)
Equation (12) is similar to the definition of polytropic efficiency of an adiabatic compression where µ stands
for
p
η
γ
γ
µ
1
=
(14)
Hence
).(
1
12
1212
TTC
QL
p
p
+
=
η
(15)
η
p
decreases with positive values of Q
12
because this increases both the nominator and denominator.
Equ. (15) shows that any heat addition will have the same effect as a reduction of polytropic efficiency.
The value of L
12
can directly be derived from (15) and the known polytropic efficiency for an adiabatic
compression (Q
12
=0).
(
)
).(1
1212
TTCL
adippadi
=
η
(16)
The same procedure provides the non adiabatic efficiency and outlet temperature T
2dia
by substituting the
previously defined value of L
12
and a given value of Q
12
0.
Similar equations are easily derived for turbines.
The diabatic outlet temperature (Q
12
0) cannot directly be used to calculate the power transmitted by the
compressor and turbine. The mechanical- or shaft power is obtained by subtracting the heat flux from the
total energy transfer, defined by inlet and outlet temperature.
E
C,dia
=
m
&
.C
p
(T
2dia,comp
-T
1
)-Q
12
E
T,dia
=
m
&
.C
p
(T
1
-T
2dia,turb
)-Q
12
(17)
For a given pressure ratio, the real compressor and turbine efficiencies can also be defined from by
substituting following corrected exit temperatures for compressor and turbine in (12):
mCQTT
pdiacorr
&
//
12,2,2
= mCQTT
pdiacorr
&
//
12,2,2
+
=
(18)
The decrease of efficiency of both components is shown on Fig. 4 and 5 as a function of adiabatic efficiency
and Q
12
between and turbine compressor. Q
12
is expressed as a % of the adiabatic compressor power input
at η
p
= .7 . It depends on the impeller size and fluid temperatures and is evaluated in next section.
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
RTO-EN-AVT-131 1 - 9
Figure 4: Decrease of Compressor Efficiency in Function of Q12 and η
p
.
Figure 5: Decrease of Turbine Efficiency in Function of Q12 and η
p
.
Input to this model is the internal heat transfer obtained from diabatic flow calculations on compressors of
different size at different impeller surface temperatures.
2.2 Heat Flux Calculations
The amount of heat flux through the compressor walls (Q
12
>0) depends on the compressor wall temperature
which in turn is a function of the turbine inlet gas temperature, the blade and disk surface, the distance
between turbine and compressor impeller, the conductivity of the material, the heat transfer coefficient,
etc. A complete calculation requires a combination of a heat transfer calculation in the whole rotor with a
diabatic flow calculation in the compressor and turbine (Fig. 6).
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
1 - 10 RTO-EN-AVT-131
Figure 6: Rotor Geometry and View on Compressor Section.
Following is an estimation of typical values of the heat flux in radial compressor impellers of different size
with different wall temperatures (Table 5). The flow and heat flux is calculated by the TRAF3D Navier
Stokes solver developed by Arnone [9] on a grid with 400 000 cells using the Baldwin Lomax turbulence
model. This may not be the most appropriate model but an experimental study of low Reynolds number
flow in a rotating channel with wall roughness is presently under way to evaluate it.
Table 5: Navier Stokes Test Cases
Outlet diameter (mm) 8 20.
RPM
1050000 420000
Mass flow (gr/sec) ~1. ~6.7
P
0
2
/P
0
1
2.1 2.1
T
wall
(
o
K) 600 500/600/700
The 20 mm diameter 2D compressor impeller is a geometrically scaled version of the 8 mm diameter one.
It has four blades and four splitters (Fig. 6).
The model, explained in section 2, assumes the same velocity distribution inside the impeller for adiabatic
and diabatic flows. Hence the inlet and outlet velocity triangles should be conserved during the diabatic
calculations. This is achieved by:
Adjusting the pressure ratio proportional to the inlet density (dh=dP/ρ) to obtain the same volume
flow and hence the same inlet velocity triangles; and
Increasing the impeller outlet width b
2
to compensate for the decrease in outlet flow density with
increasing fluid temperature.
The heat flux is defined by integrating the flux on all surface cells (i.e. on the blades, hub and shroud).
Fig. 7 shows the dependence of the calculated heat flux on compressor size and wall temperature. It varies
between 27% of the large compressor power at 500
o
K wall temperature to 62% at 700
o
K wall
temperature. It increases by almost 10% at the smaller impeller size.
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
RTO-EN-AVT-131 1 - 11
Figure 7: Variation of Heat Flux with Wall Temperature for 8 mm. Ø () and 20 mm Ø (o) Impeller.
The Navier Stokes calculations predict a reduction of adiabatic impeller efficiency, based on shaft power
and pressure ratio, from 69.6% to 63.5% for the diabatic compression. This value is in good agreement
with the one defined by the analytical model.
2.3 Cycle Efficiency
The total energy needed for an adiabatic compression, or obtained from an adiabatic expansion from to
P
2
to P
1
is
).(
12,
TTCmE
adipadiC
=
&
).(
21, adipadiT
TTCmE
=
&
(19)
The mechanical energy required to compress the gas in a diabatic process is defined in (17).
Although the adiabatic and diabatic compression processes suffer from the same friction losses, E
dia
is
larger than E
adi
because the diabatic compression takes place at a higher temperature. For negative values
of Q
12
(cooling of the compressor)
the required energy would be lower than the one specified in (19)
because of the lower fluid temperature during compression. The process is then closer to the more efficient
isothermal compression.
The opposite phenomenon occurs in the turbine. Expanding the flow in the turbine at a lower than adiabatic
temperature, reduces the power output because the available energy, corresponding to a given pressure
drop, decreases with decreasing temperature (6)
diaTadiT
EE
,,
> .
Heating the turbine would result in an increased power output in a way similar to what is expressed by the
reheat factor for turbines.
Less power output from the turbine in combination with more power required by the compressor results in
a lower gas turbine power output
adiGTadiCadiTdiaCdiaTdiaGT
EEEEEE
,,,,,,
=
<= (20)
and lower cycle efficiency
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
1 - 12 RTO-EN-AVT-131
)(
iTiTp
CT
cycle
CTmC
EE
=
&
η
(21)
C
iT
is the combustion inlet temperature.
Following figures, showing the consequences for a typical small gas turbine rotor, are obtained at following
operating conditions:
P
2
/P
1
= 3. T
1C
=293.
o
K η
pC
= .7 T
It
= 1600.
o
K η
pT
= .8
Fig. 8 shows the ratio of the diabatic over adiabatic power output as a function of the compressor polytropic
efficiency for the typical cases of heat transfer. Q
12
is 25.% 50.% or 75. % of the compressor adiabatic
input power at polytropic efficiency of .7 . The central value is close to the 52% predicted in a micro gas
turbine with rotor diameter 8 mm at 600
o
K compressor wall temperature.
Figure 8: Ratio between Diabatic over Adiabatic Gas Turbine Power
Output as Function of Compressor Polytropic Efficiency.
The heat-transfer from the turbine to the compressor as well as the lower compressor efficiency increase
the compressor exit temperature and hence combustion chamber inlet temperature (Fig. 9). The effect is
comparable to a recuperator and the corresponding increase of the combustion chamber inlet temperature
means that less fuel will be needed to reach the prescribed turbine inlet temperature. This partially
compensates the decreased compressor and turbine efficiency and explains the relatively small impact of
the internal heat transfer on the cycle efficiency (Fig. 10).
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
RTO-EN-AVT-131 1 - 13
Figure 9: Effect of Internal Heat Transfer
on Cycles (without recuperator).
Figure 10: Effect of Internal Heat Transfer
on Cycles (without recuperator).
This compensation does not occur if a recuperator is used (Fig. 11). The smaller difference between the
turbine- and compressor exit temperature results in a smaller heat recuperation. Results shown on Fig. 12
indicate a non-negligible impact of heat transfer on cycle efficiency assuming a constant (.70) effectiveness
of the recuperator.
Figure 11: Effect of Internal Heat Transfer
on Cycles (with recuperator).
Figure 12: Impact of Heat Transfer on
Cycle Efficiency (with recuperator).
3.0 CONSTRAINTS
Previous rules for turbomachinery scaling are valid only in combination with an exact geometrical scaling,
i.e. scaling all dimensions, including blade thickness and roughness, with the same factor. This may not
always be possible when going to extreme small dimensions. Limitations may occur depending on:
different manufacturing techniques that are required to make the smaller geometries, new materials that
are used or change of lay-out for operational or mechanical reasons.
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
1 - 14 RTO-EN-AVT-131
Scaling the blade thickness proportional to the impeller diameter will lead to extreme thin blades that have
an insufficient mechanical resistance to shocks or any other mechanical solicitations. Finite element
calculations have also shown that a thickening of the blades and a larger fillet radius at the blade root may
reduce stresses. However CFD evaluations show that a thickening the blades by a factor 4, as shown on
Fig. 13, results in an efficiency drop of more than 6%.
Figure 13: Effect of Blade Thickness on Stresses (different scales).
It is generally accepted that Roughness has no impact on friction losses as long as the Reynolds number
based on the equivalent sand grain size ks is smaller than 100.
100
..
Re
2
<=
µ
ω
ρ
ksR
ks
(22)
The etching techniques, used for nano-gas turbine rotors, do not allow very smooth surfaces which may
limit the validity of Reynolds number influence on efficiency (Fig. 1). It is further not verified that this
rule of thumb (22) is still valid for the very low Reynolds numbers.
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
RTO-EN-AVT-131 1 - 15
The decrease in efficiency with decreasing size requires higher peripheral velocities at impeller exit to
reach the required pressure ratio. Hence the stress problems increase at reduced dimensions. It has been
shown that shrouding the impellers has a favourable impact on the blade bending stresses but results in
high stresses at the shroud eye (Fig. 14).
Figure 14: von Mises Stresses in Unshrouded and Shrouded Impeller.
Adding a shroud to the impeller has a small favourable effect on efficiency. The friction of the fluid on the
non-rotating shroud wall (with velocity
V) and the losses by the clearance flow, are replaced by a friction
of the fluid on the rotating shroud (with velocity
W) and friction on the rotating shroud wall (with velocity
U) (Fig. 15). The net effect is a small increase of efficiency of the order of 1 to 2% depending on the
thickness of the outer rim.
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
1 - 16 RTO-EN-AVT-131
Figure 15: Friction on Unshrouded (left) and Shrouded (right) Impeller.
One of the micro gas turbine design targets is a compact machine with high power density. Integrating the
rotor of the electrical power generator into the compressor shroud may help to reach this goal. It also
alleviates vibration problems resulting from long rotors.
4.0 CONCLUSIONS
Good micro gas turbines are not miniaturized copies of large ones.
The non-adiabatic compression and expansion perturbs the whole thermodynamic cycle.
Combustion chambers, not yet discussed in this paper, are very different from their larger version
because of unscalable characteristics like combustion time.
The very high rotational speed, that is needed to obtain the enthalpy and pressure changes prescribed by
the gas turbine cycle, is the major mechanical problem.
New materials and new manufacturing techniques are needed. They should allow low cost production
because this small power output devises remain in competition with heavier but cheap batteries.
One of the major problems in micro gas turbines is the decrease of compressor and turbine efficiency with
decreasing dimensions. This is further enhanced by the effect of larger roughness resulting from materials
and manufacturing techniques. The resulting decrease in cycle efficiency does not make micro gas
turbines to ecological devices. Performance more than any other criterion might define the lower limit for
these devises.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Part of the results presented in this lecture are obtained in the context of the project SBO 030288
“PowerMEMS” financed by IWT (Institute for Promotion and Innovation of Science and Technology in
Flanders).
The contribution by Z. Alsalihi and T. Verstraete to this lecture is gratefully acknowledged.
REFERENCES
[1] Japikse D. and Baynes N., Introduction to Turbomachines, Concepts ETI and Oxford University
Press, 1994.
[2] Rodgers C., Specific Speed and Efficiency of Centrifugal Impellers, proc. ASME 25
th
Gas Turbine
Conference, 1980.
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
RTO-EN-AVT-131 1 - 17
[3] Van den Braembussche R.A., Islek A.A. and Alsalihi Z., Aero-thermal Optimization of Micro-Gas
Turbine Compressors Including Heat Transfer, Proceedings of the IGTC2003Tokyo, International
Gas Turbine Conference 2003, Tokyo, November 2-7, 2003.
[4] Nagashima T., Ribaud Y., Ivanov M.J. and Van den Braembussche R.A., Collaborative Research
about Thermo- Fluid-dynamic Design of Ultra –micro Gas Turbine, Journal of the Gas Turbine
Society of Japan, Vol. 30, No 4, 2002, pp. 42-49.
[5] Rautenberg M., Mobarak A. and Malobabic M., “Influence of Heat Transfer between Turbine and
Compressor on the Performance of small Turbochargers”, GTSJ Intl. Gas Turbine Congress, Tokyo,
23-29 November, 1983.
[6] Gong Y., Sirakov B.T., Epstein A.H and Tan C.S., “Aerothermodynamics of micro-turbomachinery”,
ASME-GT2004-53877.
[7] Ribaud Y., “Internal Heat Mixing and External Heat losses in an Ultra Micro Turbine” Proceedings
International Gas Turbine Congress 2003 Tokyo, November 2-7, 2003. IGTC2003Tokyo OS-109.
[8] Rautenberg M. and Kammer N., “On the thermodynamics of non-adiabatic compression and
Expansion Processes in Turbomachines”, 5
th
Intl. Conference for Mechanical Power Engineering,
October 13-15, 1984.
[9] Arnone A., “Viscous analysis of Three-Dimensional Rotor Flow Using a Multigrid Method” ASME
Journal of Turbomachinery, Vol. 116.
Micro Gas Turbines – A Short Survey of Design Problems
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This paper presents an experimentally validated computational study of heat transfer within a compact recuperated Brayton cycle microturbine. Compact microturbine designs are necessary for certain applications, such as solar dish concentrated power systems, to ensure a robust rotodynamic behaviour over the wide operating envelope. This study aims at studying the heat transfer within a 6 kWe micro gas turbine to provide a better understanding of the effect of heat transfer on its components' performance. This paper also investigates the effect of thermal losses on the gas turbine performance as a part of a solar dish micro gas turbine system and its implications on increasing the size and the cost of such system. Steady-state conjugate heat transfer analyses were performed at different speeds and expansion ratios to include a wide range of operating conditions. The analyses were extended to examine the effects of insulating the microturbine on its thermodynamic cycle efficiency and rated power output. The results show that insulating the mi-croturbine reduces the thermal losses from the turbine side by approximately 11% without affecting the compressor's performance. Nonetheless, the heat losses still impose a significant impact on the microturbine performance, where these losses lead to an efficiency drop of 7.1% and a net output power drop of 6.6% at the design point conditions.
... To maintain similar enthalpy levels and pressure changes it is necessary to run at considerably larger rotational speeds to the detriment of reliability. Heat transfer between hot and cold parts becomes more pronounced the smaller the unit size [5]. Also, tip leakage losses increase along with frictional losses due to larger relative surface roughness. ...
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In this paper, an alternative micro-gas turbine is proposed, where the traditional compressor-turbine arrangement is replaced by an axial, throughflow wave rotor. The investigated wave rotor features symmetrically cambered wall profiles and angled port arrangement for shaft power extraction and uses shock and rarefaction waves for pressure exchange and to achieve gas compression and expansion within a single device. A validated quasi-one-dimensional model that solves the laminar Navier-Stokes equations using a two-step Richtmyer scheme with minmod flux limiter is employed to characterise and examine micro-gas turbine behaviour. The model accounts for wall heat transfer, flow leakage, wall friction and inviscid blade forces. In addition, modified boundary conditions consider finite passage opening effects and a simple steady-flow combustor model is defined that links the high pressure in-and outlet ports. The model is used to conduct a parametric study to investigate the effects of leakage gap, heat release rate, exhaust backpressure, as well as profile camber on gas turbine performance with a focus on generated combustor compression and expansion efficiency, shaft power and system efficiency. The implications of combustor pressure loss as well as effects of a potential recuperator are discussed as well. The results identify axial leakage and combustor pressure loss as primary drivers for enhanced performance. Finally, the results reinforce the capacity of wave rotors to compress and expand gas efficiently, while thermal efficiency remains below 10 percent. NOMENCLATURE Variableṡ m Mass flow rate [kg/s] Q Rate of heat flow [W] F Flux vector S Source term vector U State vector A Cross-sectional area [m 2 ] a Speed of sound [m/s] C Absolute velocity [m/s] c p Specific heat capacity at const. pressure [J/(kg·K)] c v Specific heat capacity at const. volume [J/(kg·K)] C D Discharge coefficient [-] D Diameter [m] e Specific internal energy [J/kg] f Friction factor [-] H Channel height [m] h Specific enthalpy [J/kg] htc Convective heat transfer coefficient [W/(m 2 ·K)] k Surface roughness [m] L Length [m] M Number of nodes in domain m Mass [kg] N u Nusselt number [-] P Power [W] p Pressure [Pa] P r Prandtl number [-] q Heat flux [W/m 2 ] R Specific gas constant [J/(kg·K)] r Radius [m] Re Reynolds number [-] S Wetted area [m 2 ] s Specific entropy [J/(kg·K] T Temperature [K] t Time [s] u Relative velocity [m/s] V Volume [m 3
Article
In micro gas turbine generators, the significant temperature difference within close proximity of the hot and cold components induces a substantial heat influx into the micro centrifugal compressor. This heat influx profoundly modifies the aerodynamic characteristics of the compressor. Ensuring a precise evaluation of the performance decline attributable to wall heat transfer effects and systematically integrating these impacts into the aerodynamic design process assumes paramount importance. Previous evaluation models, which involved unnecessary simplifications, suffered from limitations in accuracy. This paper presented a novel evaluation model for the diabatic isentropic efficiency through entropy analysis of the diabatic ideal compression process and the actual compression process. The rigorous theoretical derivation without any simplification empowers this model to faithfully mirror the authentic aerodynamic performance of diabatic compressors. The experimental and numerical verification results indicate that the proposed model is more reliable than the previous ‘preheating-adiabatic compression’ model when evaluating performance degradation stemming from wall heat transfer. The new model exhibits an error of approximately 3.7% at the design point and a mean absolute error of about 6% along the characteristic line of the design speed. Both deviations are deemed acceptable within the purview of engineering assessments. Furthermore, this paper illustrated an instance of the novel model’s application in the aerodynamic design process. A prototype compressor, impeccably designed under adiabatic conditions but falling short of performance benchmarks during the performance test, was redesigned using the proposed method. The experimental results show that through the incorporation of wall heat transfer effects, the redesigned compressor aligns perfectly with design requirements, yielding an efficiency enhancement of roughly 1.5%.
Article
Degradation in the service or manufacturing tolerances can cause tip clearance variation, which adversely affects the stability and performance of compressors. In particular, for a miniature gas turbine, the size of the tip clearance ratio (the ratio of tip clearance to the tip chord length) is relatively large, thus it is more likely to operate at low Reynolds number. This study, therefore, numerically investigated the effect of tip clearance variation on the aerodynamic performance of a 1.5-stage transonic compressor at high and low Reynolds numbers using a 3D Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver that incorporates the SST k-ω turbulence model coupled with the γ-θ transition model. The results show that the aerodynamic performance and the tip flow field structure of the compressor change significantly with varying tip clearance. At high Reynolds number, the performance curves are essentially negatively linear with tip clearance, but the slopes sharply increase at medium tip clearance (0.9% C, C represents the tip chord length). At low Reynolds number, the varying trends of the sensitive curves for large tip clearances (0.9% C–1.8% C) are basically the same as that at high Reynolds number. However, for small tip clearances (0.3% C–0.9% C), the aerodynamic performance parameters fluctuate, namely, there is a peak aerodynamic performance at low Reynolds number. When considering the performance and surge margin of the compressor comprehensively, the best tip clearance is 0.6% C at high Reynolds number, but 0.9% C at low Reynolds number.
Book
This book gathers selected papers from the 16th UK Heat Transfer Conference (UKHTC2019), which is organised every two years under the aegis of the UK National Heat Transfer Committee. It is the premier forum in the UK for the local and international heat transfer community to meet, disseminate ongoing work, and discuss the latest advances in the heat transfer field. Given the range of topics discussed, these proceedings offer a valuable asset for engineering researchers and postgraduate students alike.
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This study aims to evaluate the performance and cooling effectiveness of both photovoltaic (PV) and hybrid PV/thermal systems under various ambient conditions. Two models, namely standard PV module subject to ambient conditions without active cooling and a single-pass hybrid PV/T air collector, have been designed and simulated using the CFD software of COMSOL Multiphysics V5.3a. The PV material used in our analysis is monocrystalline silicon with a power temperature coefficient of 0.41% ºC−1. The thermal and electrical performances of both systems are evaluated numerically and compared to experimental data for validation. The results predicted for cooling effects show noticeable enhancements in both the electrical and thermal efficiencies of the systems, with up to 44% compared to the PV module without active cooling. The electrical PV/T arrangement has increased the performance of air cooling in a laminar flow regime with up to 4%. A numerical-based design optimization is carried out to enhance the system performance.
Article
Full-text available
The aerodynamic design and performance prediction of a two-dimensional compressor for a micro-gas-turbine application is described. Because of the uncommon geometry (2D with large relative clearance) and particular operating conditions (low Reynolds number with large heat transfer) one has first evaluated and calibrated the one-dimensional design and off-design performance prediction method by comparing predictions with those obtained from a three-dimensional Navier Stokes solver. It is shown that only minor modifications are required to reach a good agreement, once the impact on performance and flow conditions of the heat transfer at different location between inlet and outlet is evaluated. A first optimization of the overall compressor geometry, in terms of range and performance, by means of the one-dimensional prediction model, is followed by a detailed impeller design. This is done by means of the VKI optimization system, based on an Artificial Neural Networks, a Database, Genetic Algorithm and three-dimensional Navier Stokes solver. Less than 30 iterations have been required to find the optimum geometry. The design is completed by the definition of the optimum vaned diffuser geometry and an evaluation of the performance at 1/10 scaled button size compressor. NOMENCLATURE b impeller width, blade height Cp specific heat H enthalpy DR diffusion ratio (WLE/WSEP) HNU wake over jet velocity ratio (WW/WJ) M Mach number m mass flow P pressure R radius RG gas constant RPM rotations per minute T t emperature
Article
Full-text available
A three-dimensional code for rotating blade-row flow analysis has been developed. The space discretization uses a cell-centered scheme with eigenvalues scaling for the artificial dissipation. The computational efficiency of a four-stage Runge-Kutta scheme is enhanced by using variable coefficients, implicit residual smoothing, and a full-multigrid method. An application is presented for the NASA rotor 67 transonic fan. Due to the blade stagger and twist, a zonal, non-periodic H-type grid is used to minimize the mesh skewness. The calculation is validated by comparing it with experiments in the range from the maximum flow rate to a near-stall condition. A detailed study of the flow structure near peak efficiency and near stall is presented by means of pressure distribution and particle traces inside boundary layers.
Conference Paper
Engineering foundation for micro-turbomachinery aerothermal design, as an enabling element of the MIT micro-gas turbine technology, is developed. Fundamental differences between conventional, large scale and micro turbomachinery operation are delineated and the implications on design are discussed. These differences are largely a consequence of low operating Reynolds number, hence a relatively higher skin friction and heat transfer rate. While the size of the micro-gas turbine engine is ∼ a few mm, several order of magnitude smaller than conventional gas turbine, the required compressor stage pressure ratio (∼3–4) and impeller tip Mach number (∼1 and greater) are comparable; however, the disparity in the size implies that the operating Reynolds number of the micro-turbomachiery components is correspondingly several order of magnitudes smaller. Thus the design and operating requirements for micro-turbomachinery are distinctly different from those of conventional turbomachinery used for propulsion and power generation. Important distinctions are summarized in the following. 1. The high surface-to-flow rate ratio has the consequence that the flow in micro-compressor flow path can no longer be taken as adiabatic; the performance penalty associated with heat addition to compressor flow path from turbine is a primary performance limiting factor. 2. Endwall torque on the flow can be significant compared to that from the impeller blade surfaces so that direct use of Euler Turbine Equation is no longer appropriate. 3. Losses in turbine nozzle guide vanes (NGVs) can be one order of magnitude higher than those in conventional sized nozzle guide vanes. 4. The high level of kinetic energy in the flow exiting the turbine rotor is a source of performance penalty, largely a consequence of geometrical constraints. It can be inferred from these distinctions that standard preliminary design procedures based on the Euler equation, the adiabatic assumption, the loss correlations for large Reynolds numbers, and the three-dimensional geometry, are inapplicable to micro-turbomachinery. The preliminary design procedure, therefore, must account for these important differences. Characterization of the effects of heat addition on compressor performance, modification of Euler turbine equation for casing torque, characterization of turbine NGV performance and turbine exhaust effects are presented.
Article
Analysis of the test performance of centrifugal impellers showing a satisfactory correlation of impeller polytropic efficiency vs specific speed based on average impeller density is presented. The use of polytropic efficiency and speed reduces the impeller flow path to an equivalent incompressible frictional path; examination of test impeller efficiency levels and of internal losses indicates that the majority of the losses is frictional from the flow-path geometry and the windage between impeller and stationary shrouds. Test data on improved efficiency correlation are presented on several impeller geometries at low and high Mach numbers and specific speeds. Also, design charts are shown which indicate that the attainable state-of-the-art impeller efficiency levels are dependent on geometry and operating conditions.
On the thermodynamics of non-adiabatic compression and Expansion Processes in Turbomachines
  • M Rautenberg
  • N Kammer
Rautenberg M. and Kammer N., "On the thermodynamics of non-adiabatic compression and Expansion Processes in Turbomachines", 5 th Intl. Conference for Mechanical Power Engineering, October 13-15, 1984.
Influence of Heat Transfer between Turbine and Compressor on the Performance of small Turbochargers
  • M Rautenberg
  • A Mobarak
  • M Malobabic
Rautenberg M., Mobarak A. and Malobabic M., "Influence of Heat Transfer between Turbine and Compressor on the Performance of small Turbochargers", GTSJ Intl. Gas Turbine Congress, Tokyo, 23-29 November, 1983.
Collaborative Research about Thermo-Fluid-dynamic Design of Ultra -micro Gas Turbine
  • T Nagashima
  • Y Ribaud
  • M J Ivanov
  • R A Van Den Braembussche
Nagashima T., Ribaud Y., Ivanov M.J. and Van den Braembussche R.A., Collaborative Research about Thermo-Fluid-dynamic Design of Ultra -micro Gas Turbine, Journal of the Gas Turbine Society of Japan, Vol. 30, No 4, 2002, pp. 42-49.
Introduction to Turbomachines, Concepts ETI and
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Japikse D. and Baynes N., Introduction to Turbomachines, Concepts ETI and Oxford University Press, 1994.
Internal Heat Mixing and External Heat losses in an Ultra Micro Turbine
  • Y Ribaud
Ribaud Y., "Internal Heat Mixing and External Heat losses in an Ultra Micro Turbine" Proceedings International Gas Turbine Congress 2003 Tokyo, November 2-7, 2003. IGTC2003Tokyo OS-109.
Aero-thermal Optimization of Micro-Gas Turbine Compressors Including Heat Transfer
  • R A Van Den Braembussche
  • A A Islek
  • Z Alsalihi
Van den Braembussche R.A., Islek A.A. and Alsalihi Z., Aero-thermal Optimization of Micro-Gas Turbine Compressors Including Heat Transfer, Proceedings of the IGTC2003Tokyo, International Gas Turbine Conference 2003, Tokyo, November 2-7, 2003.