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At least 451 records · Page 25

Stoichiometric gas turbines - Development problems.

Detroit Diesel Allison has been active in demonstrating the feasibility of stoichiometric gas turbine engines for many years. Results of this program are presented with emphasis placed on areas requiring additional development work. Cooling air usage, the effect of cooling air on turbine efficiency, fabrication (materials) methods, and control (instrumentation) techniques are the areas discussed and illustrated. Lamilloy, a pseudo-transpiring material developed by Allison, is discussed in detail.

Helms, H. E.↗

Combustion generated noise in gas turbine combustors

Experiments were conducted to determine the noise power and spectra emitted from a gas turbine combustor can exhausting to the atmosphere. Limited hot wire measurements were made of the cold flow turbulence level and spectra within the can. The fuels used were JP-4, acetone and methyl alcohol burning with air at atmospheric pressure. The experimental results show that for a fixed fuel the noise output is dominated by the airflow rate and not the fuel/air ratio. The spectra are dominated by the spectra of the cold flow turbulence spectra which were invariant with airflow rate in the experiments. The effect of fuel type on the noise power output was primarily through the heat of combustion and not the reactivity. A theory of combustion noise based upon the flame radiating to open surroundings is able to reasonably explain the observed results. A thermoacoustic efficiency for noise radiation as high as .00003 was observed in this program for JP-4 fuel. Scaling rules are presented for installed configurations.

Strahle, W. C.↗

Effect of premixing quality on oxides of nitrogen in gas turbine combustors foi HC

Experiments were conducted to determine the effectiveness of several premixing prevaporizing gas turbine combustor designs in reducing formation of oxides of nitrogen at the supersonic cruise condition. An atomized spray from a single injector mounted on the axis of the mixer tube produced a high initial concentration of fuel near the axis and only moderate premixed conditions entering the combustor. A fuel spray produced by 12 flush-mounted normal injection orifices in the mixer tube wall produced a good initial despersion of fuel and resulted in nearly complete premixing. Oxides of nitrogen emission levels of the order of 0.2 g NO2/kg fuel were obtained at 99 percent combustion efficiency at an equivalence ratio of 0.4. Overall total pressure drop was less than 3 percent through the 1-meter combustor module.

Roffe, G.↗

Effect of inlet temperature and pressure on emissions from a premixing gas turbine primary zone combustor

Experiments were conducted to determine the performance of a premixing prevaporizing gas turbine primary zone combustor design over a range of combustor inlet temperatures from 700 to 1000 K and a range of inlet pressures from 40 to 240 N/sq cm. The 1 meter long combustor could be operated at pressures up to and including 120 N/sq cm without autoignition in the premixing duct or flashback from the stabilized combustion zone. Autoignition occurred in the mixer tube at the 240 N/sq cm pressure level with an entrance temperature of 830 K and a mixer residence time of 4 msec. Measured NOx level, combustion inefficiency, and hydrocarbon emission index correlated well with adiabatic flame temperature. The NOx levels varied from approximately 0.2 to 2.0 g NO2/kg fuel at combustion inefficiencies from 4 to 0.04 percent, depending upon adiabatic flame temperature and pressure. Measured NOx levels were sensitive to pressure. Tests were made at equivalence ratios ranging from 0.35 to 0.65. The overall total pressure drop for the configuration varied slightly with reference velocity and equivalence ratio, but never exceeded 3 percent.

Roffe, G.↗

Reverse-flow combustor for small gas turbines with pressure-atomizing fuel injectors

A reverse flow combustor suitable for a small gas turbine (2 to 3 kg/s mass flow) was used to evalute the effect of pressure atomizing fuel injectors on combustor performance. In these tests an experimental combustor was designed to operate with 18 simplex pressure atomizing fuel injectors at sea level takeoff conditions. To improve performance at low power conditions, fuel was redistributed so that only every other injector was operational. Combustor performance, emissions, and liner temperature were compared over a range of pressure and inlet air temperatures corresponding to simulated idle, cruise, and takeoff conditions typical of a 16 to 1 pressure ratio turbine engine.

Norgren, C. T.↗

Effect of steam addition on cycle performance of simple and recuperated gas turbines

Results are presented for the cycle efficiency and specific power of simple and recuperated gas turbine cycles in which steam is generated and used to increase turbine flow. Calculations showed significant improvements in cycle efficiency and specific power by adding steam. The calculations were made using component efficiencies and loss assumptions typical of stationary powerplants. These results are presented for a range of operating temperatures and pressures. Relative heat exchanger size and the water use rate are also examined.

Boyle, R. J.↗

Progress in Protective Coatings for Aircraft Gas Turbines: A Review of NASA Sponsored Research

Problems associated with protective coatings for advanced aircraft gas turbines are reviewed. Metallic coatings for preventing titanium fires in compressors are identified. Coatings for turbine section are also considered, Ductile aluminide coatings for protecting internal turbine-blade cooling passage surface are also identified. Composite modified external overlay MCrAlY coatings deposited by low-pressure plasma spraying are found to be better in surface protection capability than vapor deposited MCrAlY coatings. Thermal barrier coating (TBC), studies are presented. The design of a turbine airfoil is integrated with a TBC, and computer-aided manufacturing technology is applied.

Merutka, J. P.↗

Advanced Gas Turbine (AGT) powertrain system initial development report

The powertrain consists of a single shaft regenerated gas turbine engine utilizing ceramic hot section components, coupled to a slit differential gearbox with an available variable stator torque converter and an available Ford intergral overdrive four-speed automatic transmission. Predicted fuel economy using gasoline fuel over the combined federal driving cycle (CFDC) is 15.3 km/1, which represents a 59% improvement over the spark-ignition-powered baseline vehicle. Using DF2 fuel, CFDC mileage estimates are 17.43 km/1. Zero to 96.6 km/hr acceleration time is 11.9 seconds with a four-second accleration distance of 21.0 m. The ceramic radial turbine rotor is discussed along with the control system for the powertrain.

Source record↗

Optical Temperature Sensor For Gas Turbines

New design promises accuracy even in presence of contamination. Improved sensor developed to measure gas temperatures up to 1,700 degree C in gas-turbine engines. Sensor has conical shape for mechanical strengths and optical configuration insensitive to deposits of foreign matter on sides of cone.

Mossey, P. W.↗

Numerical calculations of turbulent reacting flow in a gas-turbine combustor

A numerical study for confined, axisymmetrical, turbulent diffusion flames is presented. Local mean gas properties are predicted by solving the appropriate conservation equations in the finite difference form with the corresponding boundary conditions. The k-epsilon two-equation turbulence model is employed to describe the turbulent nature of the flow. A two-step kinetic model is assumed to govern the reaction mechanism. The finite reaction rate is the smaller of an Arrhenius type of reaction rate and a modified version of eddy-breakup model. Reasonable agreement is observed between calculations and measurements, but to obtain better agreement, more work is needed on improvements of the above mathematical models. However, the present numerical study offers an improvement in the analysis and design of the gas turbine combustors.

Lin, Chin-Shun↗

Critical evaluation of Jet-A spray combustion using propane chemical kinetics in gas turbine combustion simulated by KIVA-2

Jet-A spray combustion has been evaluated in gas turbine combustion with the use of propane chemical kinetics as the first approximation for the chemical reactions. Here, the numerical solutions are obtained by using the KIVA-2 computer code. The KIVA-2 code is the most developed of the available multidimensional combustion computer programs for application of the in-cylinder combustion dynamics of internal combustion engines. The released version of KIVA-2 assumes that 12 chemical species are present; the code uses an Arrhenius kinetic-controlled combustion model governed by a four-step global chemical reaction and six equilibrium reactions. Researchers efforts involve the addition of Jet-A thermophysical properties and the implementation of detailed reaction mechanisms for propane oxidation. Three different detailed reaction mechanism models are considered. The first model consists of 131 reactions and 45 species. This is considered as the full mechanism which is developed through the study of chemical kinetics of propane combustion in an enclosed chamber. The full mechanism is evaluated by comparing calculated ignition delay times with available shock tube data. However, these detailed reactions occupy too much computer memory and CPU time for the computation. Therefore, it only serves as a benchmark case by which to evaluate other simplified models. Two possible simplified models were tested in the existing computer code KIVA-2 for the same conditions as used with the full mechanism. One model is obtained through a sensitivity analysis using LSENS, the general kinetics and sensitivity analysis program code of D. A. Bittker and K. Radhakrishnan. This model consists of 45 chemical reactions and 27 species. The other model is based on the work published by C. K. Westbrook and F. L. Dryer.

Nguyen, H. L.↗

Development and testing of CMC components for automotive gas turbine engines

Ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials are currently being developed and evaluated for advanced gas turbine engine components because of their high specific strength and resistance to catastrophic failure. Components with 2D and 3D composite architectures have been successfully designed and fabricated. This is an overview of the test results for a backplate, combustor, and a rotor.

Khandelwal, Pramod K.↗

Integrated CFD modeling of gas turbine combustors

3D, curvilinear, multi-domain CFD analysis is becoming a valuable tool in gas turbine combustor design. Used as a supplement to experimental testing. CFD analysis can provide improved understanding of combustor aerodynamics and used to qualitatively assess new combustor designs. This paper discusses recent advancements in CFD combustor methodology, including the timely integration of the design (i.e. CAD) and analysis (i.e. CFD) processes. Allied Signal's F124 combustor was analyzed at maximum power conditions. The assumption of turbulence levels at the nozzle/swirler inlet was shown to be very important in the prediction of combustor exit temperatures. Predicted exit temperatures were compared to experimental rake data, and good overall agreement was seen. Exit radial temperature profiles were well predicted, while the predicted pattern factor was 25 percent higher than the harmonic-averaged experimental pattern factor.

Fuller, E. J.↗

Optimization of wave rotors for use as gas turbine engine topping cycles

Use of a wave rotor as a topping cycle for a gas turbine engine can improve specific power and reduce specific fuel consumption. Maximum improvement requires the wave rotor to be optimized for best performance at the mass flow of the engine. The optimization is a trade-off between losses due to friction and passage opening time, and rotational effects. An experimentally validated, one-dimensional CFD code, which includes these effects, has been used to calculate wave rotor performance, and find the optimum configuration. The technique is described, and results given for wave rotors sized for engines with sea level mass flows of 4, 26, and 400 lb/sec.

Wilson, Jack↗

Thermal barrier coating life modeling in aircraft gas turbine engines

Analytical models for predicting ceramic thermal barrier coating (TBC) spalling life in aircraft gas turbine engines are presented. Electron beam-physical vapor deposited (EB-PVD) and plasma sprayed TBC systems are discussed. An overview of the following TBC spalling mechanisms is presented: metal oxidation at the ceramic-metal interface, ceramic-metal interface stress singularities at edges and corners, ceramic-metal interface stresses caused by radius of curvature and interface roughness, material properties and mechanical behavior, temperature gradients, component design features and object impact damage. TBC spalling life analytical models are proposed based on observations of TBC spalling and plausible failure theories. TBC spalling was assumed to occur when the imposed stresses exceed the material strength (at or near the ceramic-metal interface). TBC failure knowledge gaps caused by lack of experimental evidence and analytical understanding are noted. The analytical models are considered initial engineering approaches that capture observed TBC failure trends.

Nissley, David M.↗

Measurement of Turbulent Pressure and Temperature Fluctuations in a Gas Turbine Combustor

The report summarizes the results of the redesign efforts directed towards the gas-turbine combustor rapid-injector flow diagnostic probe developed under sponsorship of NASA-GRC and earlier reported in NASA-CR-2003-212540. Lessons learned during the theoretical development, developmental testing and field-testing in the previous phase of this research were applied to redesign of both the probe sensing elements and of the rapid injection device. This redesigned probe (referred to herein as Turboprobe) has been fabricated and is ready, along with the new rapid injector, for field-testing. The probe is now designed to capture both time-resolved and mean total temperatures, total pressures and, indirectly, one component of turbulent fluctuations.

Povinelli, Louis↗

High Temperature Metallic Seal Development For Aero Propulsion and Gas Turbine Applications

A viewgraph presentation on metallic high temperature static seal development at NASA for gas turbine applications is shown. The topics include: 1) High Temperature Static Seal Development; 2) Program Review; 3) Phase IV Innovative Seal with Blade Alloy Spring; 4) Spring Design; 5) Phase IV: Innovative Seal with Blade Alloy Spring; 6) PHase IV: Testing Results; 7) Seal Seating Load; 8) Spring Seal Manufacturing; and 9) Other Applications for HIgh Temperature Spring Design

More, Greg↗

Fuel injector including a lobed mixer and vanes for injecting alternate fuels in a gas turbine

A fuel injector for injecting alternate fuels having a different energy density in a gas turbine is provided. A first fuel supply channel (18) may be fluidly coupled to a radial passage (22) in a plurality of vanes (20) that branches into passages (24) (e.g., axial passages) to inject a first fuel without jet in cross-flow injection. This may be effective to reduce flashback in fuels having a relatively high flame speed. A mixer (30) with lobes (32) for injection of a second fuel may be arranged at the downstream end of a fuel delivery tube (12). A fuel-routing structure (38) may be configured to route the second fuel within a respective lobe so that fuel injection of the second fuel takes place radially outwardly relative to a central region of the mixer. This may be conducive to an improved (e.g., a relatively more uniform) mixing of air and fuel.

42 ENGINEERING↗