The required useful service lives of gas turbine components and parts are naturally one of the major design constraints limiting the gas turbine design space. For example, the required service life of a turbine blade limits the firing temperature in the combustor, which in turn limits the performance of the gas turbine. For a cooled turbine blade, it also determines the necessary cooling flow, which has a strong impact on the turbine efficiency. In most gas turbine design practices, the life prediction is only emphasized during or after the detailed design has been completed. Limited life prediction efforts have been made in the early design stages, but these efforts capture only a few of the necessary key factors, such as centrifugal stress. Furthermore, the early stage prediction methods are usually hard coded in the gas turbine system design tools and hidden from the system designer s view. The common failure mechanisms affecting the service life, such as creep, fatigue and oxidation, are highly sensitive to the material temperatures and/or stresses. Calculation of these temperatures and stresses requires that the geometry, material properties, and operating conditions be known; information not typically available in early stages of design. Even without awareness of the errors, the resulting inaccuracy in the life prediction may mislead the system designers when examining a design space which is bounded indirectly by the inaccurate required life constraints. Furthermore, because intensive creep lifing analysis is possible only towards the end of the design process, any errors or changes will cost the engine manufacturer significant money; money that could be saved if more comprehensive creep lifing predictions were possible in the early stages of design. A rapid, physics-based life prediction method could address this problem by enabling the system designer to investigate the design space more thoroughly and accurately. Although not meant as a final decision method, the realistic trends will help to reduce risk, by providing greater insight into the bounded space at an earlier stage of the design. The method proposed by this thesis was developed by first identifying the missing pieces in the system design tools. Then, by bringing some key features from later stages of design and analysis forward through 0/1/2Ds dimensional modeling and simulation, the method allows estimation of the geometry, material selection, and the loading stemming from the operating conditions. Finally, after integration with a system design platform, the method provides a rapid and more complete way to allow system designers to better investigate the required life constraints. It also extracts the creep life as a system level metric to allow the designers to see the impact of their design decisions on life. The method is to be first applied to a cooled gas turbine blade and could be further development for other critical parts. These new developments are integrated to allow the system designers to better capture the blade creep life as well as its impact on the overall design.

Coal derived synthetic gas (syngas) fuel is a promising solution for today s increasing demand for clean and reliable power. Syngas fuels are primarily mixtures of H2 and CO, often with large amounts of diluents such as N2, CO2, and H2O. The specific composition depends upon the fuel source and gasification technique. This requires gas turbine designers to develop fuel flexible combustors capable of operating with high conversion efficiency while maintaining low emissions for a wide range of syngas fuel mixtures. Design tools often used in combustor development require data on various fundamental gas combustion properties. For example, laminar flame speed is often an input as it has a significant impact upon the size and static stability of the combustor. Moreover it serves as a good validation parameter for leading kinetic models used for detailed combustion simulations. Thus the primary objective of this thesis is measurement of laminar flame speeds of syngas fuel mixtures at conditions relevant to ground-power gas turbines. To accomplish this goal, two flame speed measurement approaches were developed: a Bunsen flame approach modified to use the reaction zone area in order to reduce the influence of flame curvature on the measured flame speed and a stagnation flame approach employing a rounded bluff body. The modified Bunsen flame approach was validated against stretch-corrected approaches over a range of fuels and test conditions; the agreement is very good (less than 10% difference). Using the two measurement approaches, extensive flame speed information were obtained for lean syngas mixtures at a range of conditions: 1) 5 to 100% H2 in the H2/CO fuel mixture; 2) 300-700 K preheat temperature; 3) 1 to 15 atm pressure, and 4) 0-70% dilution with CO2 or N2. The second objective of this thesis is to use the flame speed data to validate leading kinetic mechanisms for syngas combustion. Comparisons of the experimental flame speeds to those predicted using detailed numerical simulations of strained and unstrained laminar flames indicate that all the current kinetic mechanisms tend to over predict the increase in flame speed with preheat temperature for medium and high H2 content fuel mixtures. A sensitivity analysis that includes reported uncertainties in rate constants reveals that the errors in the rate constants of the reactions involving HO2 seem to be the most likely cause for the observed higher preheat temperature dependence of the flame speeds. To enhance the accuracy of the current models, a more detailed sensitivity analysis based on temperature dependent reaction rate parameters should be considered as the problem seems to be in the intermediate temperature range (~800-1200 K).

Directionally solidified (DS) nickel-base superalloys are used in high temperature gas turbine engines because of their high yield strength at extreme temperatures and strong low cycle fatigue (LCF) and creep resistance. Costly inspecting, servicing, and replacing of damaged components has precipitated much interest in developing models to better predict service life. Turbine blade life modeling is complicated by the presence of notches, dwells, high temperatures and temperature gradients, and highly anisotropic material behavior. This work seeks to develop approaches for predicting the life of hot sections of gas turbines blade material CM247LC DS subjected to LCF, dwells, and stress concentrations while taking into consideration orientation and notch effects. Experiments were conducted on an axial servo-hydraulic MTS® testing machine. High temperature LCF tests were performed on smooth and notched round-bar specimens in both longitudinal and transverse orientations with and without dwells. Experimental results were used to develop and validate an analytical life prediction model. An analytical model based on a multiaxial Neuber approach predicts the local stress-strain response at a notch and other geometric stress concentrations. This approach captures anisotropy through a multiaxial generalization of the Ramberg-Osgood relation using a Hill's type criterion. The elastic notch response is determined using an anisotropic elastic finite element analysis (FEA) of the notch. The limitations of the simpler analytical life-modeling method are discussed in light of FEA using an anisotropic elastic-crystal viscoplastic material model. This life-modeling method provides a quick alternative to time demanding elastic-plastic FEA allowing engineers more design iterations to improve reliability and service life.

Les réglementations en termes d'émission de polluants qui s'appliquent aux chambres de combustion de nouvelle génération nécessitent de nouvelles approches de conception. Afin d'atteindre simultanément des objectifs de faibles émissions d'oxydes d'azote (NOx) et de monoxyde de carbone (CO), un processus d'optimisation complexe est nécessaire au développement de nouveaux concepts de moteur. La simulation aux grandes échelles (SGE) a déjà fait ses preuves pour la prédiction de la combustion turbulente. C'est aussi un outil prometteur pour mieux comprendre la formation des polluants dans les turbines à gaz, ainsi que pour en fournir une prédiction quantitative. Dans ces travaux, une nouvelle méthodologie pour la prédiction du NOx et du CO dans des configurations réalistes est développée. La méthode est basée sur une description du système chimique par des schémas réduits fidèles dits analytiques (ARC) combinés au modèle de flamme épaissie (TFLES). En particulier, un ARC ayant des capacités de prédiction précise du CO et du NO est développé, validé sur des cas laminaires canoniques et implémenté dans le solveur SGE. Le potentiel de l'approche est démontré par une simulation haute résolution de la flamme académique turbulente Sandia D, pour laquelle une excellente prédiction du CO et du NO est obtenue. La méthodologie est ensuite appliquée à deux configurations industrielles. La configuration SGT-100 est un brûleur commercial partiellement prémélangé de turbine à gaz terrestre pour la production d'énergie, étudié expérimentalement au DLR. La SGE de cette configuration permet de mettre en évidence les processus chimiques de formation des polluants et fournit une compréhension qualitative et quantitative de l'effet des conditions de fonctionnement. La seconde application correspond à un prototype monosecteur de système d'injection aéronautique multipoint à très faibles émissions de NOx développé dans le cadre du projet européen LEMCOTEC et étudié expérimentalement à l'ONERA. Un ARC représentant la cinétique chimique d'un carburant aéronautique modèle est dérivé et employé dans la SGE de la chambre de combustion avec un formalisme eulérien pour décrire la phase dispersée. Les résultats obtenus montrent l'excellente capacité de prédiction de l'ARC en termes de propriétés de flamme et de prédiction des polluants. / Stringent regulations of pollutant emissions now apply to newgeneration combustion devices. To achieve low nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions simultaneously, a complex optimization process is required in the development of new concepts for engines. Already efficient for the prediction of turbulent combustion, Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is also a promising tool to better understand the processes of pollutant formation in gas turbine conditions and to provide their quantitative prediction at the design stage. In this work, a new methodology for the prediction with LES of NOx and CO in realistic industrial configurations is developed. It is based on a new strategy for the description of chemistry, using Analytically Reduced Chemistry (ARC) combined with the Thickened Flame model (TFLES). An ARC with accurate CO and NO prediction is derived, validated on canonical laminar flames and implemented in the LES solver. The accuracy of this approach is demonstrated with a highly resolved simulation of the academic turbulent Sandia D flame, for which excellent prediction of NO and CO is obtained. The methodology is then applied to two industrial configurations. The first one is the SGT-100, a lean partially-premixed gas turbine model combustor studied experimentally at DLR. LES of this configuration highlights the chemical processes of pollutant formation and provides qualitative and quantitative understanding of the impact of the operating conditions. The second target configuration corresponds to a mono-sector prototype of an ultra-low NOx, staged multipoint injection aeronautical combustor developed in the framework of the LEMCOTEC European project and studied experimentally at ONERA. An ARC for the combustion of a representative jet fuel surrogate is derived and used in the LES of the combustor with an Eulerian formalism to describe the liquid dispersed phase. Results show the excellent performances of the ARC, for both the flame characteristics and the prediction of pollutants.

Orientador: Prof. Dr.Antônio Garrido Gallego / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Energia, 2017. / Atentando-se à diversificação da matriz energética, expansão da oferta de energia e a aproximação do fim da vida útil de usinas nucleares, como Angra I, planejado para 2025, este trabalho apresenta um estudo de repotenciação de usinas nucleares PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor). A estratégia de repotenciação utilizada baseou-se na combinação da usina nuclear com turbinas a gás, compondo um arranjo similar aos ciclos combinados tradicionais, mas que utiliza energia nuclear e do gás natural paralelamente. A conexão entre as duas fontes ocorre por meio de caldeiras de recuperação, que utilizam os gases de exaustão das turbinas a gás para geração de vapor, que é utilizado na usina nuclear, o que possibilita a redução da potência térmica do reator. Efetuaram-se análises de energia nos ciclos propostos e constatou-se que os ciclos podem atingir eficiências energéticas entre 44% e 46%, no caso de ciclos que ultrapassam a potência nominal da antiga usina nuclear, e eficiências energéticas por volta de 39% no caso de ciclos com potência limitada à da antiga usina nuclear. Também foi possível avaliar qualitativamente as configurações que exigiriam menores modificações na usina nuclear. Foi realizada análise econômica onde estimou-se o custo de geração de energia elétrica dos ciclos propostos, obtendo 69,5 US$/MWh, que foi menor que o custo de uma nova usina a gás natural (80,8 US$/MWh) e uma nova usina nuclear (110,9 US$/MWh). Entretanto, os ciclos de repotenciação apresentaram custo de energia maior do que a possibilidade de extensão da vida útil de usinas nucleares por meio de investimentos em trocas de equipamentos e programas de manutenção (36,2 US$/MWh - Extensão das operações LTO ¿ do inglês: Long Term Operation). / Considering the diversification of the energy matrix, expansion of the energy supply and the approximation of the end of life of nuclear power plants, such as Angra I, planned for 2025, this work presents a repowering study of PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor). The repowering strategy was based on combination of the nuclear power plant with gas turbines, composing an arrangement like traditional combined cycles, but utilizing nuclear and natural gas in parallel. The connection between the two sources occurs through recovery boilers, which use the exhaust gases from gas turbines for steam generation, which is used in the nuclear power plant, which allows the reduction of the reactor thermal power. Energy analyzes were carried out in the proposed cycles and it was found that the cycles can achieve energy efficiencies between 44% and 46% in the case of cycles exceeding the nominal power of the former nuclear power plant, and energy efficiencies around 39% in the case of cycles with power limited to that of the old nuclear power plant. It was also possible to qualitatively evaluate the configurations that would require minor modifications at the nuclear power plant. An economic analysis was carried out to estimate the cost of generating electricity from the proposed cycles, obtaining 69.5 US$/MWh, which was lower than the cost of a new natural gas plant (80.8 US$/MWh) and a new nuclear power plant (110.9 US$/MWh). However, the repowering cycles had a higher energy cost than the possibility of extending the life of nuclear power plants through investments in equipment exchanges and maintenance programs (36.2 US$/MWh, LTO - Long Term Operation).

Modern gas turbine engines run at extremely high temperatures which require the high pressure turbine blades to be extensively cooled in order to reach life requirements. This must be done using the minimum amount of coolant in order to reduce the negative impacts on the cycle efficiency. In the design process the cooling configuration and stress distribution must be carefully considered before verification of the design is conducted. Improvements to all three of these blade design areas are presented in this thesis which investigates internal cooling systems in the form of ribbed, radial passages and leading edge impingement systems. The effect of rotation on the heat transfer distribution in ribbed radial passages is investigated. An engine representative triple-pass serpentine passage, typical of a gas turbine mid-chord HP blade passage, is simulated using common industrial RANS CFD methodology with the results compared to those from the RHTR, a rotating experimental facility. The simulations are found to perform well under stationary conditions with the rotational cases proving more challenging. Further study and simulations of radial passages are undertaken in order to understand the salient flow and heat transfer features found, namely the inlet velocity profile and rib orientation relative to the mainstream flow. A consistent rib direction gives improved heat transfer characteristics whilst careful design of inlet conditions could give an optimised heat transfer distribution. The effect of rotation on the heat transfer distribution in leading edge impingement systems is investigated. As for the radial passages, RANS CFD simulations are compared and validated against experimental data from a rotating heat transfer rig. The simulations provide accurate average heat transfer levels under stationary and rotating conditions. The full target surface heat transfer in an engine realistic leading edge impingement system is investigated. Experimental data is compared to RANS CFD simulations. Experimental results are in line with previous studies and the simulations provide reasonable heat transfer predictions. A new method of combined thermal and mechanical analysis is presented and validated for a leading edge impingement system. Conjugate CFD simulations are used to provide a metal temperature distribution for a mechanical analysis. The effect of changes to the geometry and temperature profile on stress levels are studied and methods to improve blade stress levels are presented. The thermal FEA model is used to quantify the effect of HTC alterations on different surfaces within a leading edge impingement system, in terms of both temperature and stress distributions. These are then used to provide improved target HTC distributions in order to increase blade life. A new method using Gaussian process regression for thermal matching is presented and validated for a leading edge impingement case. A simplified model is matched to a full conjugate CFD solution to test the method's quality and reliability. It is then applied to two real engine blades and matched to data from thermal paint tests. The matches obtained are very close, well within experimental accuracy levels, and offer consistency and speed improvements over current methodologies.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2016-08-04T12:41:31Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação de Mestrado - Natasha Lopes Gomes.pdf: 9410241 bytes, checksum: 569cb64525645737ca47e38f379de72c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-04T12:41:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação de Mestrado - Natasha Lopes Gomes.pdf: 9410241 bytes, checksum: 569cb64525645737ca47e38f379de72c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-26 / FACEPE / A indústria aeroespacial é um setor que contribui significativamente para o desenvolvimento econômico e social de alguns países. A confiabilidade e a disponibilidade de seus equipamentos são uma preocupação constante, uma vez que estes operam a temperaturas elevadas. Dentre os equipamentos que mais falham prematuramente devido à temperatura, destacam-se os bocais de exaustão das turbinas a gás, compostos por um conjunto de ligas à base de níquel ou à base de cobalto. No entanto, os fabricantes de turbinas tem demonstrado um maior interesse no uso de compósitos cerâmicos para revestimento nas seções quentes, devido sua maior capacidade de suportar altas temperaturas e exigência de menor refrigeração do ar. Mas a fragilidade intrínseca das cerâmicas é ainda um fator limitante para o uso destes materiais em estruturas mecânicas e aplicações industriais. Para reduzir fragilidade e aumentar resistência mecânica e tenacidade, normalmente as cerâmicas são reforçadas com incorporação de aditivos. Estudos vêm sendo realizados acerca da utilização da zircônia incorporada com outros óxidos, pois em comparação com outros cerâmicos, a zircônia tem propriedades mecânicas superiores, tais como alta resistência mecânica, estabilidade química e boa tenacidade à fratura. Neste trabalho foram produzidos compósitos cerâmicos zircônia-titânia (ZrO2-TiO2) reforçados com um óxido de terra rara, lantânio (La2O3), variando o teor de TiO2 em 5%, 10%, 15% e 20% e o teor de La2O3 em 5%, 7% e 10%. Os compósitos foram produzidos por processo termomecânico e sinterizados à 1385°C. Posteriormente, foram caracterizados quanto à estrutura, microestrutura e propriedades mecânicas através de difração de raios X, densidade relativa, microscopia óptica, microscopia eletrônica de varredura, espectroscopia de energia dispersiva e microdureza Vickers. A microestrutura do material sinterizado revelou uma boa homogeneidade em distribuição e tamanho de partículas, e a microdureza Vickers mostrou que o compósito com 15% de TiO2 e 10% de La2O3 obteve um melhor resultado, indicando que este possui boas propriedades físicas que apontam para uma possível aplicabilidade. No entanto, é necessário avaliar outras propriedades mecânicas a fim de garantir sua utilização como revestimento cerâmico de exaustores de turbinas a gás aeroespaciais. / The aerospace industry is a sector that contributes significantly to the economic and social development of some countries. The reliability and availability of your equipment is a constant concern, since they operate at high temperatures. Among the equipment more fail prematurely due to temperature, we highlight the exhaust nozzles of gas turbines, comprising a set of nickel based alloys or cobalt-based. However, turbine manufacturers have shown an increased interest in the use of ceramic composite coating on hot sections due to their greater ability to withstand high temperatures and requiring less cooling air. But the intrinsic brittleness of ceramics is still a limiting factor for the use of these materials in mechanical and industrial applications structures. To reduce brittleness and increase strength and toughness, typically ceramics are reinforced by incorporation of additives. Studies have been conducted on the use of zirconia incorporated with other oxides, as compared to other ceramic, zirconia has superior mechanical properties such as high mechanical strength, chemical stability and good fracture toughness. In this work we were produced composite ceramic zirconia-titania (ZrO2-TiO2) reinforced with a rare earth oxide, lanthanum (La2O3), varying the TiO2 content of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%, and the La2O3 content 5%, 7% and 10%. The composites were produced by thermomechanical process and sintered at 1385 ° C. Later, they were characterized as to structure, microstructure and mechanical properties through X-ray diffraction, relative density, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and microhardness. The microstructure of the sintered material showed a good homogeneous distribution and particle size, and Vickers microhardness showed that the composite with 15% TiO2 and 10% La2O3 obtained best results, indicating that it has good physical properties which indicate a possible applicability. However, it is necessary to assess other mechanical properties to ensure their use as ceramic coating aerospace gas turbine exhaust.

There is a constant struggle to increase the efficiency in gas turbines, where one method is to have a higher inlet temperature to the turbine. Often, this results in temperatures higher than the critical temperature of the materials, which makes cooling of the components an important part of the turbine. The cooling air is tapped from the compressor, and has hence required work while being compressed, but since it is removed from the thermodynamic cycle it will not provide any work in the turbine stages. Therefore, it is important to understand the losses in the cooling system to be able to use the smallest amount of cooling air possible, while still cool sufficiently to not decrease the turbine’s lifetime. The pressure losses in the cooling and secondary air systems are due to either friction or minor losses; contractions, expansions and bends. The losses can be described by a discharge coefficient, ; a rate of how close the actual mass flow is to the ideal mass flow, or a pressure loss coefficient, ; a rate of the pressure drop. In the cooling and secondary air systems there are orifices and cooling geometries. These can have different geometrical properties depending on application, and thereby have different heat transfer performances and causing a higher or lower pressure drop. At Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery AB, SIT AB, a one-dimensional in-house program named C3D is used for thermal calculations and calculations of flow properties of internal cooling flow networks. The program uses hydraulic networks consisting of nodes and branches to simulate the flow inside the components. Correlations used for describing pressure losses have been collected and divided depending on their valid ranges, with the aim to make pressure loss calculations easier. A MATLAB code have been developed, which, depending on input parameters, separates the correlations and returns a plot with the correlations that can be used. In order to make the code as useful as possible, a few assumptions were made; curve fitting of correlations which were only available as plots and interpolation to get larger valid ranges for some cases. These assumptions will influence the results, but the code will still be able to give an indication of which correlation to use, and hence, the objective is fulfilled. Simulations in one dimension are commonly used, since it is less time consuming than three-dimensional modelling. Therefore, with focus on the pressure losses, a one-dimensional model of a blade in the in-house program C3D has been evaluated using a three-dimensional model in the CFD program Ansys CFX. Also, two new models were created in C3D; both with geometrical properties and pressure loss coefficients adjusted to the CFX model, but the first model is using the same hydraulic network as in the evaluated, reference, model while the second is using a new network, built according to the streamlines in CFX. The resulting mass flows in the C3D models were compared to the mass flows in the CFX model, which ended in the conclusion that it is hard for the one-dimensional models to understand the complex, three-dimensional flow situations, even when adjusting them to the CFX model. Anyhow, the adjustments made the model somewhat closer to the three-dimensional case, and hence CFX should be used in an earlier stage when developing C3D models.

No description available.

Many industries have entered a new global phase which takes the environment in mind. The gas turbine industry is no exception, where the utilization of green fuels is the future to spare the environment from carbon dioxide and NOx emissions. Hydrogen has been identified as a fuel which can fulfil the global requirements set by governments worldwide. Combustion instabilities are not inevitable during gas turbine operations, especially when using a highly reactive and diffusive fuel as hydrogen. These thermoacoustics instabilities can damage mechanical components and have economic consequences in terms of maintenance and reparation. Understanding these thermoacoustic instabilities in gas turbine burners is of great interest. COMSOL Multiphysics offers a robust acoustic module compared to other available acoustic simulation programs. In this thesis, an Acoustic finite element model was built representing an atmospheric combustion rig (ACR), used to test the burners performance and NOx emissions. Complementary computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were performed for 100 % hydrogen as fuel by using the Reynolds average Navier-Stokes (RANS) lag EB k - epsilon turbulence model. Necessary data was successfully imported to the Acoustic finite element model. Different techniques of building the mesh were used in COMSOL Multiphysics and NX. Similar results were obtained, proving that both mesh tools work well in acoustic simulations. Two different ways of solving the eigenvalue problem in acoustics were implemented, the classic Helmholtz equation and Linearized Navier-Stokes equations, both in the frequency domain. The Helmholtz equation proved to be efficient and detected multiple modes in the frequency range of interest. Critical modes which lived in the burner and the combustion chamber were identified. Defining a hard and soft wall boundary condition at the inlets and outlet of the atmospheric combustion rig gave similar eigenfrequencies when comparing the two boundary conditions. The soft wall boundary condition was defined with a characteristic impedance, giving a high uncertainty whether the results were trustworthy or not. A boundary condition study revealed that the boundary condition at the outlet was valid for modes living in the burner and combustion chamber. Solving the eigenvalue problem with the Linearized Navier-Stokes equations proved to be computationally demanding compared to the Helmholtz equation. Similar modes shapes were found at higher frequencies, but pressure perturbations were observed in the region where the turbulence was dominant. A prestudy for a stability analysis was established, where the ACR and the flame was represented as a generic model. Implementing a Flame Transfer Function (FTF), more specifically a linear n - tau model, showed that the time delay tau is most sensible for a parametric change and hence needs to be chosen cautiously