This thesis presents the results of a linear cascade experiment performed on the mean-line and near-tip sections of a low-reaction steam turbine blade and compares them to CFD of the former. The purpose of these tests was the refinement of a proprietary empirical profile loss model. A review of the literature shows that experimental data on this type of blade is not openly available. The continued efficacy of empirical loss models to low-reaction steam turbine blades requires data from experiments such as the present study. Tests covered a range of incidence from -6 to +4 and exit Mach numbers from 0.4 to 0.6. Extensive static pressure taps on the blades allowed detailed examinations of blade loading. This loading was dissimilar to steam turbine blade loading in the open literature. A traversing five-hole probe measured conditions downstream of the blade row to enable the calculation of a total pressure loss coefficient. The area-averaged total pressure loss coefficient for both profiles was near 0.08 and was not sensitive to incidence or exit Mach number over the ranges tested. / Master of Science

World resources are becoming more and more scarce due to the increasing demand. Hence, the industry is moving towards sustainable development in order to suffice the needs of the future generations. Electricity is one such resources that account for 90% of the daily utility. In Sweden alone 378 TWh of electricity is consumed over a year. The major source of production of electricity is the fossil fuels, but due to development in the renewable resource's the electricity is also produced using solar, wind and geothermal energy. However, no production process is 100% efficient and hence, there is loss of energy in the form of waste. Organic Rankine Cycle Turbine (ORC) is a technology which is under the focus of the researcher and the industry to convert this wasteful energy into useful energy. Designing of these machines is a challenging task which requires careful consideration of every design parameter, i.e. with the change in every parameter the losses in the turbine either increase or decrease. In this study, effect of the parameters such as inlet mach number, stagger angle, inlet angle and pitch to chord is studied to see the effect on the profile loss. Since ANSYS Fluent works with 2D unlike ANSYS CFX which work with pseudo 2D geometry, ANSYS Fluent was used for investigating profile loss. Furthermore, a methodology is defined to investigate the tip leakage loss based on the geometry provided by the Againity AB for future studies. Tip leakage loss simulations were carried out in ANSYS CFX turbo mode due to its user friendly interface for simulating turbo machinery flows. The results of the profile loss investigation suggested a range for parameters where the profile loss is observed to be comparatively lower than elsewhere. The methodology proposed for tip leakage loss investigation paved a pathway for the further improvement with respect to the future studies.