Turbine | EPFL Graph Search

A turbine ('tɜːrbaɪn or 'tɜːrbɪn) (from the Greek τύρβη, tyrbē, or Latin turbo, meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical power when combined with a generator. A turbine is a turbomachine with at least one moving part called a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades so that they move and impart rotational energy to the rotor. Early turbine examples are windmills and waterwheels. Gas, steam, and water turbines have a casing around the blades that contains and controls the working fluid. Credit for invention of the steam turbine is given both to Anglo-Irish engineer Sir Charles Parsons (1854–1931) for invention of the reaction turbine, and to Swedish engineer Gustaf de Laval (1845–1913) for invention of the impulse turbine. Modern steam turbines frequently employ both reaction and impulse in the same

Etude du comportement dynamique des turbines Francis

A common phenomenon in Francis turbines is draft tube surge. In these fixed-bladed machines, a strong runner outlet swirl can develop under off-design conditions. The action of the diffuser, and in particular the draft tube elbow, on the rotating flow field induces synchronous pressure and discharge fluctuations. These low frequency disturbances are of special interest, because they can easily propagate throughout the whole hydraulic system. The dynamic response of the system to the natural excitations can inhibit the normal usage of the powerplant. If the natural excitation occurs at frequencies close to an eigenfrequency of the hydraulic system, an important amplification of the hydraulic fluctuations can be expected. Passive measures, such as air admission or minor design modifications, are commonly taken as a last resort to try to reduce these phenomena. This work explores an active control approach to alleviate the problem. It is shown that the hydroacoustic fluctuations in a hydraulic installation can strongly be reduced by "injecting" the inverse signal of the turbine's natural excitation. While the main theme is the application of the active control approach to improve the operation stability of Francis turbines, the scope of this study is larger and addresses the following scientific topics: Modeling of an hydroelectric installation The dynamic behavior of an installation is studied based on an one-dimensional model. A compilation of the basic modeling tools was done. Using these tools, the dynamic model of a hydraulic installation and an external hydroacoustical source is presented. It is used to explain how the overall hydroacoustic fluctuations can be reduced using a hydraulic exciter mounted in the wall of a draft tube's cone. Improving the operation stability by active control The hydraulic fluctuations associated with off-design operating conditions of Francis turbines are often very periodic and characterized by the presence of a dominant frequency component. The aim is to cancel out this component for which the amplitudes are often excessive. An active control system, composed of a hydraulic exciter and its controller, has been developed for a Francis turbine. The exciter employs a pulsed flow injection in the draft tube to generate an antiexcitation at a given frequency, which is then synchronized with the turbine's natural excitation. A self-tuning extremum control algorithm optimizes the operating parameters of the exciter to minimize the overall fluctuations in the hydraulic installation. Laboratory tests show the efficiency of the active control system. The amplitude of the pressure and discharge fluctuations at the dominant frequency component are reduced to background noise levels. Multiple configurations of the exciter have been tested. A spectral analysis of the pressure fluctuations is presented, the system's energy balance has been performed and the control algorithm of the system is analysed. The energy balance is very encouraging: the exciter system needed only about 1 percent of the hydraulic power of the Francis turbine. Prediction of the operation stability of turbines based on model tests Laboratory tests on a scale model, homologous to the turbine, are an indispensable step in the development of a hydroelectric powerplant. Unlike the static characteristics, the dynamic behavior of a turbine installation is difficult to predict. An original identification method of the dynamic characteristics of a model turbine is proposed. The method is verified on a theoretical case study and experimentally tested. It constitutes the basis of the prediction of the operation stability of the powerplant based on model tests.

EPFL2000

Investigation of High-Pressure Turbine Endwall Film-Cooling Performance Under Realistic Inlet Conditions

Magnus Jonsson, Peter Ott

Progress in materials and manufacturing techniques allows an increase of the mean turbine inlet temperature, resulting in improved efficiency and specific power of the turbine. Because of the combustor characteristics, thermal and aerodynamic nonuniformities can be present at the turbine inlet section. Then, a further increase in the inlet temperature might also generate harmful conditions for vane endwalls. In other words, it is necessary to apply realistic turbine inlet temperature and velocity profiles to evaluate these real effects. The objective of the present work is to predict and analyze a cooled high-pressure vane in terms of adiabatic effectiveness and aerodynamic behavior. An endwall cooling geometry with both fan-shaped and cylindrical holes has been investigated. Inlet nonuniformities in total temperature and velocity profile have been considered in order to simulate realistic conditions. Once the inlet total temperature profile is imposed, a considerable increase in the laterally averaged adiabatic cooling effectiveness, generated by the radial total temperature distribution, can he achieved. The inlet swirl limits this gain of cooling efficiency since it modifies the horseshoe vortex development and generates a stronger passage vortex with a detrimental effect for the platform cooling.

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics2012

Application of the Transient Heater Foil Technique for Heat Transfer and Film Cooling Effectiveness Measurements on a Turbine Vane Endwall

Dominique Charbonnier, Magnus Jonsson, Peter Ott

The paper presents an application of the transient heater foil measurement technique using thermochromic liquid crystals (TLC) to endwall heat transfer and film cooling investigations in a transonic turbine vane cascade. The film cooling configuration consists of an upstream slot, representing the leakage flow area between the interface of the combustor and the turbine, and several rows of cylindrical and fan-shaped holes within the passage. With the transient method chosen, the heat transfer and adiabatic film cooling effectiveness distributions can be obtained simultaneously together with the local heat release within the heater foil. Therefore, the heat release in the foil is not required to be uniform, and the foil can contain discrete holes in the film cooling configuration. Some new developments are presented, which are directed towards improved application of the transient heater foil method for such a complex configuration. This includes tailoring the foil heat-release distribution towards the expected heat transfer patterns, supported by numerical Finite-Element computations and the use of a double-TLC mixture for improved time-wise TLC indications. Additionally, CFDsimulations were used to evaluate the recovery temperature distribution through the vane cascade without film cooling. The experiments were performed in the linear cascade facility at the EPFL-Lausanne. A compressor provides a continuous air flow at near-ambient temperature regulated with heat exchangers. Carbon dioxide is used as coolant in order to achieve engine-representative density ratio between coolant and main flow. Multiple experiments with the same main and coolant flow settings but varying heat flux levels and coolant injection temperatures have been performed and simultaneously analysed using nonlinear regression analysis. The time required between successive experiments to return to homogenous initial conditions, as required by the transient method, has been analysed using an analytical solution for heat-on-heat-off conditions. This permits the model assumption of onedimensional conduction within a semi-infinite wall with a heat releasing layer on the top. Example results for cases without cooling, with film cooling from rows of discrete holes and the addition of slot film cooling are used to illustrate the benefit of the new approaches for the investigated vane cascade.

American Soc Mechanical Engineers, Three Park Avenue, New York, Ny 10016-5990 Usa2008

Etude du comportement dynamique des turbines Francis

EPFL2000

Application of the Transient Heater Foil Technique for Heat Transfer and Film Cooling Effectiveness Measurements on a Turbine Vane Endwall

Dominique Charbonnier, Magnus Jonsson, Peter Ott

American Soc Mechanical Engineers, Three Park Avenue, New York, Ny 10016-5990 Usa2008