A comparison of two meshing schemes for CFD analysis of the impulse turbine for wave energy applications

This paper presents the comparison of a three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis with empirical performance data of a 0.6 m Impulse Turbine with Fixed Guide Vanes used for wave energy power conversion. Pro-Engineer, Gambit and Fluent 6 were used to create a 3-D model of the turbine. A hybrid meshing scheme was used with hexahedral cells in the near blade region and tetrahedral and pyramid cells in the rest of the domain. The turbine has a hub-to-tip ratio of 0.6 and results were obtained over a wide range of flow coefficients. Satisfactory agreement was obtained with experimental results. The model yielded a maximum efficiency of approximately 54% as compared to a maximum efficiency of around 49% from experiment. A degree of insight into flow behaviour, not possible with experiment, was obtained. Sizeable areas of separation on the pressure side of the rotor blade were identified toward the tip. The aim of the work is to benchmark the CFD results with experimental data and to investigate the performance of the turbine using CFD and to with a view to integrating CFD into the design process.     

车用涡轮增压器混流涡轮的性能试验研究

针对匹配 J6 110 Z柴油机的 H1F增压器混流涡轮进行了涡轮性能试验 ,并将其试验结果与原径流涡轮试验结果进行了分析和比较。试验结果表明 :由于混流涡轮兼有径流和轴流涡轮的流动特性 ,其流通能力较直径相当的径流涡轮大 ,这对于改善车用增压柴油机的加速性能是有益的 ;在低相似转速情况下 ,混流涡轮的最高效率比径流涡轮高 ,并且最高效率点与径流涡轮相比向小 u/ c0 方向移动 ,这对于改善车用增压柴油机的低速性能是有益的。     

气冷涡轮转子变叶尖间距性能试验及数值研究

为量化评估工程应用的气冷低压涡轮带冠转子叶片的叶尖间距大小对涡轮气动性能的影响,综合现有涡轮部件试验能力,以单级轴流低压涡轮性能试验件为基础,通过控制圆度的机加方式磨削转子外环内壁以实现叶尖间距的变化,采用控制冷气流量比的方法,开展5次不同叶尖间距大小的涡轮级性能试验,得到多工况下涡轮效率、换算流量和换算功率等特性参数。采用加载冷气及考虑转子叶冠结构的数值模型进行三维仿真计算,并与试验结果对比分析。研究表明：叶尖间距由0.6 mm增加至3.2 mm,低压涡轮流通能力增大1%,叶冠泄漏量增多3.4%,但做功能力下降2.3%。涡轮效率变化与叶尖间距大小近似呈线性关系,叶尖间距每增加1 mm,效率约降低0.7%,同时,叶尖间距的增加导致了叶冠腔的旋涡结构、气流掺混及主流入侵强度逐渐增大,引起动叶总压损失的增大,叶尖间距增加至3.2 mm导致叶间位置总压损失由0.88增至2.3。     

Numerical simulation of a new hollow stationary dehumidity blade in last stage of steam turbine

As a result of adopting saturation steam and long blade, problems of water erosion of last stage blade for steam turbine become more prominent. In order to improve the operation reliability and efficiency of steam turbine, it is necessary to investigate the nonequilibrium condensing wet steam two phase flow and the dehumidity method. A wet steam model with user defined function based on FLUENT software was investigated to simulate the steam condensing flow in the cascades. The simulation consequences show that the pressure variations in simulation depict a good agreement with the experiment data. On the basis of the discrete phase model simulation results and experiment data, the efficiency of existing dehumidity blade with suction slot was calculated. A new stationary dehumidity blade was designed to elevate the dehumidity efficiency: the efficiency in the suction surface was increased by 21.5%, and that in the pressure surface was increased by 12.2%.     

Solar chimney turbine characteristics

A typical layout of a solar chimney power plant has a single axial turbine with radial inflow through inlet guide vanes at the base of the chimney. Turbine efficiency depends on the turbine blade row and turbine diffuser loss coefficients. The paper presents analytical equations in terms of turbine flow and load coefficient and degree of reaction, to express the influence of each coefficient on turbine efficiency. It finds analytical solutions for optimum degree of reaction, maximum turbine efficiency for required power and maximum efficiency for constrained turbine size. Characteristics measured on a 720 mm diameter turbine model confirm the validity of the analytical model. Application to a proposed large solar chimney plant indicates that a peak turbine total-to-total efficiency of around 90% is attainable, but not necessarily over the full range of plant operating points.     

2D CFD Analysis and Experimental Analysis on the Effect of Hub to Tip Ratios on the Performance of 0.6 m Impulse Turbine

The objective of this paper is to present the performance comparison of 2D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis with experimental analysis of 0.6 m impulse turbine with fixed guide vanes for both 0.6 and 0.7 hub to tip ratio (H/T). Also the comparison of 2D CFD analysis of the said turbine with different values of H/T ranging from 0.5 to 0.7. A 2D-cascade model was used for CFD analysis while uni-directional steady flow was used for experimental analysis. The blade and guide vane geometries are based on 0.6 m rotor diameter, with optimum profile, and different H/T of 0.5, 0.6 and 0.7. It was concluded from 2D CFD analysis that 0.5 H/T ratio performances was higher than that of 0.6 and 0.7 H/T at peak efficiency and the operational flow range for 0.5 H/T was found to be wider than that of 0.6 and 0.7 H/T ratio.     

Application of Numerical Simulation Method to Predict the Performance of Wave Energy Device with Impulse Turbine

This paper presents the work carried out to predict the behavior of a 0.6 m Impulse turbine with fixed guide vanes with 0.6 hub-to-tip (H/T) ratio under real sea conditions. In order to predict the true performance of the actual Oscillating Water Column (OWC), the numerical technique has been fine tuned by incorporating the compressibility effect. Water surface elevation verses time history based on Pierson Moskowitz Spectra was used as the input data. Standard numerical techniques were employed to solve the non-linear behavior of the sea waves. The effect due to compressibility inside the air chamber and turbine performance under unsteady and irregular flow condition has been analyzed numerically. Considering the quasi-steady assumptions, unidirectional steady flow experimental data was used to simulate the turbine characteristics under irregular unsteady flow conditions. The results show that the performance of this type of turbine is quite stable and efficiency of air chamber and the mean conversion     

短距起飞/垂直降落战斗机升力风扇驱动方案研究

为了降低短距起飞/垂直降落战斗机轴驱动升力风扇驱动系统的设计制造难度,提出了一种利用发动机外涵道抽气在小涡轮中做功以驱动升力风扇的新方案,并建立了小涡轮驱动方式下的总升力和热效率计算模型。对总升力和热效率的计算结果表明,在选取合适的抽气比及小涡轮进气温度时,小涡轮驱动方式所产生的总升力与轴驱动方式相当或更大。小涡轮驱动方式除垂直起降阶段系统热效率略低外,在质量控制、设计开发难度、调节与控制、升力风扇布置灵活性等方面均具有优势。     

Effect of blade wrap angle in hydraulic turbine with forward-curved blades

Hydraulic turbine is used for recovering power by using reverse running pump. In order to improve the efficiency of turbine working condition, the impeller with forward-curved blades was applied instead of the impeller with backward-curved blades. The effects on the performance of hydraulic turbine and inner flow character with different blade wrap angles were studied by the method of numerical simulation. The results show that: with the blade wrap angle growth, the maximum efficiency increases, but the range of the flow rate at the high efficiency decreases rapidly; the flow state of hydraulic turbine which in small flow area obtains a remarkable improvement; the flow within the impeller improves and the friction loss increases; the hydraulic loss in the small flow area inside the impeller declines but it grows in the large flow area.     

Design and performance analysis of impulse turbine for a wave energy power plant

Wave energy is the most abundant source of renewable energy in the World. For the last two decades, engineers have been investigating and defining different methods for power extraction from wave motion. Two different turbines, namely Wells turbine and impulse turbine with guide vanes, are most commonly used around the world for wave energy power generation. The ultimate goal is to optimize the performance of the turbine under actual sea conditions. The total research effort has several strands; there is the manufacture and experimental testing of new turbines using the Wave Energy Research Team's (WERT) 0.6 m turbine test rig, the theoretical and computational analysis of the present impulse turbine using a commercial software package and finally the prediction of the performance of the turbine in a representative wave power device under real sea conditions using numerical simulation. Also, the WERT 0.6 m turbine test rig was upgraded with a data acquisition and control system to test the turbine in the laboratory under real sea conditions using the computer control system. As a result, it is proven experimentally and numerically that the turbine efficiency has been raised by 7% by reducing the hub‐to‐tip ratio from 0.7 to 0.6. Effect of tip clearance on performance of the turbine has been studied numerically and designed tip clearance ratio of 1% has been validated. From the numerical simulation studies, it is computed that the mean conversion efficiency is reduced around 5% and 4.58% due to compressible flow and damping effects inside OWC device. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

太阳能热气流电站中涡轮机流动特性分析

对太阳能热气流电站中的涡轮机进行了设计和数值模拟.建立了涡轮机区域流体流动的物理数学模型,并对其进行数值模拟;研究了涡轮机的转速与压降对涡轮机的流量、输出功率和能量转换效率的影响.通过与相近实验模型的试验结果对比,证明了设计方案和数值模拟方法是有效的.     

A twin unidirectional impulse turbine topology for OWC based wave energy plants – Experimental validation and scaling

The twin unidirectional turbine topology was recently proposed with the promise of very significant improvements in the energy capture in Oscillating Water Column (OWC) based wave energy plants. Here, we present the initial results of the experimental validation of the twin unidirectional impulse turbine topology. A scale model of the concept was built and tested using simulated bidirectional flow. The model consists of two 165 mm impulse turbines each individually coupled to 375 W grid connected induction machines. An oscillatory flow test rig was used to simulate bidirectional flow to test the model. The results of the experiments validate the concept of the twin turbine configuration. The proposed topology utilizes no moving parts and achieves more than 50% efficiency over a broad range of flow coefficients. A comparison with other competing turbines (viz, a twin Wells’ turbine, a linked guide vane impulse turbine and a fixed guide vane impulse turbine) is done, based on actual measurements in the Indian wave energy plant. The results from the experiments are scaled to evaluate the design features of a 50 GWh wave energy plant.     

Numerical model validation and prediction of mist/steam cooling in a 180-degree bend tube

To achieve higher efficiency target of the advanced turbine systems, the closed-loop steam cooling scheme is employed to cool the airfoil. It is proven from the experimental results at laboratory working conditions that injecting mist into steam can significantly augment the heat transfer in the turbine blades with several fundamental studies. The mist cooling technique has to be tested at gas turbine working conditions before implementation. Realizing the fact that conducting experiment at gas turbine working condition would be expensive and time consuming, the computational simulation is performed to get a preliminary evaluation on the potential success of mist cooling at gas turbine working conditions. The present investigation aims at validating a CFD model against experimental results in a 180-degree tube bend and applying the model to predict the mist/steam cooling performance at gas turbine working conditions. The results show that the CFD model can predict the wall temperature within 8% of experimental steam-only flow and 16% of mist/steam flow condition. Five turbulence models have been employed and their results are compared. Inclusion of radiation into CFD model causes noticeable increase in accuracy of prediction. The reflect Discrete Phase Model (DPM) wall boundary condition predicts better than the wall-film boundary condition. The CFD simulation identifies that mist impingement over outer wall is the cause for maximum mist cooling enhancement at 45° of bend portion. The computed results also reveal the phenomenon of mist secondary flow interaction at bend portion, adding the mist cooling enhancement at the inner wall. The validated CFD simulation predicts that average of 100% mist cooling enhancement can be achieved by injecting 5% mist at elevated GT working condition.     

开式燃气轮机中冷回热再热循环功率和效率优化

建立了开式燃气轮机中冷回热再热（ICRR）循环有限时间热力学模型,导出了循环功率和效率解析式,优化了气流沿通流部分的压降（或低压压气机进口空气质量流率）和中间压比,得到最大功率;并在给定燃油流率的情况下,优化了气流沿通流部分的压降和中间压比,得到最大热效率,进一步在给定低压压气机进口和动力涡轮出口总面积的情况下,优化两者面积分配比,得到双重最大热效率.     

Fluidic flow control applied for improved performance of Darrieus wind turbines

The focus of the present research is performance enhancement of a vertical axis Darrieus‐type wind turbine using flow control techniques. The academic and industrial interest in vertical‐axis wind turbines (VAWTs) is increasing because of its suitability to urban areas, characterized by high turbulence and low wind speeds. The paper describes experimental work performed on a GOE222 asymmetrical airfoil intended to be used in a straight‐bladed Darrieus VAWT. Airfoil characteristics were measured in a wide range of incidence angles and Reynolds numbers, relevant for the operation of a small to medium size wind turbine. A variety of passive flow control (passive porosity and surface roughness) and active flow control techniques (boundary layer suction, pulsed suction) were tested in order to evaluate their effects on the airfoil performance. The measured effects of flow control on the 2D airfoil are integrated into a modified version of a double‐multiple streamtube model in order to predict the effects on the performance and efficiency of the turbine. It was found that the improvement of 2D airfoil characteristics can be translated into improvement of total turbine performance. By the use of active flow control, it was possible to increase the VAWT maximum mechanical output. When active flow control is properly activated taking into account the azimuth and Reynolds number conditioning, the effects could be greatly increased while consuming less energy, increasing the net efficiency of the entire system. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Construction and dynamic test of a small-scale organic rankine cycle

The fundamentals of a newly constructed kW-scale Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system on the use of R123 were illustrated. A specially designed and manufactured turbine was innovatively applied to this system. Formulations were developed to examine the heat transfer and power conversion processes of the ORC. Unlike water pumping, the vapor pressure of the pumped fluid in the ORC system was much higher, and cavitation was more easily facilitated. A technology was introduced to address this issue without a large height difference between the tank and the pump. A preliminary test of the constructed system under varying conditions was conducted. The mass flow rate through the pump was found to be unequal to that through the turbine during the converter frequency adjustment process. The two mass flow rates were influenced in different ways by the evaporator pressure. The experiment results show that a turbine isentropic efficiency of 0.65 and an ORC efficiency of 6.8% can be obtained with a temperature difference of about 70 °C between the hot and the cold sides. Overall, the turbine has demonstrated adequate performance by operating at off-design conditions, which underscores its potential for application in small-scale ORCs.     

Loss analysis and design optimization of a small scale mixed-flow pump turbine using the orthogonal method

为了研究各部件对小型混流式水泵水轮机水泵工况和水轮机工况下水力性能的影响,对一小型水泵水轮机进行不同流量下的全流道数值模拟,针对两工况下总压损失集中的叶轮进行正交设计优化。应用L9（3⁴）正交表,选取4个叶轮关键设计参数,以水泵工况扬程偏离率、效率和水轮机工况效率作为目标,进行4因素3水平的正交设计,并通过全流道数值模拟方法和极差分析方法进行选优。结果表明叶片出口直径对泵和水轮机工况性能影响最大,优化后水泵设计工况效率提高了1.06%,水轮机设计工况效率提高1.62%,其相应最优工况点因包角增加而向小流量工况移动。     

灯泡贯流式水轮机在小流量工况下的内流特性分析

为了研究灯泡贯流式水轮机在小流量工况下的内流特性,以某水电站贯流式水轮机为研究对象,利用RNG k-ε湍流模型对全流道进行数值计算,分析在小流量工况下尾水管恢复系数和全流道流动情况,并定量分析水轮机部分过流部件的压力脉动情况。结果表明：在小流量工况下当电站水头和导叶开度不匹配时,尾水管的恢复系数减小,当尾水管恢复系数减小2%~3%时,机组效率降低1%;受转轮主流区和尾水管死水区的相互作用,在尾水管边壁会形成漩涡结构,有明显的回流且在边壁存在高速流体;在小流量工况下,机组主要受低频压力脉动影响,转轮进口处的主频是由在转轮转动和导叶提供机组环量时产生的,在尾水管中主要受频率为0.2 Hz的低频压力脉动影响,压力脉动系数沿尾水管出口方向依次增大,最大为1.75%。     

Performance of an impulse turbine with fixed guide vanes for wave power conversion

A simple fixed geometry impulse turbine has been studied as a suitable power converter in Oscillating Water Column based wave power plants. Comparison with the Wells turbine, which is the commonly used self-rectifying turbine in such applications, shows it to be superior in performance under irregular flow conditions. Optimum guide vane angle for maximum efficiency has been arrived at based on the five angles tested.     

Acoustic characteristics of bi-directional turbines for thermoacoustic generators

Bi-directional turbines combined with rotary motors may be a feasible option for developing high power thermoacoustic generators with low cost. A general expression for the acoustic characteristics of the bi-directional turbine was proposed based on theoretical derivation, which was validated by computational fluid dynamics modeling of an impulse turbine with fixed guide vanes. The structure of the turbine was optimized primarily using steady flow with an efficiency of near 70% (the shaft power divided by the total energy consumed by the turbine). The turbine in the oscillating flow was treated in a lumped-parameter model to extract the acoustic impedance characteristics from the simulation results. The key acoustic impedance characteristic of the turbine was the resistance and inertance due to complex flow condition in the turbine, whereas the capacitance was treated as an adiabatic case because of the large-scale flow channel relative to the heat penetration depth. Correlations for the impedance were obtained from both theoretical predictions and numerical fittings. The good fit of the correlations shows that these characteristics are valid for describing the bi-directional turbine, providing the basis for optimization of the coupling between the thermoacoustic engine and the turbine using quasi-one-dimensional theory in the frequency domain.