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The influence of freestream turbulence representative of the flow downstream of a modern gas turbine combustor and first stage vane on turbine blade heat transfer has been measured and analytically modeled in a linear, transonic turbine cascade. High-intensity, large length-scale freestream turbulence was generated using a passive turbulence-generating grid to simulate the turbulence generated in modern combustors after passing through the first stage vane row. The grid produced freestream turbulence with intensity of approximately 10–12% and an integral length scale of 2cm(Λx∕c=0.15) near the entrance of the cascade passages. Mean heat transfer results with high turbulence showed an increase in heat transfer coefficient over the baseline low turbulence case of approximately 8% on the suction surface of the blade, with increases on the pressure surface of approximately 17%. Time-resolved surface heat transfer and passage velocity measurements demonstrate strong coherence in velocity and heat flux at a frequency correlating with the most energetic eddies in the turbulence flow field (the integral length scale). An analytical model was developed to predict increases in surface heat transfer due to freestream turbulence based on local measurements of turbulent velocity fluctuations and length scale. The model was shown to predict measured increases in heat flux on both blade surfaces in the current data. The model also successfully predicted the increases in heat transfer measured in other work in the literature, encompassing different geometries (flat plate, cylinder, turbine vane, and turbine blade) and boundary layer conditions.

Researchers at West Virginia University are working with the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to study the effects of particulate deposition on turbine film cooling in a high pressure and high temperature environment. To simulate deposition on the pressure side of an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) turbine first stage vane, angled film-cooled test articles with thermal barrier coatings (TBC) are subjected to accelerated deposition at a pressure of approximately 4 atm and a gas temperature of 1100°C. Two different test article geometries were designed, with angles of 10° and 20° to the mainstream flow. Both geometries have straight-cooling holes oriented at a 30° angle to the hot-side surface. A high pressure seeding system was used to generate a particulate concentration of approximately 33.3 ppmw. Particle concentrations of 0.02 ppmw exist in the IGCC hot gas path. An accelerated simulation method was developed to simulate deposition that would occur in 10000 hr of engine operation. Preliminary tests were performed at 4 atm and 1100 °C to validate the deposition process. The results showed more deposition on the 20° test article than the 10° test articles; however no substantial deposition developed on either test article. A lumped mass analysis showed that the fly ash particles dropped below the theoretical sticking temperature as they approached the test article. Deposition was analyzed non-destructively through visual observation and scanning with a scanning laser microscope. Based on the initial test run results, a detailed plan was created to increase the operating temperature of the rig and allow two 3-hour tests to be performed on each of the test articles. Non-destructive testing will be used before, in between and after the runs to examine the evolution of the deposition growth. Following the final run, destructive testing will be used to examine the chemical composition of the deposits and their potential interaction with the TBC. Preliminary work will lead to a future study the would enhance the understanding of particle deposition evolution and examine the effects of deposition on film cooling by performing the tests in a high-pressure and high-temperature environment that is similar to the high-pressure combustion exhaust gas environment of the first stage region in IGCC turbines.

An advanced, high-effectiveness film-cooling design, the anti-vortex hole (AVH) has been investigated by several research groups and shown to mitigate or counter the vorticity generated by conventional holes and increase film effectiveness at high blowing ratios and low freestream turbulence levels. [1, 2] The effects of increased turbulence on the AVH geometry were previously investigated and presented by researchers at West Virginia University (WVU), in collaboration with NASA, in a preliminary CFD study [3] on the film effectiveness and net heat flux reduction (NHFR) at high blowing ratio and elevated freestream turbulence levels for the adjacent AVH. The current paper presents the results of an extended numerical parametric study, which attempts to separate the effects of turbulence intensity and length-scale on film cooling effectiveness of the AVH. In the extended study, higher freestream turbulence intensity and larger scale cases were investigated with turbulence intensities of 5, 10 and 20% and length scales based on cooling hole diameter of Λx/dm = 1, 3 and 6. Increasing turbulence intensity was shown to increase the centerline, span-averaged and area-averaged adiabatic film cooling effectiveness. Larger turbulent length scales were shown to have little to no effect on the centerline, span-averaged and area-averaged adiabatic film-cooling effectiveness at lower turbulence levels, but slightly increased effect at the highest turbulence levels investigated.

Researchers at NASA Glenn Research Center have developed and investigated a novel film cooling design, the anti-vortex hole (AVH), which has been shown to cancel or counter the vorticity generated by conventional holes and increase film effectiveness at high blowing ratios and low turbulence levels. This paper presents preliminary CFD results on the film effectiveness and net heat flux reduction at high blowing ratio and elevated freestream turbulence levels for the adjacent AVH. Baseline cases at low turbulence levels of 5% intensity and length scale of Λx/dm = 1 with a nominal blowing ratio of 2 and a density ratios of 1 and 2 were compared to previous results reported by Heidmann [1]. Higher freestream turbulence cases were investigated with a turbulence intensity and length scale of 10% and Λx/dm = 1 and 3, respectively. Results showed that higher freestream turbulence improves adiabatic effectiveness for the AVH design.

A flat plate film cooling flow from a multi-exit hole configuration has been numerically simulated using both steady and unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS and URANS) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) formulations. This multi-exit hole concept, the Anti-Vortex Hole (AVH), has been developed and studied by previous research groups and shown to mitigate or counter the vorticity generated by conventional holes resulting in a more attached film cooling layer and higher film cooling effectiveness. The film cooling jets interaction with the free stream flow is a long studied area in gas turbine heat transfer. The present study numerically simulates the jet interaction with the multi-exit hole concept at a high blowing ratio (M = 2.0) and density ratio (DR = 2.0) in order to provide a more detailed, graphical explanation of the improvement in film cooling effectiveness. This paper presents a numerical study of the flow visualization of the interaction of film cooling jets with a subsonic crossflow. The contour plots of adiabatic cooling effectiveness were used to compare the multi-exit hole and conventional single hole configurations. The vortex structures in the flow were analyzed by URANS formulations and the effect of these vortices on the cooling effectiveness was investigated together with the coolant jet lift-off predictions. Quasi-Instantaneous Temperature Isosurface plots are used in the investigations of the effect of turbulence intensity on the cooling effectiveness and coolant jet coverage. The effect of varying turbulence intensity was investigated when analyzing the jets' interaction with the cross flow and the corresponding temperatures at the wall. The results show that as the turbulence intensity is increased, the cooling flow will stay more attached to the wall and have more pronounced lateral spreading far downstream of the cooling holes.

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