High-fogging is widely used to rapidly increase the power outputs of stationary gas turbines. Therefore, water droplets are injected into the inflow air, and a considerable number enter the compressor. Within this paper, the primary process of droplet evaporation is investigated closely. A short discussion about the influential parameters ascribes a major significance to the slip velocity between ambient gas flow and droplets. Hence, experimental results from a transonic compressor cascade are shown to evaluate the conditions in real high-fogging applications. The measured parameter range is used for direct numerical simulations to extract evaporation rates depending on inflow conditions and relative humidity of the air flow. Finally, an applicable correlation for the Sherwood number in the form of S h ( R e 1 / 2 S c 1 / 3 ) is suggested.
In recent years overspray fogging has become a powerful means for power augmentation of industrial gas turbines. Despite the positive thermodynamic effect on the cycle droplets entering the compressor increase the risk of water droplet erosion and deposition of water on the blades leading to an increase of required torque and profile loss. Due to this detailed information about the structure and the amount of water on the surface is key for compressor performance. Experiments were conducted with a droplet laden flow in a transonic compressor cascade focusing on the film formed by the deposited water. Two approaches were taken. In the first approach the film thickness on the blade was directly measured using white light interferometry. Due to significant distortion of the flow caused by the measurement system a transfer of the measured film thickness to the undisturbed case is not possible. Therefore, a film model is adapted to describe the film flow in terms of height averaged film parameters. In the second approach experiments were conducted in an undisturbed cascade setup and the water film pattern was measured using a non-intrusive quantitative image processing tool. Utilizing the measured flow pattern in combination with findings from literature the rivulet flow structure is resolved. From continuity of the water flow a film thickness is derived showing good agreement with the previously calculated results. Using both approaches a 3D reconstruction of the water film pattern is created giving first experimental results of the film forming on stationary compressor blades under overspray fogging conditions.
Especially in the turbulence research, it is necessary to record three velocity components concurrently. As a result, all six components of the Reynolds stress tensor and higher-order velocity correlations can be determined. This article assesses the three-dimensional flow field of a linear transonic compressor cascade. The velocity field within the blade passage is measured using a 3D-LDA system. This requires a coincident measurement of the velocity. However, this leads to a significant reduction in the data rate. To circumvent this problem there is the general approach of a record interval window to the subsequent generation of coincident data. In comparison to previous publications, a transonic flow is considered here. For a coincident measurement it is essential that all velocities are perpendicular to each other. Because of limited arrangement possibility of the probes the system measures three non orthogonal velocity components. Therefore, a coordinate transformation is necessary. Due to uncertainties in the exact laser alignments, the transformation matrix for this arrangement is determined experimentally. This paper deals with these two problems, for a case similar to gas turbine conditions. The influence of the time interval on the measured data is compared with coincident data. Within the cascade different measuring planes are considered and a time step study is carried out.
In recent years overspray fogging has become a powerful means for power augmentation of industrial gas turbines. Despite the positive thermodynamic effect on the cycle droplets entering the compressor increase the risk of water droplet erosion. Further deposited water leads to a higher sensitivity towards fouling due to an increased stickiness of the blades. Therefore erosion resistant hydrophobic coatings are applied to the first stages of compressors. Although some patents claim the use of such coatings the aerodynamic impact of a different wettability is not regarded so far. This issue was addressed in the field of aerodynamic efficiency of wings in heavy rain showing higher penalty for hydrophobic coatings. In this study the issue of a different blade surface wettability in a linear transonic compressor cascade is addressed. Different coatings are applied resulting in contact angles of 51–95°. The inflow Mach number was fixed at design inflow Mach number and the inflow angle was varied over a broad range. The effect on the water film pattern is analyzed in terms of position of film breakup, rivulet width and totally wetted surface. The performance of the cascade under two-phase flow was analyzed using LDA/PDA measurement technique in terms of loss coefficient based on wake momentum thickness and flow turning. It is shown that the wettability of the surface has significant effects on the film structure leading to a lower fraction of wetted surface with increasing contact angle. The influence on performance is limited to effects in the proximity of the surface and is dependent on operation point. While in design conditions hydrophilic coating show lower losses the trend is vice-versa for off-design conditions. The data represent first experimental work on the influence of surface wettability in a droplet-laden flow supporting positive features for hydrophobic coatings in gas turbine compressors.
In recent years overspray fogging has become a powerful means for power augmentation of industrial gas turbines. Despite the positive thermodynamic effect on the cycle droplets entering the compressor increase the risk of water droplet erosion. Further deposited water leads to a higher sensitivity toward fouling due to an increased stickiness of the blades. Therefore, erosion resistant hydrophobic coatings are applied to the first stages of compressors. Although some patents claim the use of such coatings the aerodynamic impact of a different wettability is not regarded so far. This issue was addressed in the field of aerodynamic efficiency of wings in heavy rain showing higher penalty for hydrophobic coatings. In this study, the issue of a different blade surface wettability in a linear transonic compressor cascade is addressed. Different coatings are applied resulting in contact angles of 51–95 deg. The inflow Mach number was fixed at design inflow Mach number, and the inflow angle was varied over a broad range. The effect on the water film pattern is analyzed in terms of position of film breakup, rivulet width, and totally wetted surface. The performance of the cascade under two-phase flow was analyzed using laser Doppler anemometry/phase Doppler anemometry measurement technique in terms of loss coefficient based on wake momentum thickness and flow turning. It is shown that the wettability of the surface has significant effects on the film structure leading to a lower fraction of wetted surface with increasing contact angle. The influence on performance is limited to effects in the proximity of the surface and is dependent on operation point. While in design conditions hydrophilic coating show lower losses, the trend is vice-versa for off-design conditions. The data represent first experimental work on the influence of surface wettability in a droplet-laden flow supporting positive features for hydrophobic coatings in gas turbine compressors.
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