Influence of Combustor Flow With Swirl on Integrated Combustor Vane Concept Full-Stage Performance

Abstract

The integrated combustor vane concept for power generation gas turbines with can combustors has been shown to have significant benefits compared to conventional nozzle guide vanes (NGV). Aerodynamic loss, heat transfer levels, and cooling requirements are reduced while stage efficiency is improved by approximately 1.5% (for a no-swirl scenario). Engine realistic combustor flow with swirl, however, leads to increased turning nonuniformity downstream of the integrated vanes. This paper thus illustrates the altered integrated vane stage performance caused by inlet swirl. The study shows a distinct performance penalty for the integrated vane rotor as a result of increased rotor incidence and the rotor's interaction with the residual swirl core. The stage efficiency advantage of the integrated combustor vane concept compared to the conventional design is thus reduced to 0.7%. It is furthermore illustrated how integrated vane profiling is suitable to reduce the turning variation across the span downstream of the vane, further improve stage efficiency (in this case by 0.23%) and thus mitigate the distinct impact of inlet swirl on integrated vane stage performance.

The LEMCOTEC 1½ Stage Film-Cooled HP Turbine: Design, Integration and Testing in the Oxford Turbine Research Facility

“…Subsequent research quantified turbine efficiency deficit (Beard et al 2014) and HP vane and rotor heat transfer (Qureshi et al 2012). Recently, Jacobi and Rosic (2017) also evaluated the full-stage performance deficit with inlet swirl for an integrated combustor-vane concept for power turbines, as well as showing some this could, in part, be mitigated with a re-design of the HP vane. Research has also been conducted in the Large Scale Turbine Rig at the Technical University in Darmstadt.…”