Rotordynamic Performance Analysis and Operation Test of a Power Turbine for the Super critical CO₂ Cycle Application

Abstract

− This paper presents a rotordynamic analysis and the operation of a power turbine applied to a 250 kW super-critical CO2 cycle. The power turbine consists of a turbine wheel and a shaft supported by two fluid film bearings. We use a tilting pad bearing for the power turbine owing to the high speed operation, and employ copper backing pads to improve the thermal management of the bearing. We conduct a rotordynamic analysis based on the design parameters of the power turbine. The dynamic coefficients of the tilting pad bearings were calculated based on the iso-thermal lubrication theory and turbine wheel was modeled as equivalent inertia. The predicted Cambell diagram showed that there are two critical speeds, namely the conical and bending critical speeds under the rated speed. However, the unbalance response prediction showed that vibration levels are controlled within 10 mm for all speed ranges owing to the high damping ratio of the modes. Additionally, the predicted logarithmic decrement indicates that there is no unstable mode. The power turbine uses compressed air at a temperature of 250°C in its operation, and we monitor the shaft vibration and temperature of the lubricant during the test. In the steady state, we record a temperature rise of 40°C between the inlet and outlet lubricant and the measured shaft vibration shows good agreement with the prediction.