A hot-streak (combustor) simulator suited to aerodynamic performance measurements

Abstract

A new hot-streak (combustor) simulator has been designed and implemented in a turbine test facility at QinetiQ Farnborough (the QinetiQ Isentropic Light Piston Facility, ILPF) to study the impact of temperature distortion on high pressure (HP) turbine efficiency, aerodynamics, and heat transfer. The ILPF is an engine scale, short duration, rotating transonic turbine test facility, in which M, Re, T_g/T_w, and The hot-streak simulator is a second-generation design, in which cold gas is introduced into a hot mainstream though radial and circumferential slots upstream of the turbine stage. The simulator is rotatable, so the effect of clocking (relative circumferential position of hot streak and nozzle guide vane leading edge) can easily be investigated. An emphasis was placed on accurate measurement of turbine inlet enthalpy flux so that the impact of hot streaks on turbine efficiency could be investigated. The hot-streak simulator differs from all previous systems in that a pronounced radial and circumferential temperature profile has been generated, with a hot-streak to vane count of 1:1. The profile is very well matched (non-dimensionally) to the target profile, which is a combustor temperature profile measured in a modern operating engine at the most extreme point in the cycle. The most accurate area survey of a simulated temperature profile has been conducted to date, and this demonstrates that the simulator offers an exceptionally high degree of circumferential symmetry and run-to-run repeatability. The design and commissioning of the simulator is described, and the measured temperature profiles are compared with the target profile.

Keywords

hot-streak (combustor) simulator hot spot turbine turbine efficiency turbine performance measurement

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Barringer

M. D.

Thole

K. A.

Polanka

M. D.

Developing a combustor simulator for investigating high pressure turbine aerodynamics and heat transfer. In the ASME Turbo Expo 2004, Vienna, Austria, 14-17 June 2004, ASME GT-2004–53613.

Barringer

M. D.

Thole

K. A.

Polanka

M. D.

Experimental evaluation of an inlet profile generator for high-pressure turbine tests. In the ASME Turbo Expo 2006, Barcelona, Spain, 8-11 May 2006, ASME GT-2006–90401.

Haldeman

C. W.

Mathison

R. M.

Dunn

M. G.

Design, construction, and operation of a combustor emulator for short-duration high-pressure turbine experiments. In the Joint Propulsion Conference, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, 2004, AIAA paper AIAA-2004–3829.

Hilditch

M. A.

Fowler

Jones

T. V.

Chana

K. S.

Oldfield

M. L. G.

Ainsworth

R. W.

Hogg

S. I.

Anderson

S. J.

Smith

G. C.

Installation of a turbine stage in the Pyestock Isentropic Light Piston Facility. ASME paper 94-GT-277, 1994.

Povey

Chana

K. S.

Jones

T. V.

Oldfield

M. L. G.

The design and performance of a transonic flow deswirling system-an application of current CFD design techniques tested against model and full-scale experiments. In Advances of CFD in fluid machinery design (Eds Elder

R. L.

Tourlidakis

Yates

M. K.

), 2003, pp. 65–94 (Professional Engineering Publishing, London, UK).

Goodisman

M. I.

Oldfield

M. L. G.

Kingcombe

R. C.

Jones

T. V.

Ainsworth

R. W.

Brooks

A. J.

An axial turbobrake. Trans. ASME J. Turbomach., 1992, 114, 419–425.

Hurrion

The effect of an inlet temperature profile on the heat transfer to gas turbine blades. PhD Thesis, University of Oxford, 2002.

Chana

K. S.

Hurrion

J. R.

Jones

T. V.

The design, development and testing of a non-uniform inlet temperature generator for the QinetiQ transient turbine research facility. ASME GT-2003–38469, 2003.

Povey

Chana

K. S.

Jones

T. V.

Heat transfer measurements on an intermediate pressure nozzle guide vane tested in a rotating annular turbine facility - and the modifying effects of a non-uniform inlet temperature profile. Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs, Part A: J. Power and Energy, 2003, 217, 421–431.

10.

Povey

Chana

K. S.

Jones

T. V.

Hurrion

The effect of hot-streaks on HP vane surface and endwall heat transfer: An experimental and numerical study. ASME J. Turbomach., 2007, 129(1), 32–43.

11.

Povey

Beard

P. F.

A novel experimental technique for accurate mass flow rate measurement. J. Flow Meas. Instrum., 2007 (in press).

12.

Hermanson

K. S.

Thole

K. A.

Effect of inlet conditions on endwall secondary flows. J. Propuls. Power, 2000, 16(2), 286–296.