Axial Turbine Performance Enhancement by Specific Fluid Injection

Abstract

Extensively used in modern gas turbine engines in various applications, ranging from aerospace, marine and terrestrial propulsion to power generation and gas pumping, the axial flow turbines have been continuously updated and are now capable of high performances and reliability. One drawback that has not yet been resolved is the poor performance of the axial turbines at lower- than-nominal regimes. To solve these shortcomings, a new method to improve the performances at partial regimes by specific fluid injection is proposed in this paper. The influence of the injection system is determined by conducting a numerical analyze, studying the influence of different parameters (i.e., number, dimensions and position of the of injection orifices) on the overall performances of the turbine. The study is completed on a single stage 1300 KW turbine with the injection system being applied to different power settings across the working line. The results show that the power generated by the turbine can be enhanced by as much as 30% for different configurations of the injection system (i.e., high number of small size orifices) and different partial regimes.

Keywords

• axial turbine
• injection system
• performance enhancement
• partial regimes
• CFD