Ministry Of Higher Education and

Scientific Research
University of Diyala
Mechanical Engineering Department

STUDY THE EFFECT OF COOLING FOR GAS

TURBINE BLADES ON THE EFFICIENCY

A graduation project is submitted to the Mechanical Engineering

Department in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering

BY
NAGHAM NADHIM AZIZ

SUPERVISOR
MSc. YASSEEN ALWAN JADDOA

July 2020

I
 SUPERVISOR CERTIFICATION

I certify that the preparation of this project entitled" Study the effect of cooling methods for
gas turbine blades on the efficiency "Prepared by Nagham Nadhim Aziz Was made under
my supervision at General Mechanical Engineering Branch of Mechanical Engineering
Department in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in
Mechanical Engineering.

Signature:

Name: MSc Yasseen Alwan Jaddoa

Date: 24 / 8 / 2020

II
 ‫إهداء‬

‫‪.‬إلى أبي العطوف‪ ....‬قدوتي‪ ،‬ومثلي األعلى في الحياة؛ فهو من عَّلمني كيف أعيش بكرامة وشموخ‬

‫إلى أمي الحنونة‪ ......‬ال أجد كلمات يمكن أن تمنحها حقها‪ ،‬فهي ملحمة الحب وفرحة العمر‪ ،‬ومثال التفاني‬
‫‪.‬والعطاء‬

‫‪.‬إلى إخوتي و اخواتي ‪ ....‬سندي وعضدي ومشاطري أفراحي وأحزاني‬

‫إلى األستاذ م‪.‬م ياسين علوان جدوع الذي لم يضَّن علَّي بأي معلومة علمية في مجال تخصصه و كان له‬
‫‪.‬الفضل الكبير في اتمام بحثي هذا‬

‫‪...‬وال ينبغي أن أنسى أساتذتي ممن كان لهم الدور األكبر في ُم ساندتي ومِّدي بالمعلومات القِّيمة‬

‫إلى أصدقائي‪ ،‬وجميع من وقفوا بجواري وساعدوني بكل ما يملكون‪ ،‬وفي أصعدة كثيرة‬

‫‪ ...‬اهدي اليكم بحثي المتواضع‬

‫الطالبة‬
‫نغم ناظم عزيز‬

‫‪III‬‬
 ‫شكر و تقدير‬

‫بعد حمد هللا تعالى و شكره على انهائي لبحثي هذا اتقدم بخالص الشكر‬

‫و عظيم االمتنان الى االستاذ الفاضل م‪.‬م ياسين علوان جدوع على ما قدمه لي من علم‬

‫نافع و عطاء مميز و ارشاد مستمر و على ما بذله من جهد متواصل و نصح‬

‫و توجيه من بداية مرحلة البحث حتى اتمامه و مهما كتبت من عبارات و جمل‬

‫فان كلمات الشكر تضل عاجزة عن ايفاء حقه فجزاه هللا عني خير الجزاء‬

‫كما اتقدم باسمى عبارات الشكر الى والدي العزيزين اللذين غرسا في حب‬

‫العلم من الصغر و قدما لي كل غال و نفيس و كان لهما الفضل بعد هللا فيما‬

‫‪.‬وصلت اليه االن فال املك اال الدعاء لهما بطول العمر و حسن العمل و بلوغ الجنان‬

‫كما و يسرني ان اتقدم بالشكر الجزيل الى االستاذ الدكتور عبد المنعم عباس رئيس جامعة ديالى المحترم‬

‫و الى عميد كلية الهندسة في جامعة ديالى االستاذ الدكتور انيس عبد هللا‬

‫و الى االستاذ الدكتور ضياء احمد صالل رئيس قسم الميكانيك‬

‫‪ ......‬و الى جميع اساتذتي االفاضل‬

‫الطالبة‬
‫نغم ناظم عزيز‬
‫‪IV‬‬
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
N0 Title Page No

1. Title Page I
2. Supervisor Certification II
3. Dedication III
4. Acknowledgments IV
5. Table of Content V
6. List of Table VI
7. List of Figures VII
8. Abstract VIII
9. CHAPTER1.INTRODUCTION 1
10. 1.1 Introduction 2
11. 1.2 History 3
12. 1.3. Environment and failure modes 6
13. 1.4 Materials 7
14. 1.5. List of turbine blade material 9
15. CHAPTER2. TYPES OF GAS TURBINE ENGINE AND 11
TYPES OF COOLING METHODS
16. 2.1. Types of Gas Turbine Engine 12
17. 2.1.1. Turbojet 12
18. 2.1.2. Turboprop 13
19. 2.1.3. Turbofan 14
20. 2.1.4. Afterburning Turbojet 15
21. 2.2. Cooling 16
22. 2.3. Methods of Cooling 17
23. 2.3.1. Internal Cooling 18
24. 2.3.2 External Cooling 20
25. CHAPTER3.CASE STUDY 24
26. 3.1 Geometry Model 25
27. 3.2 Physical Properties of the Blade Materials 26
28. 3.3 Physical Properties of Air 26
29. CHAPTER4. CONCLUSION 34
30. 4.1 Conclusions 35

V
 LIST OF TABLES

Table
FigureN0
N0 TitleTitle PagePage
No
No
Figure 1.1 The
Table 3.1 Schematic of Gas
coefficients Turbine
of the Enginesof the
polynomial 26 3
Figure 1.2 specific
Turbineheat
Blade
for with
air Thermal Barrier Coating 8

Figure 2.1 The

Table 3.2 Turbojet
valuesEngine
of coefficients of thermal 27 13
Figure 2.2 conductivity
Turboprop Engine
for air 14

Figure 2.3 Turbofan Engine 15

Table 3.3
Figure 2.4 The coefficientsTurbojet
Afterburning of the polynomial
Engine of the 28 16
Figure 2.5 specific heat forHoles
Laser Drilled waterPermit
vapor.Film Cooling in this first Stage 17
Table 3.4 The coefficients
V2500 NozzleforGuide
the polynomial
vane relation of 29
Figure 2.6 the coefficient of
Impingement thermal conductivity of the
Cooling 18

Figure 2.7 temperature

Cooling by for
Jet steam
Impingement and Convection 19

Figure 2.8 The

Table 3.5 Film Cooling coefficients of viscosity in
polynomial 29 21
Figure 2.9 relation
Coolingtoby Effussion
steam 23

Figure 3.1 The

Table 3.6 Model
average volume temperature of the blade 30 25
Figure 3.2 cooling
Mesh for
by the
air, Model
K 30

Figure
Table 3.7 The heat1.1:Schematic of Gasfrom
transfer coefficient Turbine Engines
the cooling 31
Figure 3.3 channel
(a) thewall
dependence of the air,W/(m2·K
to the cooling heat transfer coefficient 32

between
Table 3.8. The cooling
average channel
volume wall and
temperature of coolant pressure;
the blade 31
(b) theby
cooling dependence
steam, K of the average volume temperature
Table 3.9 of the
The heatblade fromcoefficient
transfer coolant pressure
from the cooling 32
Figure 3.4 channel
The dependence
wall to theofcooling
the average
steam,temperature
W/(m2 ·K)of the blade 33

from the coolant temperature (at coolant pressure p

coolant=0.1 M Pa
LIST OF FIGURES

VI
 ABSTRACT

The main purpose of this project is to study the effect of cooling methods on gas
turbine blades and its efficiency .As known that the turbine blades are responsible for
extracting energy from the high temperature, high pressure gas produced by the
combustor. Gas turbines are used mainly for aircraft propulsion, land-based power
generation. Developments in turbine cooling technology play a critical role in
increasing the thermal efficiency and power output of advanced gas turbines. Gas
turbine blades are cooled internally by passing the coolant through several passages
which located inside the blades to remove heat conducted from the outside surface.
External cooling of turbine blades by film cooling is achieved by injecting relatively
cooler air from the internal coolant passages out of the blade surface in order to form
a protective layer between the blade surface and hot gas-path flow.

VII
Chapter One
Introduction

1
 Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1. Introduction

It is known that high inlet temperature gas turbine requires a proper cooling method
to extend its durability. Many cooling techniques have been proposed over several
decades, forced convection internal cooling and film cooling external cooling is by
far the most important methods .A turbine blade is the individual component which
makes up the turbine section of a gas turbine or steam turbine. The blades are
responsible for extracting energy from the high temperature, high pressure gas
produced by the combustor. The turbine blades are often the limiting component of
gas turbines. To survive in this difficult environment, turbine blades often use
exotic materials like super alloys and many different methods of cooling that can be
categorized as internal and external cooling , and thermal barrier coatings. Blade
fatigue is a major source of failure in steam turbines and gas turbines. Fatigue is
caused by the stress induced by vibration and resonance within the operating range
of machinery. To protect blades from these high dynamic stresses, friction dampers
are used. a gas turbine engine, a single turbine section is made up of a disk or hub
that holds many turbine blades .That turbine section is connected to a compressor
section via a shaft (or "spool"), and that compressor section can either
be axial or centrifugal. Air is compressed, raising the pressure and temperature,
through the compressor stages of the engine. The temperature is then greatly
increased by combustion of fuel inside the combustor, which sits between the
compressor stages and the turbine stages. The high-temperature and high-pressure
exhaust gases then pass through the turbine stages. The turbine stages extract

2
energy from this flow, lowering the pressure and temperature of the air and transfer
the kinetic energy to the compressor stages along the spool.

1.2. History

Motivation Gas turbine engines are widely used in various industries including
aircraft propulsion and other power generation systems. In an ideal gas turbine
engine, gases entering the engine undergo isentropic compression in a compressor.
Afterwards, the working gas is heated in a constant pressure environment in a
combustor. The working gas then undergoes isentropic expansion in a turbine
wherein energy is extracted to do work. However in an actual gas turbine engine,
the acceleration and compression of the working gas leads to some energy loss due
to the effects of friction. Furthermore, the combustion of the working gas results in
pressure loss also due to friction. Finally, the expansion of the working gas and the
extraction of energy by the turbine are not isentropic as in the ideal case. There is a
loss of energy as a result of friction and inefficiencies resulting from the various
devices used.

Fig. 1.1: Schematic of Gas Turbine Engines

3
Therefore, there exists the need to maximize the efficiency of gas turbine engines to
extract the maximum possible energy from the working gas. Several methods are
available to meet this challenge. One way of achieving this objective is to increase
the turbine inlet temperature. Increasing the turbine inlet temperature increases the
thermal efficiency of the turbine. The higher temperature of the working gas allows
the turbine to extract more energy. However at such high thermal loadings, the heat
transfer to the turbine blades also increases. Hot gas flows through the passages
between and around the turbine blades 2 impacting the shroud and other exposed
areas. This high temperature gas runs up against the thermal limits of the turbine
blade materials resulting in blade oxidation and potential blade destruction by
melting. To combat these high thermal loadings, various methods have been used to
protect the various turbine components exposed to the hot gas. One of the most
common and reliable methods is cooling the blade. Coolant air is bypassed from the
compressor and bled onto the surface to be cooled in external cooling. Internal
cooling is mainly used in blade cooling. In internal cooling, the blade is
convectively cooled as coolant is passed through serpentine passages in the blade.
Other means of protecting the gas turbine blade include using thermal barrier
coatings. Thermal barrier coatings are materials applied to the surface of the blade
to protect it from the harshest effects of the high temperature environment. These
insulating coatings protect the blade surface from the highest heat loads and
improve the oxidation and corrosion resistance of the gas turbine blade since
corrosion and oxidation become of particular interest at very high temperatures.
Practically, a combination of the various cooling methods available is used to
achieve the best cooling performance for the gas turbine blade. However, a balance
has to be maintained when employing the cooling methods because bypassing air
from the compressor also adversely affects the overall gas turbine efficiency.
Therefore, there remains a pressing need to continually maximize and optimize the
4
effectiveness of the various cooling technologies. To understand the cooling
requirements of a gas turbine blade, an understanding of the aerodynamic and heat
transfer principles guiding the flow through the gas turbine blade passages is
required. It is necessary to study these principles in the various regions of the gas
turbine blade to maximize the cooling performance. Furthermore, a proficiency in
material characteristics

In a gas turbine engine, a single turbine section is made up of a disk or hub that
holds many turbine blades. That turbine section is connected to a compressor
section via a shaft (or "spool"), and that compressor section can either be axial or
centrifugal. Air is compressed, raising the pressure and temperature, through the
compressor stages of the engine. The temperature is then greatly increased by
combustion of fuel inside the combustor, which sits between the compressor stages
and the turbine stages. The high-temperature and high-pressure exhaust gases then
pass through the turbine stages. The turbine stages extract energy from this flow,
lowering the pressure and temperature of the air and transfer the kinetic energy to
the compressor stages along the spool. This process is very similar to how an axial
compressor works, only in reverse.

The number of turbine stages varies in different types of engines, with high-bypass-
ratio engines tending to have the most turbine stages. The number of turbine stages
can have a great effect on how the turbine blades are designed for each stage. Many
gas turbine engines are twin-spool designs, meaning that there is a high-pressure
spool and a low-pressure spool. Other gas turbines use three spools, adding an
intermediate-pressure spool between the high- and low-pressure spool. The high-
pressure turbine is exposed to the hottest, highest-pressure air, and the low-pressure
turbine is subjected to cooler, lower-pressure air. The difference in conditions leads
to the design of high-pressure and low-pressure turbine blades that are significantly
5
different in material and cooling choices even though the aerodynamic and
thermodynamic principles are the same. Under these severe operating conditions
inside the gas and steam turbines, the blades face high temperature, high stresses,
and potentially high vibrations. Steam turbine blades are critical components in
power plants which convert the linear motion of high-temperature and high-
pressure steam flowing down a pressure gradient into a rotary motion of the turbine
shaft. Diagram of a twin spool jet engine.

The high-pressure turbine is connected by a single spool to the high-pressure

compressor (purple)- and the low-pressure turbine is connected to the low-pressure
compressor by a second spool (green).

1.3. Environment and failure modes

Turbine blades are subjected to very strenuous environments inside a gas turbine.
They face high temperatures, high stresses, and a potential environment of high
vibration. All three of these factors can lead to blade failures, potentially destroying
the engine, therefore turbine blades are carefully designed to resist these conditions.

Turbine blades are subjected to stress from centrifugal force (turbine stages can
rotate at tens of thousands of revolutions per minute (RPM)) and fluid forces that
can cause fracture, yielding, or creep failures. Additionally, the first stage (the stage
directly following the combustor) of a modern gas turbine faces temperatures
around 2,500 °F (1,370 °C), up from temperatures around 1,500 °F (820 °C) in
early gas turbines. Modern military jet engines, like the Snecma M88, can see
turbine temperatures of 2,900 °F (1,590 °C). Those high temperatures can weaken
the blades and make them more susceptible to creep failures. The high temperatures
can also make the blades susceptible to corrosion failures.

6
1.4.Materials

A key limiting factor in early jet engines was the performance of the materials
available for the hot section (combustor and turbine) of the engine. The need for
better materials spurred much research in the field of alloys and manufacturing
techniques, and that research resulted in a long list of new materials and methods
that make modern gas turbines possible. One of the earliest of these was Nimonic,
used in the British Whittle engines.

The development of superalloys in the 1940s and new processing methods such as
vacuum induction melting in the 1950s greatly increased the temperature capability
of turbine blades. Further processing methods like hot isostatic pressing improved
the alloys used for turbine blades and increased turbine blade performance. Modern
turbine blades often use nickel-based superalloys that incorporate chromium, cobalt,
and rhenium.

Aside from alloy improvements, a major breakthrough was the development of

directional solidification (DS) and single crystal (SC) production methods. These
methods help greatly increase strength against fatigue and creep by aligning grain
boundaries in one direction (DS) or by eliminating grain boundaries altogether
(SC).

SC research began in the 1960s with Pratt and Whitney and took about 10 years to
be implemented. One of the first implementations of DS was with the J58 engines
of the SR-71.

7
 Fig 1.2 A turbine blade with thermal barrier coating.

Another major improvement to turbine blade material technology was the

development of thermal barrier coatings (TBC). Where DS and SC developments
improved creep and fatigue resistance, TBCs improved corrosion and oxidation
resistance, both of which became greater concerns as temperatures increased. The
first TBCs, applied in the 1970s, were aluminide coatings. Improved ceramic
coatings became available in the 1980s. These coatings increased turbine blade
temperature capability by about 200 °F (90 °C). The coatings also improve blade
life, almost doubling the life of turbine blades in some cases.

Most turbine blades are manufactured by investment casting (or lost-wax

processing). This process involves making a precise negative die of the blade shape
that is filled with wax to form the blade shape. If the blade is hollow (i.e., it has
internal cooling passages), a ceramic core in the shape of the passage is inserted
into the middle. The wax blade is coated with a heat-resistant material to make a
shell, and then that shell is filled with the blade alloy. This step can be more
complicated for DS or SC materials, but the process is similar. If there is a ceramic
core in the middle of the blade, it is dissolved in a solution that leaves the blade
8
hollow. The blades are coated with a TBC, and then any cooling holes are
machined.

Ceramic matrix composites (CMC), where fibers are embedded in a matrix of

polymer derived ceramics, are being developed for use in turbine blades. The main
advantage of CMCs over conventional super alloys is their light weight and high
temperature capability. SiC/SiC composites consisting of silicon matrix reinforced
by silicon carbide fibers have been shown to withstand operating temperatures
200°-300 °F higher than nickel super alloys. GE Aviation successfully
demonstrated the use of such SiC/SiC composite blades for the low-pressure turbine
of its F414 jet engine.

1.5. List of turbine blade materials

 U-500 this material was used as a first stage (the most demanding stage)
material in the 1960s, and is now used in later, less demanding, stages.
 Rene 77
 Rene N5
 Rene N6
 PWA1484
 CMSX-4
 CMSX-10
 Inconel
 GTD-111 Blades made from directionally solidified GTD-111 are being used in
many GE Energy gas turbines in the first stage. Blades made from equiaxed
GTD-111 are being used in later stages.[23]
 EPM-102 (MX4 (GE), PWA 1497 (P&W)) is a single crystal superalloy jointly
developed by NASA, GE Aviation, and Pratt & Whitney for the High Speed
9
 Civil Transport (HSCT). While the HSCT program was cancelled, the alloy is
still being considered for use by GE and P&W.
 Nimonic 80a was used for the turbine blades on the Rolls-Royce Nene and de
Havilland Ghost
 Nimonic 90 was used on the Bristol Proteus.
 Nimonic 105 was used on the Rolls-Royce Spey.
 Nimonic 263 was used in the combustion chambers of the Bristol Olympus used
on the Concorde supersonic airline

10
 Chapter Two

Types of Gas Turbine Engine and Types of Cooling Methods

11
2.1. Types of Gas Turbine Engine

An aircraft turbine engine is the most widely used propulsion system in the aviation
industry.

Turbine engines come in several types, each with its own requirements for
maintenance and aircraft engine overhaul. That’s why it is important to choose the
right company when performing repairs and maintenance on your aircraft turbine
engine.

2.1.1 Turbojet

A turbojet is the simplest of all aircraft turbine engines, consisting of four sections:
compressor, combustion chamber, turbine section and exhaust. Turbojets were
developed in Germany and England before World War II. In this type of engine, air
is passed at a high rate of speed into the combustion chamber where the fuel inlet
and igniter is located. The turbine, driven by expanding air, causes thrust from
accelerated exhaust gases. Covington Aircraft has extensive experience in aircraft
engine overhaul, as well as routine maintenance for these types of engines.

Fig 2.1 Turbojet Engine

12
2.1.2 Turboprop

Turboprop engines drive propellers through a reduction gear, which provides

optimum propeller performance at slower rpm speeds. That translates to greater fuel
efficiency and performance at slower airspeeds, which is why turboprops are
popular aircraft turbine engines for small, commuter aircraft, cargo planes and
agricultural use. The propellers are less efficient as the aircraft speed increases,
making them better for planes that do not have travel at higher speeds. Because
agricultural pilots rely on the consistency of their aircraft, Covington Aircraft has
proudly worked on turboprop planes used in agriculture since 1972.

Fig2.2 Turboprop engine.

2.1.3 Turbofan

Merging the best features of the turbojet and turboprop, the turbofan is an aircraft
turbine engine that diverts a secondary flow of air around the combustion chamber,
which creates additional thrust. This is the most modern version of an aircraft
turbine engine and the one often found on high-speed transport and fighter planes.
Because many corporations choose turbofan engines, Covington Aircraft focuses on

13
plane maintenance to keep corporate planes in the air, avoiding grounded aircraft
due to maintenance issues.

Fig 2.3 Turbofan engine.

2.1.4 Afterburning Turbojet

Used predominately in fighter jets, afterburning turbojets include an afterburner in a

core turbojet so that some of the energy from the exhaust helps to turn the turbine.
When the afterburner is on, additional fuel is injected into the exhaust stream,
producing additional thrust. Although this does provide additional speed for the
aircraft, this type of aircraft turbine engine burns more fuel than traditional turbojet
aircraft.

14
 Fig 2.4 Afterburning Turbojet engine.

2.2.Cooling

At a constant pressure ratio, thermal efficiency of the engine increases as the

turbine entry temperature (TET) increases. However, high temperatures can damage
the turbine, as the blades are under large centrifugal stresses and materials are
weaker at high temperature. So, turbine blade cooling is essential. Current modern
turbine designs are operating with inlet temperatures higher than 1900 kelvins
which is achieved by actively cooling the turbine components.

15
2.3. Methods of cooling

Fig 2.5 Laser-drilled holes permit film cooling in this first-stage V2500 nozzle
guide vane

Cooling of components can be achieved by air or liquid cooling. Liquid cooling

seems to be more attractive because of high specific heat capacity and chances of
evaporative cooling but there can be leakage, corrosion, choking and other
problems. which works against this method. On the other hand, air cooling allows
the discharged air into main flow without any problem. Quantity of air required for
this purpose is 1–3% of main flow and blade temperature can be reduced by 200–
300 °C. There are many techniques of cooling used in gas turbine blades;
convection, film, transpiration cooling, cooling effusion, pin fin cooling etc. which
fall under the categories of internal and external cooling. While all methods have
their differences, they all work by using cooler air (often bled from the compressor)
to remove heat from the turbine blades.

16
2.3.1 Internal cooling
Convection cooling
Blade cooling by convection

It works by passing cooling air through passages internal to the blade. Heat is
transferred by conduction through the blade, and then by convection into the air
flowing inside of the blade. A large internal surface area is desirable for this
method, so the cooling paths tend to be serpentine and full of small fins. The
internal passages in the blade may be circular or elliptical in shape. Cooling is
achieved by passing the air through these passages from hub towards the blade tip.
This cooling air comes from an air compressor. In case of gas turbine the fluid
outside is relatively hot which passes through the cooling passage and mixes with
the main stream at the blade tip.

Fig2.6 Impingement cooling

Impingement
A variation of convection cooling, impingement cooling, works by hitting the inner
surface of the blade with high velocity air. This allows more heat to be transferred
by convection than regular convection cooling does. Impingement cooling is used
in the regions of greatest heat loads. In case of turbine blades, the leading edge has
maximum temperature and thus heat load. Impingement cooling is also used in mid

17
chord of the vane. Blades are hollow with a core.[32] There are internal cooling
passages. Cooling air enters from the leading edge region and turns towards the
trailing edge.

Fig 2.7 cooling by jet impingement and convection

2.3.2 External cooling
1- Film cooling

Film cooling (also called thin film cooling), a widely used type, allows for higher
cooling effectiveness than either convection and impingement cooling.[33] This
technique consists of pumping the cooling air out of the blade through multiple
small holes or slots in the structure. A thin layer (the film) of cooling air is then
created on the external surface of the blade, reducing the heat transfer from main
flow, whose temperature (1300–1800 kelvins) can exceed the melting point of the
blade material (1300–1400 kelvins).[34][35] The ability of the film cooling system
to cool the surface is typically evaluated using a parameter called cooling
effectiveness. Higher cooling effectiveness (with maximum value of one) indicates
that the blade material temperature is closer to the coolant temperature. In locations
where the blade temperature approaches the hot gas temperature, the cooling
effectiveness approaches to zero. The cooling effectiveness is mainly affected by
18
the coolant flow parameters and the injection geometry. Coolant flow parameters
include the velocity, density, blowing and momentum ratios which are calculated
using the coolant and mainstream flow characteristics. Injection geometry
parameters consist of hole or slot geometry (i.e. cylindrical, shaped holes or slots)
and injections angle [2][36]. A United States Air Force program in the early 1970s
funded the development of a turbine blade that was both film and convection
cooled, and that method has become common in modern turbine blades.[11]
Injecting the cooler bleed into the flow reduces turbine isentropic efficiency; the
compression of the cooling air (which does not contribute power to the engine)
incurs an energetic penalty; and the cooling circuit adds considerable complexity to
the engine.[37] All of these factors have to be compensated by the increase in
overall performance (power and efficiency) allowed by the increase in turbine
temperature.[38] In recent years, researchers have suggested using plasma actuator
for film cooling. The film cooling of turbine blades by using a dielectric barrier
discharge plasma actuator was first proposed by Roy and Wang [39]. A horseshoe-
shaped plasma actuator, which is set in the vicinity of holes for gas flow, has been
shown to improve the film cooling effectiveness significantly. Following the
previous research, recent reports using both experimental and numerical methods
demonstrated the effect of cooling enhancement by 15% using a plasma actuator.

Fig 2.8 film cooling

19
2- Cooling effusion

The blade surface is made of porous material which means having a large number
of small orifices on the surface. Cooling air is forced through these porous holes
which forms a film or cooler boundary layer. Besides this uniform cooling is caused
by effusion of the coolant over the entire blade surface.

3- Pin fin cooling

In the narrow trailing edge film cooling is used to enhance heat transfer from the
blade. There is an array of pin fins on the blade surface. Heat transfer takes place
from this array and through the side walls. As the coolant flows across the fins with
high velocity, the flow separates and wakes are formed. Many factors contribute
towards heat transfer rate among which the type of pin fin and the spacing between
fins are the most significant.

4- Transpiration cooling

This is similar to film cooling in that it creates a thin film of cooling air on the
blade, but it is different in that air is "leaked" through a porous shell rather than
injected through holes. This type of cooling is effective at high temperatures as it
uniformly covers the entire blade with cool air.[31][43] Transpiration-cooled blades
generally consist of a rigid strut with a porous shell. Air flows through internal
channels of the strut and then passes through the porous shell to cool the blade. As
with film cooling, increased cooling air decreases turbine efficiency, therefore that
decrease has to be balanced with improved temperature performance.

20
Fig 2.9 cooling by Effussion

21
Chapter Three
Case study

22
3.1 Case study
This project evaluates the thermal state of the most stressed gas turbine elements:
first stage blades. The influence of the cooling blade performance using a cooling
medium with different parameters was estimated. In addition, a comparison of the
cooling efficiency of steam and air was implemented. ANSYS software was used
for the calculations.

3.2. Geometry model

Calculations were based on a geometry model of a gas turbine blade located in the
gas flow. The blade and the surrounding gas flow were modeled on the application
BladeGen ANSYS, and cooling channels within a blade were configured using the
DesignModeler application. The prototype of the cooling channels, their locations,
and their sizes were taken from the model described in. For a comparison of the
cooling efficiency, two cooling mediums were considered: air and water vapor. The
below described model is presented in Fig. 3.1.

Fig 3.1Model

23
3.3. Physical properties of the blade material

The blade is made of an austenitic nickel-chromium super alloy Inconel-718. In

calculations the following physical properties of the alloy were used: density
ȡ=8200kg/m3, specific heat c=435 J/(kg·K), and coefficient of thermal conductivity
Ȝ=11.4 W/(m·K) .

3.4. Physical properties of air

In the calculations, the air used for cooling the turbine blade was considered with
several values of pressure and temperature, with the former varying from 0.1 MPa
to 8 MPa and the latter ranging from 373.15 K to 573.15 K. Air is considered to be
an ideal gas with a molar mass of 28.966 g/mol. Specific heat was considered as a
polynomial function of temperature, and this relation is valid in the temperature
range from 100 to 15000C. The coefficients of the polynomial are shown in

Table 3.1.

2 3 n−1
c P ( T ) = A 1+ A 2 . T + A 3 . T + A 4 . T + A n . T (1)

Table 3.1 The coefficients of the polynomial of the specific heat for air.

Coefficient Value

A1 1161.482
A2 -2.368819
A3 0.01485511
A4 -5.034909e-5
A5 9.928569e-8
A6 -1.111097e-10
A7 6.540196e-14
A8 -1.573588e-17

24
The coefficient of thermal conductivity for air was specified as a piecewise linear
function of the temperature (2). Some of the values of the coefficients of thermal
conductivity are presented in Table3.2.

γ n+1−γ n
γ ( T ) =γ n+ .(T ❑−T n ¿ (2)
T n+1−T n

Table3.2. The values of coefficients of thermal conductivity for air.

Temperature, K Coefficient of thermal conductivity, W/(m·K)

300 0.0262
350 0.03
400 0.0338
460 0.038
560 0.0445
750 0.0549

To describe the viscosity dependence on temperature, the power relation (3) was
used.

( )
n
T
μ=μ 0 . (3)
T0

3.5. Physical properties of gases

The pressure drop of gases for the blade was taken as equal to 0.1125 MPa, and the
temperature as equal to 1173.15 K. To simplify calculations, other properties of
gases have been taken such as in Section 2.3.

3.6 . Physical properties of water vapor

As in Section 2.3, steam pressure varied from 0.1 MPa to 8 MPa and the
temperature varied from 573.15 K to 773.15 K. Steam was established as an ideal

25
gas with a molar mass of 18.01534 g/mol . The specific heat of the water vapor was
specified in the form of a polynomial function of temperature, and the coefficients
of this polynomial are listed in Table 3. The coefficient of thermal conductivity is
given as a polynomial of the form (1), and the coefficients of this polynomial are
shown in Table 4. Viscosity is considered as a polynomial, and the values of this
polynomial’s coefficients are presented in Table 5.

3.7. Meshing

The mesh for the finite element model was built using ANSYS ICEM CFD
software. The mesh consists of 1,511,920 tetrahedral elements, with the minimum
size of each element equal to 6.509·10-5 m, and the maximum size set to
1.3018·10-2 m. The above described mesh is shown in Fig. 2.

Table 3.3 The coefficients of the polynomial of the specific heat for water
vapor.

Coefficient Value
A1 1563.077
A2 1.603755
A3 -0.002932784
A4 3.216101e-6
A5 -1.156827e-9
Table 3.4 The coefficients for the polynomial relation of the coefficient of
thermal conductivity of the temperature for steam.

Coefficient Value
A1 -0.007967996
A2 6.881332e-5
A3 4.49046e-8
A4 -9.099937e-12
A5 6.173314e-16

26
 Table3.5. The polynomial coefficients of viscosity in relation to steam

Coefficient Value
A1 -4.418944e-6
A2 4.687638e-8
A3 -5.389431e-12
A4 3.202856e-16
A5 4.919179e-22

3.8 Results

Calculations were implemented in FluidFlow (Fluent) software, with the aim to

determine the heat transfer coefficient from the cooling channel wall to the coolant
and the volume average temperature of the blade. Calculation results of the blade
cooling by air are presented in Table3. 6 and 3.7. The calculation results of cooling
by steam are shown in Table3. 8 and3. 9. The values obtained for the heat transfer
coefficients with low pressure are in good agreement with the experimental data
presented in [11] and with calculated values in [12-14]. To compare the efficiency
using different cooling mediums and to estimate the influence of the coolant
pressure, the two relations were built. The first relation is the dependence of the
heat transfer coefficient between the cooling channel wall and coolant from the
coolant pressure (Fig. 3.3a), whereas the second one is the average volume
temperature of the blade from the coolant pressure (Fig. 3.3b). Both relations were
determined at a constant coolant temperature of Tcoolant=573.15 K.

27
 Fig3.2 Mesh for the model

Table3.6. The average volume temperature of the blade cooling by air, K.

28
Table 3.7. The heat transfer coefficient from the cooling channel wall to the
cooling air, W/(m2 ·K).

Table 3.8. The average volume temperature of the blade cooling by steam, K

29
 Table 3.9. The heat transfer coefficient from the cooling channel wall to the
cooling steam, W/(m2 ·K).

Fig. 3.3 (a) the dependence of the heat transfer coefficient between cooling
channel wall and coolant pressure; (b) the dependence of the average volume
temperature of the blade from coolant pressure.

Fig. 3 shows that the heat transfer coefficient is much higher with steam cooling
than air cooling. Moreover, the higher the pressure of the cooling medium, the
greater the difference between the heat transfer coefficients for steam and air.
Further, the influence of the coolant temperature on the cooling efficiency at the
fixed coolant pressure was investigated. The results of the calculations are
presented in Fig. 4.

30
Fig. 3.4. The dependence of the average temperature of the blade from the
coolant temperature (at coolant pressure pcoolant=0.1 MPa).

31
Chapter Four
Conclusion

32
4.1 Conclusion

The presented study estimated the cooling efficiency of the first stage turbine blade
for different parameters of a cooling medium. For comparison, two types of cooling
medium were considered: air and water vapor. The average volume temperature of
the blade and the wall heat transfer coefficient were chosen as criteria of cooling
efficiency. As shown in the study, steam is more efficient as a coolant than the air
when analyzed using the same parameters (pressure and temperature). The average
blade temperature is lowered by 20-300C when steam is used, and the heat transfer
coefficient from the cooling channel to the coolant for steam is higher by 10-30%
than for air.

33
 References
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Turbine Airfoil Leading Edge Regions. Part I: Impingement Cooling Without
Film Coolant Extraction,” ASME Journal of Turbomachinery 112 (1990) 451-
458.
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Heat Transfer 104 (1982) 700-706.
3- M.K. Chyu, Y.C. Hsing, T. I.P . Shih, and V. Natarajan, “Heat Transfer
Contributions of Pins and Endwall in Pin-Fin Arrays: Effects of Thermal
Boundary Condition Modeling,” ASME Paper No. 98-GT-175 (1998).
4- S. C. Arora, W. Abdel, “Characteristics of Partial Length Circular Pin
Fins as Heat Transfer Augmentors for Airfoil Internal Cooling Passages,”
ASME paper 89-GT-87 (1989).
5- D.E. Metzger, S.C. Fan, and S.W. Haley, “Effects of Pin Shape and Array
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34