An experimental and numerical study on the flow in a three-stage low-pressure (LP) industrial steam turbine is presented and analyzed. The investigated LP section features conical friction bolts in the last and a lacing wire in the penultimate rotor blade row. These part-span connectors (PSC) allow safe turbine operation over an extremely wide range and even in blade resonance condition. However, additional losses are generated which affect the performance of the turbine. In order to capture the impact of PSCs on the flow field, extensive measurements with pneumatic multihole probes in an industrial steam turbine test rig have been carried out. State-of-the-art three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applying a nonequilibrium steam (NES) model is used to examine the aerothermodynamic effects of PSCs on the wet steam flow. The vortex system in coupled LP steam turbine rotor blading is discussed in this paper. In order to validate the CFD model, a detailed comparison between measurement data and steady-state CFD results is performed for several operating conditions. The investigation shows that the applied one-passage CFD model is able to capture the three-dimensional flow field in LP steam turbine blading with PSC and the total pressure reduction due to the PSC with a generally good agreement to measured values and is therefore sufficient for engineering practice.
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July 2016
Research-Article
Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Flow in a Low-Pressure Industrial Steam Turbine With Part-Span Connectors
Markus Häfele,
Markus Häfele
ITSM—Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: markus.haefele@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: markus.haefele@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
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Christoph Traxinger,
Christoph Traxinger
ITSM—Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: christoph.traxinger@gmail.com
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: christoph.traxinger@gmail.com
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Marius Grübel,
Marius Grübel
ITSM—Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: marius.gruebel@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: marius.gruebel@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
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Markus Schatz,
Markus Schatz
ITSM—Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: markus.schatz@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: markus.schatz@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
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Damian M. Vogt,
Damian M. Vogt
ITSM—Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: damian.vogt@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: damian.vogt@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
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Roman Drozdowski
Roman Drozdowski
KBB—Kompressorenbau Bannewitz GmbH,
Windbergstraße 45,
Bannewitz D-01728, Germany
e-mail: roman.drozdowski@kbb-turbo.de
Windbergstraße 45,
Bannewitz D-01728, Germany
e-mail: roman.drozdowski@kbb-turbo.de
Search for other works by this author on:
Markus Häfele
ITSM—Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: markus.haefele@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: markus.haefele@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
Christoph Traxinger
ITSM—Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: christoph.traxinger@gmail.com
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: christoph.traxinger@gmail.com
Marius Grübel
ITSM—Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: marius.gruebel@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: marius.gruebel@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
Markus Schatz
ITSM—Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: markus.schatz@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: markus.schatz@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
Damian M. Vogt
ITSM—Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: damian.vogt@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
and Machinery Laboratory,
University of Stuttgart,
Pfaffenwaldring 6,
Stuttgart D-70569, Germany
e-mail: damian.vogt@itsm.uni-stuttgart.de
Roman Drozdowski
KBB—Kompressorenbau Bannewitz GmbH,
Windbergstraße 45,
Bannewitz D-01728, Germany
e-mail: roman.drozdowski@kbb-turbo.de
Windbergstraße 45,
Bannewitz D-01728, Germany
e-mail: roman.drozdowski@kbb-turbo.de
Contributed by the Turbomachinery Committee of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING FOR GAS TURBINES AND POWER. Manuscript received July 21, 2015; final manuscript received October 17, 2015; published online February 9, 2016. Editor: David Wisler.
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. Jul 2016, 138(7): 072604 (12 pages)
Published Online: February 9, 2016
Article history
Received:
July 21, 2015
Revised:
October 17, 2015
Citation
Häfele, M., Traxinger, C., Grübel, M., Schatz, M., Vogt, D. M., and Drozdowski, R. (February 9, 2016). "Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Flow in a Low-Pressure Industrial Steam Turbine With Part-Span Connectors." ASME. J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. July 2016; 138(7): 072604. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4032205
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