Heat Transfer Correlations for Gas Turbine Cooling

Abstract: A first part of a ”Heat Transfer Handbook” about correlations for internal cooling of gas turbine vanes and blades has been created. The work is based on the cooling of vanes and blades 1 and 2 on different Siemens Gas Turbines. The cooling methods increase the heat transfer in the cooling channels by increasing the heat transfer coefficient and/or increasing the heat transfer surface area. The penalty paid for the increased heat transfer is higher pressure losses. Three cooling methods, called rib turbulated cooling, matrix cooling and impingement cooling were investigated. Rib turbulated cooling and impingement cooling are typically used in the leading edge or mid region of the airfoil and matrix cooling is mostly applied in the trailing edge region. Literature studies for each cooling method, covering both open literature and internal reports, were carried out in order to find correlations developed from tests. The correlations were compared and analyzed with focus on suitability for use in turbine conditions. The analysis resulted in recommendations about what correlations to use for each cooling method. For rib turbulated cooling in square or rectangular ducts, four correlations developed by Han and his co-workers [3.5], [3.8], [3.9] and [3.6] are recommended, each valid for different channel and rib geometries. For U-shaped channels, correlations of Nagoga [3.4] are recommended. Matrix cooling is relatively unknown in west, but has been used for many years in the former Soviet Union. Therefore available information in open literature is limited. Only one source of correlations was found. The correlations were developed by Nagoga [4.2] and are valid for closed matrixes. Siemens Gas Turbines are cooled with open matrixes, why further work with developing correlations is needed. For impingement cooling on a flat target plate, a correlation of Florschuetz et al. [5.7] is recommended for inline impingement arrays. For staggered arrays, both the correlations of Florschuetz et al. [5.7] and Höglund [5.8] are suitable. The correlations for impingement on curved target plate gave very different results. The correlation of Nagoga is recommended, but it is also advised to consult the other correlations when calculating heat transfer for a specific case. Another part of the work has been to investigate the codes of two heat transfer programs named Q3D and Multipass, used in the Siemens offices in Finspång and Lincoln, respectively. Certain changes in the code are recommended.