Influence of water–air ratio on the heat transfer and creep life of a high pressure gas turbine blade

Abstract

An analytical model to investigate the influence of Water–Air Ratio (WAR) on turbine blade heat transfer and cooling processes (and thus the blade creep life) of industrial gas turbines is presented. The effects of WAR are emphasised for the modelling of the gas properties and the subsequent heat transfer process. The approach considers convective/film cooling and includes the influence of a thermal barrier coating. In addition, the approach is based on the thermodynamic outputs of a gas turbine performance simulation, heat transfer model, as well as a method that accounts for the changes in the properties of moist air as a function of WAR. For a given off-design point, the variation of WAR (0.0–0.10) was investigated using the heat transfer model. Results showed that with increasing WAR the blade inlet coolant temperature reduced along the blade span. The blade metal temperature at each section was reduced as WAR increased, which in turn increased the blade creep life. The increase in WAR increased the specific heat of the coolant and increased the heat transfer capacity of the coolant air flow. The model can be implemented by using the thermodynamic cycle of the engine, without knowing the turbine cooling details in the conceptual design stage. Also, this generic method assists the end user to understand the effect of operating conditions and design parameter on the creep life of a high pressure turbine blade.