Life Prediction of Power Turbine Components for High Exhaust Back Pressure Applications: Part I — Disks

Abstract

Industrial and aeroderivative gas turbines when used in CHP and CCPP applications typically experience an increased exhaust back pressure due to pressure losses from the downstream balance-of-plant systems. This increased back pressure on the power turbine results not only in decreased thermodynamic performance but also changes power turbine secondary flow characteristics thus impacting lives of rotating and stationary components of the power turbine. This Paper discusses the Impact to Fatigue and Creep life of free power turbine disks subjected to high back pressure applications using Siemens Energy approach. Steady State and Transient stress fields have been calculated using finite element method. New Lifing Correlation [1] Criteria has been used to estimate Predicted Safe Cyclic Life (PSCL) of the disks. Walker Strain Initiation model [1] is utilized to predict cycles to crack initiation and a fracture mechanics based approach is used to estimate propagation life. Hyperbolic Tangent Model [2] has been used to estimate creep damage of the disks. Steady state and transient temperature fields in the disks are highly dependent on the secondary air flows and cavity dynamics thus directly impacting the Predicted Safe Cyclic Life and Overall Creep Damage. A System-level power turbine secondary flow analyses was carried out with and without high back pressure. In addition, numerical simulations were performed to understand the cavity flow dynamics. These results have been used to perform a sensitivity study on disk temperature distribution and understand the impact of various back pressure levels on turbine disk lives. The Steady Sate and Transient Thermal predictions were validated using full-scale engine test and have been found to correlate well with the test results. The Life Prediction Study shows that the impact on PSCL and Overall Creep damage for high back pressure applications meets the product design standards.