Ribbed channel heat transfer enhancement of an internally cooled turbine vane using cooling conjugate heat transfer simulation

Abstract

Cooling the high-temperature gas turbine blades is inevitable for safe operation and durability of the gas turbines. Internal cooling is a common and effective solution for this issue. Geometrical features and patterns of internal channels inside turbine vanes are a key factor of the blade cooling efficiency. This paper concerns the effects of the ribbed channels on the temperature distribution, the convective heat transfer coefficient of the blade surface, the performance factor of the gas turbine blade, and the friction coefficient utilizing the 3D simulations. In this study, Conjugate Heat Transfer (CHT) is employed for the fluid flow and the heat transfer calculations. In fact, this case study is a modified NASA C3X gas turbine, in which the longitudinal ribs are considered in six different configurations inside the cooling channels. Furthermore, the effects of those ribs on the aforementioned performance parameters in comparisons with the non-rib channels are investigated. The results demonstrated that the selected ribbed configuration increases the total amount of heat transfer up to 25%, with only a 3% increase in the friction factor. Meanwhile, the performance factor as to this configuration enhanced up to 24% and the maximum temperature reduced by about 25 K.