Sadasivan 2020
Sadasivan 2020
Sadasivan 2020
exhaust hood
Abstract
In this research work, a computational modeling of multi-phase flow through an asymmetric exhaust hood is presented.
The three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations along with the standard k " turbulent model and the Eulerian–Eulerian
multi-phase equations were solved. The coupling of the last stage turbine blades and the exhaust hood has been carried
out using the actuator disc model, which is less computationally demanding. The finite volume-based commercial com-
putational fluid dynamics solver, ANSYS FLUENT, is used for the present numerical simulations. The effects of wetness
on the flow structure and the pressure recovery capacity of a steam turbine exhaust hood have been investigated. One of
the salient findings is that the pressure recovery capacity of a steam turbine exhaust hood enhances due to wetness
effects. Wetness-induced turbulence damping is noted to be playing a crucial role in the enhancement of pressure
recovery capacity of an exhaust hood.
Keywords
Low-pressure steam turbine, exhaust hood, wet steam, Computational Fluid Dynamics, actuator disc model
focus on droplet size, nucleation rate, and latent heat Momentum equation
released during the process.5–7 Many investigators
emphasize the importance of considering wetness @ ij @ ðij u~ 00i u~ 00j Þ
@p
effects in the flow analysis of steam turbine blades u~ i u~ j ¼ þ ð2Þ
@xj @xj @xj
and the exhaust hood.8,9 However, most of the inves-
tigations carried out to predict the exhaust hood flow Energy equation
structure assumed a single phase flow.10–13 There are
no conclusive studies with the inclusion of wetness @ h ~ i @ ½u~ i ðij u~ 00i u~ 00j Þ ðq j þ e~00 u~ 00j Þ
effect in the exhaust hood, mainly due to the lack of u~ j ht ¼
@xj @xj
reliable field data and the demand for very high com- pffiffiffi pffiffiffi ð3Þ
@ k@ k
putational requirements. þ 2
Pk þ "
As far as coupling of the last stage blades (LSBs) @xj @xj
and the exhaust hood in CFD modeling is concerned,
there exists a variety of methods, namely mixing-plane Transport equation of kinetic energy
method,14 frozen rotor method,15 non-linear har-
monic method,16 ADM,17 etc. Except for the ADM @ @ T @k
u~ j k ¼ ð þ Þ
approach, the above-mentioned methods are very cen- @xj @xj k @xj
tral processing unit (CPU) intensive. Hence, in this pffiffiffi pffiffiffi ð4Þ
@ k@ k
research work, the ADM is used for capturing the þ Pk " 2
asymmetric flow in the coupled domain of the turbine @xj @xj
rotor blades and the exhaust hood with wetness
effects. In one of the previous studies of the present Transport equation of dissipation rate
authors,18 the importance of ADM approach in the
computational analysis of gas turbine exhaust hood @
@ T @" "
u~ j " ¼ ð þ Þ þ C"1 Pk
has been detailed. It has been shown that the ADM is @xj @xj " @xj k
efficient enough to capture the time averaged effect of 2 ð5Þ
"2 T @2 u~ i @ u~ i
turbine blades with less computational power. C"2 f"2 þ2
k @xj @xj @xl @xl
The literature survey clearly reveals that the effect of
the condensation process, especially the distribution of
liquid droplets and its size on the pressure loss in the Where
steam turbine exhaust hood, is not well understood due
to the complex process involved. The primary focus of @u~ i @u~ j 2 @u~ j 2
u~ 00i u~ 00jÞ ¼ T þ T ij
ij k
the current research is to study the influence of wetness @xj @xi 3 @xj 3
on the flow structure and the pressure recovery capacity
of the exhaust hood. The process of homogeneous con- ~ @u~ i þ @u~ j 2 @u~ j ij ; e~00 u~ 00 Þ
ij ffi ðTÞ j
@xj @xi 3 @xj
densation of vapor using the Eulerian–Eulerian
approach is discussed in detail. Another focus of the @T~
¼ KT
current research is to investigate the effects of wetness @xi
~
on turbulence intensity in the performance of the 1 @u~ i @u~ j
Pk ¼ u~ 00i u~ 00j Þ þ ; q~ i ffi kðTÞ~ @T
exhaust hood. 2 @xj @xi @xi
@ @ ð uj Þ
u~ j ¼ 0 ð1Þ ¼ J ð7Þ
@xj @xj
Sadasivan et al. 3
4 r3 @r
¼ l J þ 4 r2 l
3 @t
Figure 3. (a) Geometry of steam turbine exhaust hood. (b) Computational domain marked with boundary conditions.
to implement the ADM concept in the current geom- . The interaction between liquid droplets is
etry, two discs have been developed by using mesh negligible.
interface treatment in the three computational . The liquid mass fraction is relatively small
domains. The energy transfer happening in the real ð 5 0:2Þ.
turbine stage is represented here by specifying the . The droplet volume is considered as negligible since
pressure drop across the actuator discs as a function the size of the droplet is varying from 0.1 to
of flow velocity in the built-in ‘Fan’ boundary. 100 mm.
In multi-phase flow analysis of the steam turbine . Wet-steam temperature and pressure will be the
exhaust hood, the following assumptions are used in same as that of the temperature and pressure of
the present simulations: the vapour phase.
Figure 6. (a) Total pressure distribution at the rotor outlet. (b) Total pressure distribution at the rotor outlet with the same
geometry.
compared with the reported frozen rotor results net flow deflection and swirling within the exhaust
obtained with the same geometry. The Cp value hood. It is observed that the overall flow deflec-
obtained for the case of ADM with tip leakage is tion creates two counter-rotating vortices within
found to be 0.243, whereas in the case of the frozen the downdraft section of the exhaust hood as
rotor method, the Cp value is 0.241. These results observed by other investigations in the case of dry
prove the capability of the present ADM approach, flow. The counter-rotating vortices hold low-density
which is generally less computationally demanding, in dry steam to their core region. On the other hand,
coupling the LSBs with the exhaust hood. the steam of high wetness fraction remains at the per-
iphery of the vortex. This is very evident from
Figure 7(d).
Effect of wetness on exhaust hood flow structure
In order to get an insight into the physics of nucle-
In the first phase, numerical experiments were per- ation, the contour of the droplet nucleation rate at the
formed to study the effects of nucleation and its meridional plane has been presented in Figure 8(a). It
growth that appear due to homogeneous condensa- is noticed that the nucleation rate is significant at the
tion during the flow. In this phase of the study, no upper portion of the diffuser where the flow separ-
wetness was imposed at the inlet boundary. The dry ations are maximum. In the lower portion, the nucle-
saturated steam will condense when the local pressure ation rate is higher in the proximity of the end wall of
drops below the vapour pressure at any section of the the exhaust hood. Further, in order to have more
exhaust hood. Moreover, any local flow separation in insight, the droplet nucleation rate has been con-
the domain can end up in homogenous condensation sidered at a diffuser outlet plane, where the nucleation
of the steam. The primary focus of this study was to first forms, in the upper portion of the exhaust hood
identify the extent to which wet-steam formation will as shown in Figure 8(b). It is observed that the droplet
affect the flow structure and the performance exhaust nucleation rate is lower near the end wall and tip
hood. The contour of liquid mass fraction obtained regions. The maximum nucleation rate occurs at
on the meridional plane of the exhaust hood is pre- about 30% distance from the tip of the guide vane.
sented in Figure 7(a). It is noted that, in the upper The static and saturation temperature profiles are
portion of the exhaust hood, the condensation begins plotted at the same outlet plane in Figure 8(c).
where the flow gets turned due to the guide vanes. On Here, the static temperature values are lower than
the other hand, in the lower portion of the exhaust the saturation temperature. Hence, condensation
hood, the condensation starts even before the flow must have occurred at this plane. The degree of super-
gets turned by the guide vane. In Figure 7(b), the cooling is found to be about 23 K, where the nucle-
turning of the steam was noted to be causing a local ation rate is maximum. This indicates a large number
pressure decrement and hence condensation. All the of condensation nuclei present in the primary fluid.
reported CFD studies10–16 with dry steam modeling The rate of nucleation then starts to decline just
have shown the asymmetric nature of flows in the after the peak position due to the supercooling tem-
exhaust hood. This is getting reflected in the distribu- perature decrement. It shows that the condensation of
tion of the liquid mass fraction. The streamline pat- steam will not occur when it just reaches the satur-
tern presented in Figure 7(c) clearly demonstrates the ation state.
Sadasivan et al. 7
Figure 7. (a) Liquid mass fraction contour at the exhaust hood meridional plane. (b) Static pressure contour at half-joint plane of the
exhaust hood. (c) Three-dimensional flow structure in the exhaust hood of the steam turbine. (d) Liquid mass fraction contours of
different sections at exhaust hood outlet.
During the condensation process, the continuous respective velocity contours at the exit plane of the
production of nuclei contributes to a large quantity exhaust hood obtained are depicted. It can be con-
of droplets and goes to the process of droplet growth. cluded that changes in wetness levels affect the forma-
At the end of the first nucleation process, the number tion and distribution of flow structure very
of droplets reaches its maximum value near the flow significantly. Hence, this emphasizes the importance
guide tip region as shown in Figure 8(d) and nucle- of wet-steam modeling.
ation region gradually moves to the downstream flow. The above-discussed vortex core changes are to be
It can be noted that the number of liquid droplets revisited under the light of nucleation and droplet for-
remains constant in almost all the region in the col- mation. To better understand the underlying multi-
lector plane. phase effect behind the vortex structure change, the
Further to understand the influence of the inlet droplet per unit volume at the outlet plane of the
wetness level on the overall flow structure, a detailed exhaust hood is analyzed in Figure 11. As mentioned
investigation has been carried out at different levels of earlier, the exhaust hood flow contains two counter-
inlet wetness, viz. 3%, 5%, and 7% and respective rotating vortices formed due to the typical flow turn-
velocity contours at the sectional plane of the exhaust ing at the diffuser section. These counter-rotating
hood have been depicted in Figure 9. It can be noted vortex cores are getting formed due to the mutual
that the sizes of the counter-rotating vortices are interaction of multiple vortices observed at the tip
changing with the change in the inlet wetness. There region of the guide vane. At zero inlet wetness case,
is a considerable magnification in both vortex cores the maximum amount of liquid droplets is observed at
when the inlet wetness changes from zero to non-zero. the left side of the left vortex core. Moreover, the
However, a further increase in wetness creates only a maximum amount of saturated steam is entrapped
marginal change in both vortex cores. Thus, the asym- by the left vortex core when the inlet wetness is
metry of the exhaust hood flow structure is getting zero. The right vortex core as well holds a certain
reduced with an increase in the inlet wetness. This amount of dry steam, but lesser in volume as com-
fact is evident from Figure 10 as well, where the pared to that of the left vortex core. A remarkable
8 Proc IMechE Part A: J Power and Energy 0(0)
Figure 8. (a) Log10 droplet nucleation rate at the exhaust hood meridional plane. (b) Log10 droplet nucleation rate at the diffuser
outlet plane. (c) Temperature distribution at the diffuser outlet plane. (d) Log10 droplets per unit volume at the diffuser outlet plane.
Figure 9. Velocity contour at the sectional plane: (a) 0% wetness, (b) 3% wetness, (c) 5% wetness, and (d) 7% wetness.
Sadasivan et al. 9
Figure 10. Velocity contour at the condenser inlet: (a) 0% wetness, (b) 3% wetness, (c) 5% wetness, and (d) 7% wetness.
Figure 11. Droplets per unit volume at the outlet of the exhaust hood: (a) 0% wetness, (b) 3% wetness, (c) 5% wetness, and (d) 7%
wetness.
Figure 13. Velocity vector at the exhaust hood meridional plane: (a) dry steam, (b) 0% inlet wetness, and (c) 7% inlet wetness.
Figure 14. Turbulent kinetic energy at the condenser inlet plane: (a) dry steam, (b) 0% inlet wetness, and (c) 7% inlet wetness.
multi-phase flow approximations with zero inlet wet- the guide vane. The above-mentioned flow separation
ness gave a total pressure loss of 2793 Pa. It shows and recirculation zone formations are found to be
that the effect of inlet wetness on the performance present in all the investigated cases. However, in the
improvement of the exhaust hood is significant. The multi-phase analysis, it can be noted that the strength
values of total pressure loss obtained from the wet- of the recirculation zone is decreasing significantly.
steam analysis for different wetness percentage at the This could be attributed to the entropy generation
inlet of the model also shows that an increase in wet- during the nucleation process. The vortices inside
ness percentage at the inlet of the domain marginally the diffuser and the collector are the main source for
decreases the total pressure loss of the exhaust hood a higher pressure loss in the steam turbine exhaust
system. Hence, it is well understood from the study hood. Therefore, it can be concluded that the pressure
that, as real time steam flow through the last stage recovery capacity of the exhaust hood is increasing
row and the exhaust hood is prone to condensation, with wetness effect mainly due to the diminishing
it is essential to go for wetness modeling in order to trend of the vortices inside the exhaust hood.
obtain realistic design data. Further, the wetness effects on the characteristics
The velocity vector obtained at the meridional of turbulence flow are also considered for the exhaust
plane of exhaust hood for the various cases like hood flow analysis. A comparative study of the same
single-phase analysis (dry steam), multi-phase analysis three cases for turbulent kinetic energy has been made
with 0% inlet wetness, and maximum 7% inlet wet- on the exhaust hood outlet plane as shown in
ness are compared in Figure 13. It can be observed Figure 14. It is observed that the magnitude of turbu-
that there are three different recirculation zones, lent kinetic energy is high in the dry steam flow con-
namely flow guide separation, additional vortex and ditions as compared with the 0% and 7% inlet
the flow guide tip separation formed at the vicinity of wetness conditions of the multi-phase analysis.
Sadasivan et al. 11
Table 2. Mass weighted average values for different cases. Declaration of Conflicting Interests
Mass weighted average The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
Inlet turbulent kinetic respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of
Phase wetness energy (m2/s2) this article.
In: ASME turbo expo 2012: turbine technical conference 25. Crowe CT. Modeling turbulence in multiphase flows.
and exposition, 2012, pp.455–466. USA: American In: Rodi W and Martelli F (eds) Engineering turbulence
Society of Mechanical Engineers. modelling and experiments. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1993,
13. Cao L, Si H, Lin A, et al. Multi-factor optimization pp.899–913.
study on aerodynamic performance of low-pressure
exhaust passage in steam turbines. Appl Therm Eng
2017; 124: 224–231.
14. Fan T, Xie Y, Zhang D, et al. A combined numerical Appendix
model and optimization for low pressure exhaust Notation
system in steam turbine. In: ASME 2007 power confer-
ence, 2007, pp.349–358. USA: American Society of h enthalpy
Mechanical Engineers. ht total enthalpy of the main flow
15. Fu J, Liu J and Zhou S. Experimental and numerical J nucleation rate
investigation of interaction between turbine stage and k turbulent kinetic energy
exhaust hood. Proc IMechE, Part A: J Power and K molecular heat conductivity
Energy 2007; 221: 991–999. Kb Boltzmann constant
16. Burton Z, Ingram G and Hogg S. A novel method
Mm mass of one liquid molecule
of coupling the steam turbine exhaust hood and
p pressure
the last stage blades using the non-linear harmonic
method. In: ASME turbo expo 2013: turbine technical PT total pressure
conference and exposition, 2013, pp.V05BT25A006– qc condensation coefficient
V05BT25A006. USA: American Society of r droplet radius
Mechanical Engineers. r critical radius of droplet
17. Liu JJ and Hynes TP. The investigation of turbine and r average radius of droplet
exhaust interactions in asymmetric flows – blade-row S super saturation ratio
models applied. J Turbomach 2003; 125: 121–127. t time
18. Sadasivan S, Arumugam SK and Aggarwal MC. T temperature
Numerical simulation of diffuser of a gas turbine u~ i velocity components
using the actuator disc model. J Appl Fluid Mech
Vd average droplet volume
2019; 12: 77–84.
xi Cartesian space components
19. Girshick SL and Chiu CP. Kinetic nucleation theory: a
new expression for the rate of homogeneous nucleation liquid mass fraction
from an ideal supersaturated vapor. J Chem Phys 1990; " dissipation rate
93: 1273–1277. specific heat ratio
20. Frenkel J. Kinetic theory of liquids. vol. 8. New York: water vapor condensation rate
Dover Publications, 1955, p.143. number of droplets per unit volume
21. Gyarmathy G. The spherical droplet in gaseous carrier mT eddy viscosity
streams: review and synthesis. Multiphase Sci Technol m molecular dynamic viscosity
1982; 1: 1–4. non-isothermal correction factor
22. Moore MJ, Walters PT, Crane RI, et al. Predicting the density
fog drop size in wet steam turbines. In: Wet steam 4
surface tension
conference. UK: Institute of Mechanical Engineers,
paper C37/73.
23. Burton Z. Analysis of low pressure steam turbine diffuser
and exhaust hood systems. Doctoral Dissertation, Subscripts
Durham University, 2014.
24. Gardzilewicz A, Swirydczuk J, Badur J, et al. L liquid
Methodology of CFD computations applied for analys- V vapor
ing flows through steam turbine exhaust hoods. Trans
Inst Fluid-flow Mach 2003; 113: 157–168.