Investigation of the Temperature Variations in Aeroderivative Gas Turbine Blade Cooling

Abstract

In order to improve performance and efficiency, modern-day gas turbines operate at high temperatures. It is essential to use suitable cooling techniques on the blade and other hot areas since the elevated temperatures might exceed the metal melting temperature of the turbine blades. This paper presents the numerical modelling of heat exchange in a cooled aeroderivative gas turbine blade depending on the Newton’s law of cooling equation as governing equation, then integrating the heat transfer coefficient by convection into the alternating direction implicit (ADI) approach of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Based on the chosen boundary conditions and the gas turbine's intended cooling characteristics, a model for the heat transfer problem was created. A MATLAB code was developed to ascertain the temperature variations inside a cooling blade for a half-hour in-service operation. This study found a temperature difference between the transient and final temperature values of roughly 25 to 300oC, demonstrating the heat transfer process between the hot gases and the coolant air. It inferred effective heat transmission from the blades to the cooling air because the temperature differential within the blades did not rise over the melting point of the blade material and it yielded an average blade temperature of 400°C. Thus, the ADI technique is appropriate for heat transfer design calculations for intricate devices such as the gas turbine engine.