Forked Passage Cooling Circuit for Multi-Wall Blade Tip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional gas turbine systems face challenges in effectively cooling turbine blades, particularly at the tip area where high heat loads expose both high and low cooling effectiveness channels to extreme temperatures, leading to potential component failure and reduced efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A forked passage cooling circuit is introduced, featuring a first leg that covers the central plenum and a second leg that covers near wall cooling channels, both receiving cooling air from an air feed cavity to shield these channels from heat and provide film cooling to the tip area of the multi-wall blade.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional cooling channels are used in the tip area, then the cooling system is simple, but the cooling effectiveness is insufficient due to high heat loads
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling circuit is segmented into multiple independent legs (first leg covering central plenum, second leg covering near wall cooling channels) that can be independently designed and optimized for different cooling requirements in different regions of the blade tip
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the blade tip are provided with different cooling qualities - the central plenum receives cooling through the first leg while near wall cooling channels receive cooling through the second leg, allowing each region to receive the specific cooling intensity and distribution it needs based on its local heat load characteristics
2Reliability
If cooling air flow is increased to handle high heat loads, then cooling effectiveness improves, but the cooling air consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Cooling air is distributed differently to different regions based on their specific cooling needs - the central plenum and near wall cooling channels receive cooling air through separate legs, allowing optimization of air distribution to match local heat load patterns and reduce overall air consumption
Solution Approach 2:
Each leg provides cooling air flow appropriate to its specific region's requirements rather than uniformly distributing the same flow rate, allowing sufficient cooling where needed while minimizing excess air consumption in lower heat load regions
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The forked passage cooling circuit effectively shields low and high cooling effectiveness channels from excessive heat, enhancing cooling efficiency and maintaining performance by directing cooling air to the tip area as a cooling film, thereby improving the operational temperature range of the gas turbine system.
Implementation Method 1
Cooling air provided by, for example, a compressor of a gas turbine system may be passed through the internal cooling channels to cool the turbine blades
Implementation Method 2
providing cooling film
Data Source
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AI summary
A cooling system according to an embodiment includes: a forked passage cooling circuit (40), the forked passage cooling circuit (40) including a first leg (42) and a second leg (46) and an air feed cavity (44) for supplying cooling air to the first leg (42) and the second leg (46) of the forked passage cooling circuit (40); wherein the first leg (42) of the forked passage cooling circuit (40) extends radially outward from and at least partially covers at least one central plenum (20) of a multi-wall blade (6), and wherein the second leg (46) of the forked passage cooling circuit (40) extends radially outward from and at least partially covers a first set of near wall cooling channels (18) in the multi-wall blade (6).