Upstream Cover Heat Exchanger for Turbomachine Flow Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing heat exchangers in turbomachines introduce significant head losses due to fluid flow separation and turbulence caused by their presence, which affects the engine's efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A heat exchanger design with an upstream cover that separates the gas flow into an intake and a bypass flow without generating turbulence, using lip-shaped edges to minimize flow separation and optimize fluid flow, reducing head losses by 20%.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a heat exchanger is fixed to the turbomachine wall to cool oil in the hydraulic circuit, then the oil cooling function is achieved, but the exchanger forms an obstacle introducing head losses in the flow stream
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchanger is segmented into a body portion fixed to the wall and a separate upstream cover portion that can be attached independently. This segmentation allows the cover to be optimized for flow management while the body maintains the cooling function, resolving the contradiction between achieving oil cooling and minimizing head losses.
Solution Approach 2:
The upstream cover acts as an intermediary element between the incoming flow and the heat exchanger body. It mediates the flow by creating a streamlined configuration that reduces turbulence and head losses while still allowing sufficient flow to reach the exchanger for effective oil cooling.
2Temperature
If the heat exchanger projects from the wall to allow flow passage for cooling, then the cooling function is achieved, but the relief shape forms an obstacle causing flow separation and turbulence
Solution Approach 1:
The upstream cover is designed with curved, streamlined surfaces that follow the flow direction, eliminating sharp edges and corners that cause flow separation. The curved geometry guides the flow smoothly around the exchanger, reducing turbulence while maintaining the necessary flow passage for effective oil cooling.
Solution Approach 2:
The design changes the geometric parameters of the heat exchanger by adding the upstream cover, which modifies the flow path and reduces the abruptness of flow encounters. This parameter change transforms the sharp relief shape into a more gradual, flow-friendly configuration that reduces flow separation and turbulence.
3Temperature
If the heat exchanger is integrated into the turbomachine, then the oil cooling function is achieved, but the exchanger introduces head losses affecting engine efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The upstream cover performs preliminary flow conditioning before the flow reaches the heat exchanger body. By pre-streamlining the flow and reducing turbulence upstream, the cover minimizes the head losses that would otherwise occur at the exchanger, thereby preserving engine efficiency while maintaining oil cooling functionality.
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 design reduces head losses by minimizing fluid flow separation and turbulence, enhancing the engine's efficiency by optimizing the fluid flow around the exchanger.
Implementation Method 1
a heat exchanger in the form of a heat sink to assure that this oil remains at a suitable temperature
Implementation Method 2
a portion of the flow circulating in the jet along this wall passes through it so as to cool the oil
Data Source
AI summary
A heat exchanger designed to be fixed to a turbomachine wall delimiting a gas flow stream, this exchanger including a body with a front face through which the gas flow passes; an attachment face to the wall; an external face opposite the attachment face and connected to the front face; two lateral faces connected to the front face; a cover surrounding the front face and extending along the prolongation of the external face and the lateral faces, to delimit an intake with an area smaller than the area of the front face, this intake being located upstream from the front face relative to the gas flow stream.