A first part of a “Heat Transfer Handbook” about correlations for internal cooling of gas turbine vanes and blades has been created. The work is based on the cooling of vanes and blades 1 and 2 on different Siemens Gas Turbines. The cooling methods increase the heat transfer in the cooling channels by increasing the heat transfer coefficient and/or increasing the heat transfer surface area. The penalty paid for the increased heat transfer is higher pressure losses.
Three cooling methods, called rib turbulated cooling, matrix cooling and impingement cooling were investigated. Rib turbulated cooling and impingement cooling are typically used in the leading edge or mid region of the airfoil and matrix cooling is mostly applied in the trailing edge region.
Literature studies for each cooling method, covering both open literature and internal reports, were carried out in order to find correlations developed from tests. The correlations were compared and analyzed with focus on suitability for use in turbine conditions. The analysis resulted in recommendations about what correlations to use for each cooling method.
Source: Linköping University
Author: Sundberg, Jenny
