Steam and Gas for Power Generation

Posted by Vasileios Pastrikakis

Nowadays, gas and steam turbines are contributing to more than 80% of the electricity generated worldwide. If we add the contribution from hydro turbines too, then we reach 98% of total production.

The improvement of the flow path is crucial, and an advanced design can be achieved through several strategies. The aerodynamic optimization of gas and steam turbines can lead to enhanced efficiency. In addition to that, the minimization of secondary losses is possible by introducing advanced endwall shaping and clearance control. Moreover, further increase of efficiency can be achieved by decreasing the losses of kinetic energy at the outlet from the last stage of the turbine. This can be done using longer last-stage blades as well as improving the diffuser recovery and stability.

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Factors in your HVAC Selection

Posted by Ursula Shannon

HVAC

A few decades ago, opening and closing a window was enough air temperature control. In modern days though, the standard bar of comfortable living has become higher and the occurrence of global warming, which raises the world’s temperature to the extremes, is abundant.  With all this in mind, temperature control becomes a major necessities. During this post, we will be exploring factors which should be considered for a new installation of a HVAC system either to modern or conventional homes.

Regardless of the size of property, ductwork that is balanced and well designed must be installed to make sure that the air and temperature circulation is optimal –especially for locations with extreme weather conditions. Externally insulated round ducts are found to be the most efficient. Installation of balance dampers in the ductworks should also be important to regulate airflow.

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SuperTruck II Program and Waste Heat Recovery Systems

Posted by Daniel Kueffner

Familiar to many, the 2011 SuperTruck program was a five-year challenge set by the U.S. Department of Energy to create a Class-8 truck that improves fuel efficiency by 50 percent.  Hoping for even more groundbreaking achievements this time around, the Department of Energy has initiated a second five-year program to bring further fuel-efficiency advancements and near closer to eventual commercialization.  Cummins, Peterbilt, Daimler Trucks North America, Navistar, and Volvo Group remain the five teams involved in this R&D endeavor.  Michael Berube, head of the Energy Department’s vehicle technology office mentioned “SuperTruck II has set goals beyond where the companies think they can be.”  SuperTruck II is looking for a 100 percent increase in freight-hauling efficiency and a new engine efficiency standard of 55 percent.  With such lofty goals, the SuperTruck II development teams will need to tackle improvements in freight efficiencies from all sides.

Figure 1 - Daimler SuperTruck
Figure 1 – Daimler SuperTruck

Material considerations, body aerodynamics, low-resistance tires, predictive torque management using GPS and terrain information, combustion efficiency, and several other improvements methods on the first iteration have demonstrated how the SuperTruck II will require a multi-phase and integrated systems approach to achieve equally successful numbers. However, with an engine efficiency target that is 31 percent above the SuperTruck’s first go around, special attention will be required on engine advancement to achieve an efficiency standard of 55 percent.

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Rerates, Upgrades, and Modifications to Steam Turbine

Posted by Aashish Deshmukh

Steam Turbine DesignSteam turbines are designed to have long, useful lives of 20 to 50 years. Often, many parts of steam turbine are custom designed for each particular application, however, standardized components are also used. It is therefore inherently possible to effectively redesign a steam turbine several times during its useful life while keeping the basic structure (foot print, bearing span , casing etc) of these turbines unchanged! Indeed this is also true for many turbomachines. These redesigns are usually referred to as rerates and upgrades, depending on the reasons for doing them. The need for changes to hardware in an existing turbine may be required for (a) efficiency upgrades, (b) reliability upgrade (including life extension), (c) rerating due to a change in process (Process HMDB, use in combined cycle etc), and (d) modification for a use different from that of its original design. Typical changes include hardware components such as buckets/blades, control system,  thrust bearing , journal bearing , brush and laby seals, nozzle/diaphragm , casing modification,  exhaust end condensing bucket valves, tip seals and coatings.

Performance and Efficiency Upgrade The basic power and/or speed requirements of a steam turbine may change after commissioning for various reasons. The most common reason is an increase (or decrease) in the power required by the driven machine due to a plant expansion or de-bottlenecking. Other reasons include a search for increased efficiency, a change in the plant steam balance, or a change in steam pressure or temperature. Because steam turbines are periodically refurbished, an opportunity exists to update the design for the current operating environment. Turbine OEM’s , services companies and end users often face a challenge of undertaking engineering work within the very tight  time frame available for maintenance.  The AxSTREAM® software suite provides users with an automated capability of rerate, upgrade and modifications for performance and efficiency objectives. A summary of such features highlighting the capabilities is presented below:

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Compressor Types in Air Conditioning Systems

Posted by Ursula Shannon
Compressor for HVAC
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A compressor unit is an important component in an air conditioning system used to remove the heat laden vapor refrigerant from the evaporator. The compressor raises the temperature and pressure of the working refrigerant fluid and transforms it to a high temperature and high pressure gas. Since the compressor is one of the most vital parts of a cooling system, to be able to have an efficient working cycle, an appropriate and optimum compressor design must be installed.

Generally, there are 5 types of compressor that can be used in HVAC installations, the most common  of which being reciprocating compressors used within a smaller scale conditioning system. Reciprocating compressors utilize pistons and cylinders to compress the refrigerant and an electric motor is used to provide a rotary motion.

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Thermo-Physical Properties of Fluids for Simulation of Turbomachinery

Posted by Aashish Deshmukh

Computer simulation and use of CAE/CAD are well-established tools used to understand the critical aspects of energetics (various losses), kinematics (velocities, mach no. etc.) and thermodynamics (pressures, temperatures, enthalpy etc) in thermodynamic cycles and turbomachinery. Computational models are now enabling the design and manufacture of machines that are more economical, have higher efficiency and are more reliable. Accuracy of complex processes that are simulated depends on thermos-physical properties of the working fluid used as input data. The importance of such properties was recognized when it became evident that a steam turbine cycle can have efficiency variance by a few percentage points depending on the chosen set of fluid properties.

Today the thermo-physical properties data is represented in the form of a set of combined theoretical and empirical predictive algorithms that rest on evaluated data. These techniques have been tested and incorporated into interactive computer programs that generate a large variety of properties based upon the specified composition and the appropriate state variables. Equations of state, correlations, or empirical models are used to calculate thermos-physical properties of fluids or mixtures. Examples of this include Helmholtz energy based equations, cubic equation of state, BWR pressure explicit equations, corresponding states models, transport models, vapor pressure correlations, spline interpolations, estimation models or calculation methods for vapor-liquid equilibrium or solubility, and surface tension correlations. Further fitting techniques, and group contribution methods are incorporated. The following broad level properties are often used in simulation tools:

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Micro Gas Turbines – Addressing the Challenges with AxSTREAM

Posted by Vasileios Pastrikakis

During the last decade the development and extensive use of unmanned air vehicles (UAV) has accelerated the need for high performing micro gas turbines. In fact, their large energy density (Whr/kg) makes them attractive not only for UAV application, but also for portable power units, as well as for distributed power generation in applications where heat and power generation can be combined.
Micro gas turbines have the same basic operation principle as open cycle gas turbines (Brayton open cycle). In this cycle, the air is compressed by the compressor, going through the combustion chamber, where it receives energy from the fuel and thus raises in temperature. Leaving the combustion chamber, the high temperature working fluid is directed to the turbine, where it is expanded by supplying power to the compressor and for the electric generator or other equipment available [1].

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Upcoming Webinar: Design and Optimization of Axial and Mixed Flow Fans for High Efficiency and Low Noise

Posted by Kimberley Squillante

Thursday, May 18 | 10:00 – 11:00 AM EST

Axial Fan CAD Image
Registration is now open for our May webinar demonstrating best practices for the development of competitive, high efficiency, and low noise axial and mixed flow fans for different aerodynamic loadings.

Axial and mixed flow fans have been in high demand for a number of years. The application of these machines span many different industries including HVAC, automotive, appliance, military equipment, and much more. Like many other types of turbomachinery, changing industry standards and market trends have resulted in fierce rivalry to compete on lifespan, efficiency, environmental and user friendliness, and overall quality. With this in mind, it goes without saying that companies are looking for tools needed to develop highly efficient equipment while minimizing noise as quiet fans are typically more desirable which results in higher demand and marketability.

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An Introduction to Heating Systems

Posted by Ursula Shannon
Blog post for Introduction to heating systems
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In the last post, we covered the area of HVAC dealing with air conditioning and refrigeration. For today’s blog post, we’d like to quickly go over the other major topic of HVAC industry – heating systems. In geographical areas where temperature fluctuation tends to be quite extreme, a good working heating system is a vital necessity –especially during the colder winter months. The main challenge of heating systems frequently comes from the heat distribution method. There are a couple types of heating system and it is important to take into account their functionality to decide which is the best type for your application.

The first systems we are going to focus on is central heating,  which is the most common heating system in North American residential applications. This system comes with primary heating applications such as a furnace, boiler, and heat pumps. Each heat source is rather unique and uses different methods of distributing heat into the targeted environment. Furnaces use ducts to blow heated air through in order to disperse the generated energy. Implementation of such technology in the USA is controlled by the Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency where it estimates seasonal efficiency, averaging peak and part-load situations. Boilers utilizes hot water which travels up to radiators and gets circulated around in a system –  so instead of using a fan and ducts, appliances which utilizes boiler as a heat source commonly uses pump to flows the hot water to other parts of the house/building. Since circulation is the most recurring challenge in heating appliances, an optimal pump design must be installed into the system to make sure that the heat is distributed evenly to each part of site. Within central heating there is also heat pump system which works as two-way air conditioner (direct and reverse). During the hotter season, heat pumps work to moving heat from indoor (cooler) to outdoor (higher temperature), and vice versa during the colder months. Heat pumps generally use electricity to move heat from one place to another.

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Introduction to HVAC Systems

Posted by Ursula Shannon

During the past week we’ve talked about challenges, improvements and development of HVAC technology. But taking a step back, what is a HVAC system? Heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems and refrigeration (or known as HVAC&R) is a technology developed to manipulate environment temperature and air quality. The applications of such technology are based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer.

HVAC Intro
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Commonly HVAC systems are grouped into four main systems starting with the heating and air conditioning split system, which is the most ordinary implementation of residential applications encompassing both inside and outside installations. The application, which can be controlled with a central thermostat, consists of air conditioning system which cools the refrigerant to drop the temperature, and heating system which involves gas furnaces. Ducts used to circulate the adjusted air from both heating and conditioning, with the help of evaporator/fan coils – a terminal unit which is used to provide heating or cooling to the targeted space.

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