CFD Flow Analysis of the Cantilever Micro-Turbine

Abstract

The article deals with a description of results from research and development of the cantilever micro-turbine designed for the ORC power plants. The experimental turbine stage and used numerical models are briefly described. In the first part the comparison of measured and CFD results is presented. The second part deals with an investigation of the outlet geometry influence on the turbine working parameters. The results are relevant for next studies in the research and development process.

CFD Flow Analysis of the Influence of Rotor Seals in a Cantilever Microturbine

“…The microturbine works with hexamethyldisiloxane as a working fluid [11,12,13]. More information about the turbine and the ORC research plant layout and its parameters has been published in paper [14]. There are no seals to lower leakage losses in the basic design of the microturbine.…”

“…This work and the presented results are based on CFD simulations published in paper [14]. The work describes the comparison of measured and CFD results and an investigation of the influence of the outlet geometry on the turbine working parameters.…”

“…The high Mach number and the presence of shock waves introduce complications in the modelling of the flow transition between the static and rotating regions of the microturbine. All the simulation issues, options and model settings used are also described in [14].…”

“…Five design modifications of the rotor seal were prepared. It is known that the design of the labyrinth seal can affect the parameters of turbomachines [14] such as efficiency and forces.…”