Arch Appl Mech (2009) 79: 11271143 DOI 10.

1007/s00419-008-0295-5

O R I G I NA L

A. Hajilouy-Benisi M. Rad M. R. Shahhosseini

Flow and performance characteristics of twin-entry radial turbine under full and extreme partial admission conditions

Received: 5 May 2008 / Accepted: 5 December 2008 / Published online: 13 January 2009 Springer-Verlag 2009

Abstract This paper presents numerical and experimental investigation of the performance and internal ow eld characteristics of twin-entry radial inow turbines at full and extreme partial admission conditions. The turbine is tested on a turbocharger test facility, which was developed for small and medium size turbochargers. Experimental results show that the lowest efciency corresponds to extreme conditions. Therefore, ow eld analyzing is employed to consider these conditions. The ow pattern in the volute and impeller of a twin-entry turbine is analyzed using an in-house fully three-dimensional viscous ow solver. The computational performance results are compared with the experimental results and good agreement is found. The ow eld at the outlet of the turbine is investigated using a ve-hole pressure probe; the numerical results are also compared with experimental measurements at the outlet of the rotor. For the volute, results show that lowest entropy gain factor corresponds to the extreme conditions, particularly when shroud side entry is fully closed. At the inlet of the rotor for equal admission conditions, the incidence angle is mostly in the optimum values. However, large variation in the incidence angle is seen in the extreme conditions, which lead to larger incidence losses and consequently a lower efciency. In addition, entropy distribution contours corresponding to the exit plane are considered. For full admission, the location of low entropy gain factor at this plane occupies a region near the shroud side of suction surface as well as near the hub side of the pressure surface that corresponds to a region of high absolute ow angle. However, for the extreme cases, the low entropy gain factor occupies a relatively larger region near the shroud side than full admission. So, higher loss generation is noted at the extreme cases. Moreover, this entropy gain factor region is increased when shroud side entry is fully closed. Keywords Twin-entry radial turbine Full and partial admission conditions Performance characteristics List of symbols m R S U Cs b mass ow rate entropy gain gas constant, radius azimuth angle entropy rotational speed isentropic expansion velocity width at specic radius

A. Hajilouy-Benisi M. Rad M. R. Shahhosseini (B) Mechanical Engineering Department, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran E-mail: shahhosseini@mehr.sharif.edu

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x P T

m T01 p01

distance from hub, cartesian coordinates pressure temperature mass parameter

Subscripts and superscripts h s 0 1 tip r 1 Introduction The twin-entry radial inow turbine is exposed to partial admission conditions in engine operating conditions; under these conditions, the ows in each inlet is not equal for most of the time. In partial admission conditions, the twin-entry turbines encounter extreme conditions when the whole ow enters from one entry [1]. Better understanding of this kind of turbine ow eld at various operational conditions allows a better matching between the turbine and engine. Dale and Watson [2] obtained performance of the twin-entry turbine over a wide range of partial admission conditions experimentally. They showed that the efciency at the extreme conditions is always lower than that for full admission, and no explanation for this phenomenon was put forward. Copabianco and Gambarotta [3] evaluated performance characteristics at both full and extreme partial admission conditions for different twin-entry turbines. They showed that both mass ow parameter and efciency were always higher for hub side entry-fully closed than that for shroud side entry-fully closed at the extreme cases. This trend is also seen in the results of Baines and Yeo [4]. There are several experimental investigations on the ow eld of the single entry volute [510]. Benisek [11] carried out measurements at the upstream and downstream of a single-entry turbine rotor. The results showed that at 0.05 mm above the rotor the ow is more prone to pass through the shroud side. However, twin-entry turbine ow eld investigation under partial admission conditions is rare in open literature. Lymberoppoulos et al. [12] published experimental and numerical study on ow eld in the twin-entry volute under partial admission conditions. Yeo and Baines [13] performed experimental volute ow eld investigation using laser-two-focus velocimeter under full and partial admission conditions of the rotor inlet ow. Hajilouy and Baines [14] performed experimental consideration at the leading edge of the rotor under full and partial admission conditions using a laser-two-focus velocimeter. The results showed a large positive swirl in the exit region of the rotor near the shroud suction surface corner [1517]. Zangeneh et al. [15] showed that at the rotor exit plane the highest loss occurred at the shroud near the suction surface of the rotor. Laser-Doppler velocimeter measurements were carried out in the turbine rotor by Kreuz-lhli et al. [18]. They carried out Laser-Doppler velocimeter measurements in the turbine rotor, and also performed numerical ow eld consideration at the rotor inlet. The results of single entry turbine showed that the axial component of velocity decreased with distance from the hub and the highest circumferential velocity were detected near the suction surface. Few investigations were performed for understanding the rotor ow behavior in radial turbine at partial admission conditions, particularly at extreme cases. Experimental study on ow elds at the rotor inlet and exit planes under extreme partial admission conditions was performed by Yeo and Baines [19]. Flow measurements at rotor inlet and exit regions of turbomachinery were made with pneumatic probes in [2022]. Benisek [23] compared laser and ve-hole probes ow measurement results at the turbocharger turbine rotor inlet and exit. The results showed acceptable agreement between these two-measurement methods, especially in the rotor inlet. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance and ow eld characteristics of the twin-entry radial inow turbine under full and extreme partial admission conditions when one entry is fully closed. Also, we consider mechanisms causing different performance characteristics when turbine is at the full and the extreme partial admission conditions. With the consideration of the turbine ow eld, a three-dimensional computational model representing the complete turbine stage (volute and rotor) is developed. The numerical results are validated against experimental performance characteristics results and exit plane ow eld measurements, hub side shroud side total conditions inlet rotor leading edge relative

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E1: Screw compressors E2: Water traps E3: Storage tanks E4: Micro trap E5: Micro filter E6: Electrical heater T: Turbocharger turbine C: Turbocharger compressor 1-6: Electro- Pneumatic valves

S1: Station 1, main line mass flow rate measurement S2: Station 2, outer limb mass flow rate measurement S3: Station 3, inner limb mass flow rate measurement S4: Station 4, compressor inlet mass flow rate measurement S5: Station 5, inner limb temp. & press. measurement S6: Station 6, outer limb temp. & press. measurement S7:Station 7, compressor inlet temp. & press. measurement S8:Station 8, turbine exit temp. & press. measurement S9:Station 9, compressor exit temp. & press. Measurement

Fig. 1 Schematic of the turbocharger test rig

taken with a ve-hole pressure probe. Moreover, a description of the turbine performance characteristics and ow structures within the volute and turbine passages, at the full and the extreme partial admission conditions are presented. Meanwhile, entropy distribution contours corresponding to the exit plane for these operating conditions are considered. 2 Experimental facility The turbocharger test rig has been designed, established and equipped to investigate different automotive turbochargers under a variety of operational conditions based on the ow simulation of a turbocharger using compressed air. The main specications of the tests, which were carried out in the rig, are as follow: 1. Steady ow tests using a compressor to absorb and measure the power of the turbine. 2. Full and partial admission measurements on a twin-entry turbine using a twin-inlet test system. 3. The arrangement of the test rig facility is shown schematically in Fig. 1. Three screw compressors are employed to produce high-pressure air adjustable up to 13 bar gauge with mass ow rate of 0.4 kg per second. The main compressed air supply line is obtained from a 3-inch diameter pipe. The mass ow rate is adjusted using an electro-pneumatic valve. In order to measure the steady ow of air mass ow rate, three orice plate calibrated to BS 1042 [24], is used in turbine side and one in compressor side. The compressed air can be heated up to 200 C using an electrical heater unit. This is to prevent the condensation and hence existence of any water vapor at the turbine blades, where there is a high temperature drop due to the air expansion. The heater unit consists of 32 elements, each with 2 kW power, suitable for various mass ow rates and different temperature rise conditions. A turbocharger compressor consumes the turbine output power, acts as a dynamometer, and controls the rotational speed of the turbocharger. The compressor outlet air passes through an additional throttle valve and is exhausted to the atmosphere via a two-inch exit duct. In addition, the mass ow rates to the two-entry can be controlled independently. Full admission condition to the turbine occurs when the control valves of each entry are fully opened. Partial admission ow condition is achieved by varying the ow in each entry. Error and uncertainty analyses of ow measurement system are discussed in detail in [25]. The performance characteristics of a twin-entry radial inow turbocharger turbine are investigated in this test rig under full and partial admission conditions and it is shown schematically in Fig. 2, the geometrical details for this turbine are presented in Table. 1. 3 The ve-hole probe The detailed ow surveys of the turbine are obtained at the rotor exit by traversing a ve-hole probe in order to make measurements in a plane, 3.4 cm downstream of the rotor exducer trailing edge, as shown in Fig. 3.

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Fig. 2 Cross section of the twin-entry radial inow turbine Table 1 Turbine geometry Geometric feature Volute inlet area (m2 ) Rotor inlet mean diameter (m) Rotor inlet blade height (m) Exducer hub diameter (m) Exducer shroud diameter (m) Number of blades Radial turbine 0.0022 0.0736 0.0088 0.0233 0.0576 11

Fig. 3 Schematic of ve-hole pressure probe location

The ve-hole probe head conguration used for the experiments is shown in Fig. 4. The probe is approximately 25 cm long with a stem diameter of 3 mm at the tip. The probe is installed at a xed position using the non-nulling technique. This allows measuring ow properties such as total and static pressure as well as ow velocity and angle without requiring the probe to be moved or rotated during the tests. The probe calibration is performed by inserting the probe into a specially designed calibration rig that has accurate means of measuring the ow properties according to [2628].

4 Numerical technique The ow pattern in the volute and impeller of a twin-entry turbine is analyzed using a fully three-dimensional viscous ow solver. Using the nite volume method, the Favre-averaged NavierStokes equations (FANS), which describe the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy are solved. Averaged equations are then discretized by evaluating them at the center of each side known as integration point, and uxes are determined at the integration points. The Reynolds stress terms in the momentum transport equations are resolved using the (RNG) k-e turbulence model [17,29]. For determination of the near-wall velocities, a logarithmic wall function is used as considered in [10,30]. For interface, the whole passage is

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Fig. 4 Five-hole pressure probe head arrangement

Fig. 5 Computational domain, a Turbine rotor and complete assembly model, and b Turbine rotor mesh

solved simultaneously by circumferential averaging between rotating and stationary regions. As shown in Fig. 5a, the computational domain consists of the volute, rotor and the turbine rotor downstream passage extending one axial chord downstream the trailing edge. The twin-entry inlet pipe passage is extended to 3-D which provides fully developed ow. An unstructured tetrahedral grid is employed in the entire turbine domain. The total number of cells used in the computational domain are 2,374,656. In order to account for tip leakage and boundary layer effects 3-D prism elements are used near the wall regions, which are shown in Fig. 5b.

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0.8 0.79 0.78

Efficiency

0.77 0.76 0.75 0.74 0.73 0.72 50 100 150 200 250

Number of elements*10^4
Fig. 6 Variation of efciency with grid size
0.78 0.76

Efficiency_ts

0.74 0.72 0.7 Experimental 0.68 0.66 1.12 Numerical

1.13

1.14

1.15

1.16

1.17

1.18

1.19

1.2

Pressure Ratio

Fig. 7 Predicted and experimental results of the turbine efciency

At solid boundaries, i.e., volute, hub, blades, and shroud surfaces, no slip and no heat transfer (adiabatic wall) conditions are imposed. In the computational domain, the boundary conditions at the inlet and exit are derived from the experimental measurements. At the inlet boundary, total pressure and temperature are used. At the outlet boundary, mass ow rate is employed. For this case, the ow is assumed to reach a steady state solution when the normalized of residual pressure reaches 105 .

5 Mesh independence Theoretically, the errors in the solution related to the grid must vanish for an increasingly ner mesh [31]. The turbine efciency in U/ Cs = 0.7 at full admission conditions is taken as the parameter to evaluate three grids, and determine the inuence of mesh size on the solution. Figure 6 shows that the efciency reaches an asymptotic value as the number of elements increases. According to this gure, the grid C is considered sufciently ne to ensure mesh independence.

6 Comparison with experiment Predicted isentropic total-to-static efciency is compared with the experimental results, for a range of pressure ratios at 30,000 rpm at full admission conditions. As shown in Fig. 7, reasonable agreement is obtained with a maximum discrepancy of 3%. Noticeable differences are towards the lower velocity ratio range. Figure 8 shows the comparison of predicted and measured absolute velocity and ow angles at the exit of turbine. It can be seen that in all cases the predicted velocity values are in good agreement with the probe values, both in direction and magnitude. The largest difference for velocity is in center and for ow angle is near the shroud side.

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1.1 0.9 0.7

Experimental Numerical

Distance(mm)

0.5 0.3 0.1 -0.1 -0.3 -0.5 -0.7 -0.9 -1.1 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70

Absolute velocity(m/s)
1.1 0.9 0.7 0.5 0.3 0.1 -0.1 -0.3 -0.5 -0.7 -0.9 -1.1 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Experimental Numerical

Distance(mm)

Absolute flow angle(deg)

Fig. 8 Predicted and experimental results of the turbine rotor exit absolute velocity and absolute ow angle

7 Results and discussion The steady state performance characteristics of the twin-entry radial turbine are investigated at 30,000 rpm. The isentropic total-to-static efciency versus speed ratio and mass ow parameter versus pressure ratio are shown in Figs. 9 and 10, respectively, for full and extreme partial admission conditions. As it is noted, the highest efciency and mass ow parameter correspond to full admission conditions. At partial admission conditions, the two cases appeared to be different, both in terms of their mass ow parameter as well as their efciency. As shown in Figs. 9 and 10, within the considered operation range, mass parameter and efciency are always higher when hub side entry is fully closed than when shroud side entry is fully closed. Therefore, the performance of twin-entry radial turbine is strongly dependent on the entries conditions. In order to understand the mechanism of losses and the uid dynamic processes in twin-entry turbine at different conditions, the ow eld is considered in entire turbine. These considerations are carried out at velocity ratio of 0.7 with full admission conditions, and at the extreme cases where the pressure ratio and mass ow rate at shroud side entry,m s /m h = inf is the same as hub side entry, m s /m h = 0. In addition, the total mass ow supplied in two entries is kept constant for these extreme conditions.

8 Volute ow eld The velocity contours in the turbine volute at the radial-tangential plane under full admission are presented in Fig. 11. In this case, the azimuth angle starts at the 12 oclock position. As shown in Fig. 11a, b, variation of the velocity demonstrates some distortion near the tongue of volute. Meanwhile some variation is noted from x /b = 0.2 to 0.8. Therefore, slight dependence on the x /b exists. The velocity is reduced near the hub side casing, and is increased slightly close to the shroud wall. In addition, the prole shows periodic uctuations near the rotor, due to the effect of the passing turbine rotor. Furthermore, it displays that the inuence of rotor does not extend very far upstream. Figure 11c, d, shows lowest entropy gain near the volute tongue that means the highest loss is occurred in this region. The effects of the tongue are noted up to 50 . The entropy gain factor S is dened as = e( R ) , when is equal to one corresponds to the highest quality, and lower than one represents

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0.78 0.76 0.74

Ms/Mh=1 Ms/Mh=0

Efficiency_ts

0.72 0.7 0.68 0.66 0.64 0.62 0.6 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85 0.9
Ms/Mh=inf

U/Cs

Fig. 9 Experimental results of the turbine efciency under full and partial admission conditions for 30,000 rpm

2.6 2.4

Mass Parameter

2.2 2 1.8 1.6

Ms/Mh=inf Ms/Mh=0

Ms/Mh=1

1.4 1.2 1.12

1.14

1.16

1.18

1.2

1.22

1.24

1.26

Pressure Ratio

Fig. 10 Experimental results of the turbine mass parameter under full and partial admission conditions for 30,000 rpm

Fig. 11 Contours of absolute velocity and entropy gain factor in the volute sections: a Absolute velocity at x /b = 0.2, b Absolute velocity at x /b = 0.8, c Entropy gain factor at x /b = 0.2, d Entropy gain factor at x /b = 0.8

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1 0.98 0.96

Entropy gain

0.94 0.92 0.9 0.88 0.86 0 50 100 150 200

Full admission,x/b=0.2 Full admission,x/b=0.8 Shroud side closed,x/b=0.2 Shroud side closed,x/b=0.8 Hub side closed,x/b=0.2 Hub side closed,x/b=0.8

250

300

350

400

Azimuth angle (deg)

Fig. 12 Variation of entropy gain factor with azimuth angle

Fig. 13 Velocity vectors and contours at = 180o : a Full admission vector, b Full admission contour, c Radial velocity at m s /m h = 0, d Radial velocity at m s /m h = inf

poorer quality. Comparing entropy gain factor variation for both full and partial admission conditions at 0.1 mm upstream of the rotor is presented in Fig. 12. As it is noted, the highest entropy gain factor is at full admission conditions. At the extreme cases, lowest entropy gain exists at the no ow entry of the volute. A significant drop of is noted downstream of the tongue at this entry. In both extreme cases, large variations in the entropy gain factor in the volute between two different x /b is due to large variations in the volute ow velocity and angle. Figure 13 shows cross-ow velocity vectors of volute for 180 . azimuth angle, at the full and the extreme partial admission conditions. Figure 13a shows that the cross velocity is predominantly in radial inward direction and there is no ow separation. This velocity component becomes strong at the outlet of volute. Figure 13b, also shows the effect of the divider where the radial inward component of velocity decreases. This causes an increase in the losses, due to mixing and interaction between the two streams. Therefore, the low momentum ow exists just downstream of the divider. Figure 13c, d shows cross-ow velocity vector at partial admission conditions when whole ow is in hub and shroud sides, respectively. It can be seen that reversed ow exists in the no ow entry side. The mixing of the two streams does not just occur downstream of the divider; this is

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80
Radial velocity,R/Rtip=1.08 Tangential velocity,R/Rtip=1.08 Radial velocity,R/Rtip=1.35 Tangential velocity,R/Rtip=1.35 Radial velocity,R/Rtip=1.62 Tangential velocity,R/Rtip=1.62

70 60

Velocity (m/s)

50 40 30 20 10 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Axial Distance,x/b

150 130 110

Radial velocity,R/Rtip=1.08 Radial velocity,R/Rtip=1.62 Tangential velocity,R/Rtip=1.35

Radial velocity,R/Rtip=1.35 Tangential velocity,R/Rtip=1.08 Tangential velocity,R/Rtip=1.62

Velocity (m/s)

90 70 50 30 10 -10 -30 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

Axial Distance, x/b

c
140 120 100

Radial velocity,R/Rtip=1.08 Radial velocity,R/Rtip=1.62 Tangential velocity,R/Rtip=1.35

Radial velocity,R/Rtip=1.35 Tangential velocity,R/Rtip=1.08 Tangential velocity,R/Rtip=1.62

Velocity (m/s)

80 60 40 20 0 -20 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

Axial Distance, x/b

Fig. 14 Volute passage velocity prole at = 180o : a m s /m h = 1, b m s /m h = inf ,c m s /m h = 0

deected towards the no ow entry side. Comparing the Figure 13c and d, illustrates that in m s /m h = 0 there is a strong ow migration from hub side towards the shroud side in the volute exit. However, when m s /m h = inf, the reverse effect does not occur with the same extent. The velocity proles at 180 Azimuth angle, , are shown in Fig. 14 for full admission conditions and extreme conditions at 0.1 mm upstream of rotor. It can be seen in Fig. 14a, as the radius ratio reduces both the radial and tangential components are affected, the radial velocity (radial inward direction is positive) has to increase due to constant mass ow rate and decrease in the cross section. However, the tangential momentum keeps constant in the volute, so decreasing radius causes an increasing tangential velocity. Figure 14a also shows that the radial velocity prole becomes less uniform as the radial ratio is reduced. In addition, this gure shows the effect of the divider at x /b, b is width of volute at the specic radius, between 0.45 and 0.55 where the radial and tangential components of velocity are zero. In addition, the radial and

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tangential components are reduced at R / Rtip = 1.08 where downstream of divider shows a low momentum wake ow in this region. Figure 14b, c shows the velocity proles when hub side entry and shroud side entry are fully closed, respectively. As shown in Fig. 14b, tangential velocity proles are predominately higher on the shroud side than hub side. This velocity component has the highest value at the R / Rtip = 1.08. The radial velocity prole at this radius ratio is not uniform and is affected by the interaction of the two streams ow. As illustrated, there is a reverse ow in the hub side, because the radial velocity becomes negative at some point in the volute. Figure 14c shows generally mirror image of tangential and radial velocity prole. Reverse ow is also noted to occur very close to the inner wall, as same as Fig. 14b. However, when hub side is fully open at R / Rtip = 1.08, radial velocity is more prone to migrate continuously towards the shroud side which is not observed in the opposite case to this extent. This effect is attributed to the region of low pressure near the shroud side. Variations of volute radial and tangential components of velocity in the x radius for ve azimuth angles are presented in Fig. 15. It can be seen in Fig. 15a that at 15 , the ow is still fully guided by the passage and velocity prole remains uniform. In addition, this prole shows a transition from a fully developed pipe ow at 15 . to the volute passage ow at the other azimuth angles. Also comparing tangential component with radial component shows that the variation of tangential component is more uniform than radial component as the ow moves around the volute. Figure 15b, c shows respectively, the velocity proles when hub side and shroud side entries are fully closed. The tangential velocity proles remain uniform and there is some evidence of decay in the tangential velocity close to the walls in the fully open entry side. It can be noted that the highest radial velocity prole occurs close to the wall of divider, which it seems to be due to the main ow deection towards low-pressure entry. Figure 15b shows higher negative radial velocity, which means strong vortex at the no ow entry than the one shown in Fig. 15c. However tangential velocity proles at m s /m h = inf are mostly positive except at 90 azimuth angle, but this negative prole at m s /m h = 0 occurs at the azimuth angles of 90 , 180 , and 270 which is the evidence of higher loss in no ow entry, as it is shown in Fig. 9.

9 Rotor inlet ow eld Figure 16 presented the velocity components and incidence angles for equal admission, hub and shroud sides fully closed conditions at the plane 0.01 mm upstream of the rotor leading edge, respectively. Plane is located at 180 from the volute tongue, and locations of blades are shown in black. As shown in Fig. 16a, inward radial component of velocity increases from hub to shroud and a small variation can be seen from the suction surface to the pressure surface. As it is noted in this gure, due to the gap present between rotor hub and casing inner wall, ow exists in this region. The tangential component of velocity slightly increases from hub to shroud and from pressure surface (PS) towards suction surface (SS) which is shown in Fig. 16b. The incidence angle variation is shown in Fig. 16c. The optimum incidence angle varies from 20 to 40 , which is in agreement with the results in [32]. As it is noted the optimum incidence angle is mostly observed near the shroud side of rotor. With the hub side fully closed, Fig. 16d shows that the highest radial velocity is restricted in the shroud side region, and the highest values of tangential velocity spread in all the passage, Fig. 16e. In Fig. 16g, when the shroud side fully closed, results show that the highest values of radial velocity occupy all the passage, but hub side of the rotor inlet experiences a higher tangential velocity, Fig. 16h. Therefore, a greater loss is expected to generate due to mixing of high and low tangential velocities. The tangential velocity has major inuence to the rotor work extraction, so for m s /m h = 0 condition the lower efciency is expected due to a fact that just half of the rotor (hub side) experiences higher tangential velocity. Figure 16f, i shows variation of incidence angle at the inlet of the rotor for extreme conditions. When the hub side closed, the incidence angle is mostly a positive value, which is far from the optimum conditions. As illustrated in Fig. 16i, when shroud side fully closed, half of the rotor experiences negative incidence angle and the other half experiences a positive incidence angle. The large variation of incidence angle causes higher incidence losses and detrimental aerodynamic performance. Figure 17 shows variation of incidence angle with azimuth angle, in the extreme cases when shroud side fully closed, large variation between hub and shroud side incidence angle is observed. Therefore, large changes in the incidence angle around the circumference of the rotor inlet between hub and shroud side leads to great incidence loss and lower rotor efciency. The axial component of velocity is considered by deviation angle from radial plane. Figure 18 shows variation of deviation angle at the 0.01 mm upstream of the rotor. From free vortex ow that is commonly assumed in volute design, the rotor experiences zero spanwise component of velocity; however pressure eld due to the curvature in the meridional plane of rotor causes low pressure at the shroud side, so non-zero spanwise

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80 70

Tangential velocity,phi=-15 deg Tangential velocity,phi=90 deg Tangential velocity,phi=270 deg Radial velocity,phi=0 deg Radial velocity,phi=180 deg

Tangential velocity,phi=0 deg Tangential velocity,phi=180 deg Radial velocity,phi=-15 deg Radial velocity,phi=90 deg Radial velocity,phi=270 deg

Velocity (m/s)

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Axial Distance,x/b

140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 -20 -40 -60 0 0.1

Radial velocity,phi=0 deg Radial velocity,phi=180 deg Radial velocity,phi=-15 deg Tangential velocity,phi=90 deg Tangential velocity,phi=270 deg

Radial velocity,phi=90 deg Radial velocity,phi=270 deg Tangential velocity,phi=0 deg Tangential velocity,phi=180 deg Tangential velocity,phi=-15 deg

Velocity (m/s)

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Axial Distance, x/b

150 130 110

Radial velocity,phi=0 deg Radial velocity,phi=180 deg Radial velocity,phi=-15 deg Tangential velocity,phi=90 deg Tangential velocity,phi=270 deg

Radial velocity,phi=90 deg Radial velocity,phi=270 deg Tangential velocity,phi=0 deg Tangential velocity,phi=180 deg Tangential velocity,phi=-15 deg

Velocity (m/s)

90 70 50 30 10 -10 -30 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Axial Distance,x/b
Fig. 15 Variation of radial and tangential components of velocity with azimuth angle at R/Rtip = 1.35: a m s /m h = 1, b m s /m h = h = 0 inf, c m s /m

components of velocity at the upstream of rotor is expected. For full admission conditions, Fig. 18a shows that the deviation of axial velocity component near the hub directed towards hub and near the shroud directed towards the shroud side. With the hub side fully closed, Fig. 18b, the axial component is mostly towards the shroud side and the deviation angle reduces. However, with the shroud side fully closed, Fig. 18c, ow is a more prone to skew toward the axial direction. Therefore, migration of uid towards shroud side is stronger at upstream of turbine in this operating condition. Lower skew of ow toward shroud side in m s /m h = inf and full admission conditions, and higher skew of ow toward shroud side at m s /m h = 0 may be a good explanation for having higher efciency drop in the shroud side fully closed condition. Meanwhile, summary of ow behavior for full and partial admission conditions are presented in Table. 2.

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Fig. 16 Flow eld contours at the inlet of rotor: a Radial velocity (Full admission), b Abs. tangential velocity (Full admission), c Incidence angle (Full admission), d Radial velocity (m s /m h = inf ), e Abs. tangential velocity (m s /m h = inf ), f Incidence h = inf ), g Radial velocity (m s /m h = 0), h Abs. tangential velocity (m s /m h = 0), i Incidence angle (m s /m h = 0) angle (m s /m
90 70 50
Shroud_Ms/Mh=1 Hub_Ms/Mh=1 Shroud_Ms/Mh=0 Hub_Ms/Mh=0 Shroud_Ms/Mh=inf Hub_Ms/Mh=inf

Incidence Angle (deg)

30 10 -10 -30 -50 -70 -90 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Azimuth Angle(deg)

Fig. 17 Variation of incidence angle with azimuth angle

10 Rotor exit ow eld In order to consider the rotor exit ow eld characteristics in detail, the ow distributions at the exit plane of the turbine is presented. Figure 19 shows the contours of the tangential component of absolute velocity at the full and the extreme partial admission conditions which higher abs. tangential velocity indicates greater exit

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Fig. 18 Flow deviation angle from radial plane: a Full admission, b m s /m h = inf, c m s /m h = 0 Table 2 Summary of rotor inlet conditions Parameter Radial velocity Tangential velocity Incidence angle Deviation angle Full admission Highest in shroud side Spread in all passage Nearly optimum Shroud and hub side deviation m s /m h = inf Highest in shroud side Spread in all passage Mostly positive value Shroud and hub side deviation m s /m h = 0 Spread in all passage Highest in hub side Large variation Shroud side skew severe

Fig. 19 Absolute tangential velocity contours at the exit of rotor: a Full admission, b m s /m h = inf, c m s /m h = 0

kinetic energy losses. As shown in this gure, the ow pattern of tangential component of velocity is generally similar at all operating conditions. Also, Fig. 19a shows the regions of high tangential velocity at the shroud side near the suction surface and at the hub near the pressure surface, A and B, respectively. The former ow pattern can be explained by the tip clearance ow. The latter low momentum uid region may be due to the interaction of exducer curvature effect that is moving low momentum uid from the pressure surface towards the suction surface, with secondary ow, which tries to move low momentum uid from the hub towards the shroud. At the extreme cases, when the whole ow is in shroud side entry, m s /m h = inf, high tangential velocity in region A has a shift toward the top of mid-span. Also, this pattern can be seen at m s /m h = 0, but in this case, large regions are affected with high tangential velocity, which indicates extra loss generation. The contours of exit absolute ow angle are shown in Fig. 20. This angle corresponds to the level of swirl in ow. The large positive value of this angle indicates the condition that ow is prone to separate from suction side and negative angle shows this condition from pressure surface, which the former large ow angle, as it is noted, exists at the shroud near the suction surface and latter one is at the hub near the pressure surface. Furthermore, this feature is consistent with the pattern of tangential component of abs. velocity. It is also noted that this angle increases at m s /m h = inf. However highest value occurs at m s /m h = 0 which illustrates that the level of swirl increases in this condition. The contours of entropy gain factor at full and extreme partial admission are presented in Fig. 21. As it is noted in Fig. 21a, minimum entropy gain factor accumulated at shroud side near the suction surface and at hub side near the pressure surface. This correlates well with the

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Fig. 20 Flow angle contours at the exit of rotor: a Full admission, b m s /m h = inf, c m s /m h = 0

Fig. 21 Entropy gain factor contours at the exit of rotor: a Full admission, b m s /m h = inf, c m s /m h = 0

patterns of tangential velocity and ow angle, and the rest of the plane is almost loss free. However, contour plots of entropy gain factor at the exit plane in the extreme cases illustrate significant entropy gain discrepancy for full admission conditions (Fig. 21b, c). At these conditions, the lowest entropy gain factor is penetrated deeper towards the center of rotor and mostly occupies upper part of the exit plane. This pattern is more pronounced for shroud side entry fully closed conditions, m s /m h = 0.

11 Conclusions In this paper performance and ow eld characteristics of the twin-entry radial inow turbine investigated at the full and the extreme partial admission conditions. The experimental performance results show that the maximum efciency occurs at equal admission for the considered range. Meanwhile, the lowest efciency occurs when the whole ow is in hub side entry. The features of ow eld within twin-entry turbine stage are modeled numerically at both full and extremes of partial admission conditions. Good agreements in their patterns are observed between predicted and experimental performance results. The predicted absolute angle and velocity at the turbine exit are in agreement with ve-hole probe measurements data. Numerical results show that at the equal admission, the ow is three-dimensional and complex in volute tongue and due to distortion near this region, the lowest entropy gain factor is obtained. Radial component of velocity in x azimuth angle is less uniform as the radius ratio reduces. However, the tangential component shows almost constant ow pattern. For extreme cases, entropy gain factor in the volute shows highest losses in the zero ow side entry, and in the fully opened side highest losses is observed when whole ow is in hub side. Velocity vectors in the volute show the ow circulations at the extreme cases, in the closed entry passage. Flow eld results show complex ow pattern at both inlet and exit of the rotor. At the rotor inlet, comparing numerical results of three conditions show that the value of the tangential component of absolute velocity is higher at the hub side of the rotor at m s /m h = 0, but this pattern is not observed in the other cases. Meanwhile, large variations in the incidence angle within m s /m h = 0 indicate unfavorable condition at the rotor inlet. In addition, when the shroud side entry is closed, the spanwise variation of ow is much greater towards the shroud side, and ow

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direction is more prone towards this side. Flow eld consideration at the exit plane indicates that the highest swirl level is observed at the suction surface of the shroud side and pressure surface of the hub side, which corresponds to lowest entropy gain factor at these two regions. Comparing exit plane ow angle results at the three admission conditions show that minimum swirl exists at the full admission. The deviation of the ow angle results show that this angle increases at the extreme partial admission conditions. The turbine shows lower efciency at the extremes of partial admission conditions compared with full admission conditions, and the lowest turbine efciency occurs when the shroud side entry is fully closed. The reasons for this appear to be associated with the mixing of high and low uid velocity at the inlet of the rotor, which is pronounced when the shroud side is fully closed. High positive and large variations in the incidence angle between hub and shroud side in the two extreme cases are also observed. These cause greater incidence loss and lower efciency. Also, the spanwise variation of ow is greater at the extreme partial admission conditions, especially in m s /m h = 0, which ow is more prone to skew towards shroud side. At the exit of the rotor, results show that at the extreme conditions, the ow exhibits a higher level of swirl and consequently larger region of low entropy gain factor near the shroud, which more pronounced at m s /m h = 0. Therefore, these conditions impose extra losses to the turbine, and causes lower work extraction from the turbine.
Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the center of excellence in energy conversion at the Sharif University of Technology as well as the Industry Ministry of IRAN.

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