Leander Hake

The present study reports the outcome of an experimental study of organic vapor trailing edge flows. As a working fluid, the organic vapor Novec 649 was used under representative pressure and temperature conditions for organic Rankine cycle (ORC) turbine applications characterized by values of the fundamental derivative of gas dynamics below unity. An idealized vane configuration was placed in the test section of a closed-loop organic vapor wind tunnel. The effect of the Reynolds number was assessed independently from the Mach number by charging the closed wind tunnel. The airfoil surface roughness and the trailing edge shape were evaluated by experimenting with different test blades. The flow and the loss behavior were obtained using Pitot probes, static wall pressure taps, and background-oriented schlieren (BOS) optics. Isentropic exit Mach numbers up to 1.5 were investigated. Features predicted via a simple flow model proposed by Denton and Xu in 1989 were observed for organic vapor flows. Still, roughness affected the downstream loss behavior significantly due to shockwave boundary-layer interactions and flow separation. The new experimental results obtained for this organic vapor are compared with correlations from the literature and available loss data.

This article presents a combined numerical and experimental study of the high-subsonic organic vapor flow in a linear turbine cascade. The profile geometry is the well-documented LS59 highly loaded rotor blade and the working fluid is Novec649, a dense gas used in organic Rankine cycles. Large eddy simulations are carried out with and without the roughness introduced by the additive manufacturing process. The results for the rough blade are in fair agreement with experiments, while the smooth surface induces a change in the vortex shedding regime. A detached shedding, characterized by a long recirculation downstream of the trailing edge and a base pressure plateau, is obtained in the experiments and by discretizing the roughness in the simulation. By contrast, a transonic vortex shedding is established when the surface is smooth: intense vortices roll up immediately after the trailing edge, yielding a short bubble and a lattice of shock waves. A strong pressure drop is observed at the trailing edge, resulting in high profile losses. In both cases, the boundary layer is turbulent ahead of the separation, but its thickness is significantly greater in the rough configuration, which may be the reason for the change of regime.

The applicability of hot-wire anemometry (HWA) and atomic layer thermopile sensors (ALTP) for flow measurements in high subsonic air and organic vapor flows was experimentally tested in a case study. Conventional hot-wire probes and an atomic layer thermopile sensor device were placed in free jets of air and the organic vapor Novec 649 which were established in a closed wind tunnel. The fluid Novec 649 consisted of heavy molecules, and it represented real gas flows. The impact of the high density of the organic vapor on the two measurement techniques was assessed. The maximum Mach number was about 0.7 in the experiments, and the turbulent spectra were obtained using the two measurement approaches. The outcome of the case study demonstrated that ALTP sensors can be useful devices for investigating high-speed flows of organic vapors. This makes this measurement approach interesting for aerodynamic investigations of cascades designed for organic Rankine cycle (ORC) turbines.

The results of profile loss measurements, including trailing edge flow details, are presented for the flow of an organic vapor through a linear turbine cascade. The so-called VKI-I blade profile from the open literature was chosen for the cascade, and the working fluid was NOVEC 649. Pitot probes and hot-wire anemometry were employed to measure the flow field up and downstream of the cascade. Details of the unsteady flow caused by the trailing edge of the blades and the turbulent spectrum were investigated using hot-wire anemometry. The new organic vapor flow results were compared with the literature data obtained for air and with the prediction of conventional literature loss models. It was found that, under certain thermodynamic conditions, specific traditional loss models can reasonably predict organic Rankine cycle (ORC) turbines’ profile loss. Still, significant deviations between the loss models and the experimental data can also occur.

Results of profile loss measurements, including trailing edge flow details, are presented for the flow of an organic vapor through a linear turbine cascade. The so-called VKI-I blade profile from the open literature was chosen for the cascade, and the working fluid was NOVEC 649. Pitot probes and hot wire anemometry were employed to measure the flow field up and downstream of the cascade. Details of the unsteady flow caused by the trailing edge of the blades and the turbulent spectrum were investigated using hot-wire anemometry. The new organic vapor flow results were compared with literature data obtained for air and with the prediction of conventional literature loss models. It was found that under certain thermodynamic conditions, specific traditional loss models can reasonably predict organic Rankine cycle (ORC) turbines' profile loss. Still, significant deviations between the loss models and the experimental data can also occur.

The present contribution reports the outcome of an experimental and numerical investigation of the behavior of a constant-temperature hot-wire anemometer in the high-subsonic flow up to a Mach number of 0.7 of the organic vapor Novec™ 649 at pressure and temperature levels of typical organic Rankine cycle (ORC) turbine applications. The experiments were carried out in the calibration section of a closed-loop organic vapor wind tunnel test facility enabling the independent variation of Reynolds numbers, Mach numbers, and total temperature within a certain range. It was found that the calibration and the determination of the sensitivity coefficients can be done in a way as proposed by de Souza and Tavoularis for air. The sensitivity coefficients for velocity and density were essentially equal for higher overheat ratios which support the interpretation of the signals and data reduction for turbulent quantities. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) provided additional insight into potential real gas effects for hot-wire performance.

Results from an experimental profile loss study are presented of an additive manufactured linear turbine cascade placed in the test section of a closed-loop organic vapor wind tunnel. This test facility at Muenster University of Applied Sciences allows the investigation of high subsonic and transonic organic vapor flows under ORC turbine flow conditions at elevated pressure and temperature levels. An airfoil from the open literature was chosen for the cascade, and the organic vapor was Novec 649^TM. Pitot probes measured the flow field upstream and downstream of the cascade. The inflow turbulence level was 0.5%. The roughness parameters of the metal-printed blades were determined, and the first set of flow measurements was performed. Then, the blade surfaces were further finished, and the impact of roughness on profile losses was assessed in the second flow measurement set. Although the Reynolds number level was relatively high, further surface treatment reduces the profile loss noticeably in organic vapor flows through the printed cascade.