Recirculation Channel Design for Gas Turbines

A common way to extend the operating range of compressors in gas turbine engines without impacting efficiency is to use casing treatments to modify the flow field within the compressor. While casing treatments are widely studied, there aren't open resources to facilitate the design of processes that increase stall margin while preserving efficiency. Researchers at Purdue University have developed a design methodology for recirculation channel–type casing treatments through the optimization of pitchwise clocking of the injection and extraction locations of the channel. This enables the minimization of the time duration where the pressure gradient between the extraction and injection points is negative, resulting in adverse flow. This technology can be integrated into existing compressors and turbofan designs would be beneficial to companies designing gas turbine engines.

Technology Validation

This technology has been validated through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations.

Advantages

- Significantly improved stall margins

- Minimal impact to efficiency

- Compatible with existing compressor/turbofan geometries

Applications

- Gas Turbine Engines

- Fluid Mechanics

Keywords: Fluid Dynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Compressor, Gas Turbine, Efficiency, casing treatment, recirculation channel, Mechanical Engineering, Aeronautics