Heat Transfer in Turbo-Machinery Applications
The project focuses on the special flow phenomena and the interdependent heat transfer properties in small rotating gaps as they appear in the secondary flow path (cooling) of turbo-machinery applications.
A first approach is to analyze the well-known Taylor-Couette system with a fluid
contained between an inner rotating and an outer stationary cylinder. Here the
formation of vortices will be validated for the solvers in the CFD-toolbox OpenFOAM®.
In the following step the system will be extended by a radial temperature gradient in
order to analyze the influence on both, the stability and the heat transfer into the
fluid. Furthermore a heat exchanger system with azimuthal throughflow will be
investigated in an experimental setup and in simulation. This means that a channel is now coiled on a cylinder with a small axial slope, i.e. a helical gap.
Taylor vortices in the experimental setup in the laboratory
CFD-simulation of the vortices in the Taylor-Couette system
The aim of the project is to obtain new insights in the flow properties of turbines
and consequently beeing able to find new approaches to optimize the machines in terms of effeciency and lifetime.
This research project is part of the Ziel2-NRW program funded by "Europäischer Fonds für regionale Entwicklung (EFRE) 2007 – 2013".
