Marine, industrial, turboprop and turboshaft gas turbine engines use nonaxisymmetric exhaust volutes for flow diffusion and pressure recovery. These processes result in a three-dimensional complex turbulent flow in the exhaust volute. The flows in the axial turbine and nonaxisymmetric exhaust volute are closely coupled and inherently unsteady, and they have a great influence on the turbine and exhaust aerodynamic characteristics. Therefore, it is very necessary to carry out research on coupled axial turbine and nonaxisymmetric exhaust volute aerodynamics, so as to provide reference for the high-efficiency turbine-volute designs. This paper summarizes and analyzes the recent advances in the field of coupled axial turbine and nonaxisymmetric exhaust volute aerodynamics for turbomachinery. This review covers the following topics that are important for turbine and volute coupled designs: (1) flow and loss characteristics of nonaxisymmetric exhaust volutes, (2) flow interactions between axial turbine and nonaxisymmetric exhaust volute, (3) improvement of turbine and volute performance within spatial limitations and (4) research methods of coupled turbine and exhaust volute aerodynamics. The emphasis is placed on the turbine-volute interactions and performance improvement. We also present our own insights regarding the current research trends and the prospects for future developments.
GaoJLinFNiuXY, et al. Flow interactions between shrouded power turbine and nonaxisymmetric exhaust volute for marine gas turbines. ASME Paper no. GT2017-63043, 2017.
2.
GaoJZhengQDongP, et al. Effects of flow incidence on aerothermal performance of transonic blade tip clearance flows. Energy2017; 139: 196–209.
3.
BurtonZIngramGLHoggS.A literature review of low pressure steam turbine exhaust hood and diffuser studies. J Eng Gas Turbine Power2013; 135: 062001.1–062001.10.
4.
LuXSPanKYWuZM. Aerodynamic design and experimental study of marine gas turbine exhaust volutes. ASME Paper no. 81-GT-143, 1981.
5.
XuXKangSHirschCH. Numerical simulation of the 3D viscous flow in the exhaust casing of a low-pressure steam turbine. ASME Paper no. 2001-GT-0487, 2001.
6.
XueSGuillotSNgWF, et al. An experimental investigation of the performance impact of swirl on a turbine exhaust diffuser/collector for a series of diffuser strut geometries. J Eng Gas Turbine Power2016; 138: 092603.1–092603.8.
7.
De la CalzadaPParraJMinguezB. Investigation on the aerodynamic performance of an annular exhaust system for a small turboshaft engine. ASME Paper no. GT2013-94022, 2013.
8.
SchaeferPGießPAFinzelC, et al. Some aspects on inlet blockage affecting the performance of a heavy duty gas turbine’s exhaust diffuser. ASME Paper no. GT2014-25599, 2014.
9.
MareLDThirumurthyDGreenJS, et al. Unsteady aerodynamics and forced response studies on aeroderivative gas turbine exhaust system. ASME Paper no. GT2014-26989, 2014.
10.
MunyokiDSchatzMVogtDM. Detailed numerical study of the main sources of loss and flow behavior in low pressure steam turbine exhaust hoods. ASME Paper no. GT2017-63269, 2017.
11.
LiuJJCuiYQJiangHD.Investigation of flow in a steam turbine exhaust hood with/without turbine exit conditions simulated. J Eng Gas Turbine Power2003; 125: 292–299.
12.
VassilievVSommerTPGranovskyA, et al. Exhaust diffuser characteristics at off-design conditions. ASME Paper no. GT2014-25938, 2014.
13.
VassilievVIrmischSClaridgeM, et al. Experimental and numerical investigation of the impact of swirl on the performance of industrial gas turbines exhaust diffusers. ASME Paper no. GT2003-38424, 2003.
14.
VassilievVIrmischSAbdel-WahabS, et al. Impact of the inflow conditions on the heavy-duty gas turbine exhaust diffusers performance. ASME Paper no. GT2010-22840, 2010.
15.
DongYXLiZGLiJ.Effect of preswirl on the aerodynamic performance of the gas turbine exhaust volute. J Xi’an Jiaotong Univ2020; 54: y1–y9 (in Chinese).
16.
BabuMBhatiaDShuklaRK, et al. Effect of turbine tip leakage flows on exhaust diffuser performance. ASME Paper no. GT2011-45457, 2011.
17.
BernierBCRicklickMKapatJS. Impact of a collector box on the pressure recovery of an exhaust diffuser system. ASME Paper no. GT2011-46455, 2011.
18.
SiorekMPGuillotSXueS, et al. A sensitivity study of gas turbine exhaust diffuser-collector performance at various inlet swirl angles and strut stagger angles. ASME Paper no. GT2017-63126, 2017.
19.
HouJFGuCWLiuH.Performance analysis of nonsymmetric exhaust duct in a MW-level gas turbine. Gas Turbine Technol2012; 25: 28–33 (in Chinese).
20.
FuJLiuJZhouS.Experimental and numerical investigation of interaction between turbine stage and exhaust hood. Proc IMechE, Part A: J Power and Energy2007; 221: 991–999.
21.
HouJFGuCWLiuH.Analysis of the flow inside the variable geometrical power turbine stator/rotor cascade and exhaust gas duct of a MW class gas turbine. J Eng Thermal Energy Power2012; 27: 643–648 (in Chinese).
22.
BurtonZHoggSIngramG. A generic low pressure exhaust diffuser for steam turbine research. ASME Paper no. GT2012-68485, 2012.
23.
LiZGLiJYanX, et al. Investigations on the flow pattern and aerodynamic performance of last stage and exhaust hood for large power steam turbines. ASME Paper no. GT2012-69291, 2012.
24.
LiJLiZGFengZP. Effects of the last stage rotor tip leakage flow on the aerodynamic performance of the exhaust hood for steam turbines. ASME Paper no. GT2013-94377, 2013.
25.
LiuMChenYZhongZH, et al. Numerical tests on the effect factors of the last stage blade for low pressure exhaust hood simulation. ASME Paper no. GT2017-63964, 2017.
26.
SinghGWheelerAPSSinghG.The effect of rotor casing on low pressure steam turbine and diffuser interactions. J Eng Gas Turbine Power2017; 139: 022607.1–022607.12.
27.
ShaoSDengQHShiHS, et al. Numerical investigation on flow characteristics of low pressure exhaust hood under off-design conditions for steam turbines. ASME Paper no. GT2013-95257, 2013.
28.
FuJLZhouSJLiuJJ. Experimental and numerical investigation of interactions between axial turbine and non-axisymmetric exhaust hood. ASME Paper no. GT2008-50766, 2008.
29.
FuJLLiuJJZhouSJ.Unsteady interactions between axial turbine and nonaxisymmetric exhaust hood under different operational conditions. J Turbomach2012; 134: 041002.1–041002.11.
30.
OpilatVSeumeJR. The effect of the operating conditions of the last turbine stage on the performance of an axial exhaust diffuser. ASME Paper no. GT2011-45668, 2011.
31.
MullerFFSchatzMVogtDM, et al. Influence of a cylindrical exhaust hood installation on the last stage rotor blades of a low pressure model steam turbine. ASME Paper no. GT2017-63280, 2017.
32.
MizumiSIshibashiKSawamuraY. Steam turbine exhaust hood with swirl flow separation ducts. ASME Paper no. GT2012-68315, 2012.
33.
YangJDChenTWLiJ, et al. Aerodynamic optimization design of exhaust hood diffuser for steam turbine with three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes solutions. ASME Paper no. GT2014-25299, 2014.
34.
FarberSGhalyW. Pressure loss modeling of non-symmetric gas turbine exhaust ducts using CFD. ASME Paper no. GT2009-59856, 2019.
35.
FinzelCSchatzMCaseyMV, et al. Experimental investigation of geometrical parameters on the pressure recovery of low pressure steam turbine exhaust hoods. ASME Paper no. GT2011-45302, 2011.
36.
PradeepAMRoyBVaibhavV, et al. Study of gas turbine exhaust diffuser performance and its enhancement by shape modifications. ASME Paper no. GT2010-22088, 2010.
37.
DobhalSPradeepAMRoyB. Effect of geometry changes in an aggressive turbine exhaust delivery system. ASME Paper no. GT2013-94144, 2013.
38.
MunyokiDSchatzMVogtDM. Numerical investigation of the influence of hood height variation on performance of low pressure steam turbine exhaust hoods. ASME Paper no. GT2018-76562, 2018.
39.
BabuMShuklaRKMaruA, et al. Boundary layer control in turbine exhaust diffusers using casing injection and design modifications. ASME Paper no. GT2012-68387, 2012.
40.
VolkmerSKuschelBHirschmannA, et al. Hub injection flow control in a turbine exhaust diffuser. ASME Paper no. GT2012-69713, 2012.
41.
VassiliewVRothbrustMIrmischS. Refitting of exhaust diffuser of industrial gas turbine. ASME Paper no. GT2008-50165, 2008.
42.
GuillotSNgWFHammHD, et al. The experimental studies of improving the aerodynamic performance of a turbine exhaust system. J Eng Gas Turbine Power2015; 137: 012601.1–012601.13.
43.
MunyokiDSchatzMVogtDM. Numerical investigation of the influence of flow deflection at the upper hood on performance of low pressure steam turbine exhaust hoods. ASME Paper no. GT2019-90391, 2019.
44.
FuJLLiuJZhouSJ. Aerodynamic optimization of the diffuser towards improving the performance of turbine and exhaust hood. ASME Paper no. GT2014-25806, 2014.
45.
SchaeferPHofmannWHGießPA. Multiobjective optimization for duct and strut design of an annular exhaust diffuser. ASME Paper no. GT2012-69211, 2012.
46.
CerantolaDJBirkAM.Experimental validation of numerically optimized short annular diffusers. J Eng Gas Turbine Power2015; 137: 052604.1–052604.10.
47.
HuangEDChuWL.Optimization design of an asymmetry turbine exhaust hood. J Propul Technol2016; 37: 1839–1846 (in Chinese).
48.
CremannsKRoosDPenknerA, et al. Steam turbine exhaust optimization based on Gaussian covariance networks using transient CFD simulations. ASME Paper no. GT2018-75261, 2018.
49.
DingBWXuLPYangJD, et al. The effect of stage-diffuser interaction on the aerodynamic performance and design of LP steam turbine exhaust systems. ASME Paper no. GT2018-75375, 2018.
50.
GaoJMengFSJiaXQ, et al. Reduction of aerodynamic forces on turbine blading by asymmetric layout of struts based on flow interaction between rotor-strut-volute. Proc IMechE, Part A: J Power and Energy2019; 233: 974–987.
51.
StastnyMTajcLKolarP, et al. Effects of inlet swirl on the flow in a steam turbine exhaust hood. J Therm Sci2000; 9: 327–333.
52.
ZhongJJWuWYLuHW, et al. Numerical investigation on performance impact of the gas turbine exhaust volute by using contraction. J Eng Thermophys2015; 36: 284–287 (in Chinese).
53.
GrecoASDJurekTBenedettoDD, et al. Design, testing, and performance impact of exhaust diffusers in aero-derivative gas turbines for mechanical drive applications. ASME Paper no. GT2019-91262, 2019.
54.
TabataSFukushimaHSegawaK, et al. Experimental and numerical investigations of steam turbine exhaust hood flow field with two types of diffusers. ASME Paper no. GT2019-90640, 2019.
55.
LiuXYLiuMSunHO, et al. Numerical simulation of the flow field of a naval gas turbine exhaust volute. J Eng Thermal Energy Power2000; 15: 287–289 (in Chinese).
56.
VassilievVIrmischSFlorjancicS. CFD analysis of industrial gas turbine exhaust diffusers. ASME Paper no. 2002-GT-30597, 2002.
57.
VolkmerSSchatzMCaseyM, et al. Prediction of flow in an exhaust gas turbine diffuser with a scale-adaptive simulation model. ASME Paper no. GT2013-94954, 2013.
58.
LiuJHynesTP. The investigation of turbine and exhaust interactions in asymmetric flows, part 1-blade-row models applied. ASME Paper no. GT2002-30342, 2002.
59.
LiuJJHynesTP. The investigation of turbine and exhaust interactions in asymmetric flows, part 2-turbine-diffuser-collector interactions. ASME Paper no. GT2002-30343, 2003.
60.
ZivnyAMacalkaAHoznedlM, et al. Numerical investigation and validation of the 1090 MW steam turbine exhaust hood flow field. ASME Paper no. GT2017-63576, 2017.
61.
BurtonZHoggSIngramG.The influence of inlet asymmetry on steam turbine exhaust hood flows. J Eng Gas Turbine Power2014. 136: 042602.1–042602.9.
62.
BurtonZIngramGHoggS.Efficient methods for predicting low pressure steam turbine exhaust hood and diffuser flows at design and off-design conditions. J Eng Gas Turbine Power2015; 137: 082601.1–082601.11.
