Temperature Effect on Particle Dynamics and Erosion in Radial Inflow Turbine

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an investigation of the particle dynamics and the resulting blade erosion in radial inflow turbine rotors. In order to determine the influence of the temperature, the computations were performed for cold and hot inlet flow conditions. The results indicate that the trajectories of these small 5-μm ash particles are quite sensitive to the flow temperatures. In addition, gas turbines operating under hot flow are subjected to higher local blade erosion rates compared to cold flow conditions.