The Effect of Heat Transfer on Turbine Performance

Abstract

For over 50 years, high-pressure gas turbine blades have been cooled using air bled from the compressor. This cooling results in very high rates of heat transfer, both within the fluid and within the blade, shown in figure 1. The heat transfer often occurs across large temperature differences and is thus highly irreversible. It is therefore surprising that little is understood about the effect of this heat transfer on turbine performance.