by on Dec 20, 2019 11:18:17 AM
This blog article is a follow up for the earlier blog “Coupled Optimization of Preliminary Design Geometry of Low Flow Steam Turbine with Curtis Stage Layout and Rankine Cycle Parameters”, which considers more complicated case of coupled optimization of regenerative Rankine cycle and 2 stage turbine geometry with change from partial to full admission flow.
by on Dec 6, 2019 1:19:40 PM
Designing turbines for low flow Rankine Cycle for steam is challenging due to their small size, manufacturing restrictions, clearances and cost constraints. Such turbines operate at significant pressure ratios that require use of partial admission and are likely to operate in choked supersonic flow mode due to reduced stage count (controlled by cost).
by on Nov 15, 2019 11:03:55 AM
In many instances, the design of new turbofan engine is an iterative process of optimizing engine cycle parameters (i.e. thermodynamics) and executing preliminary design geometry of engine components (i.e. aero design, constrained with structural, manufacturing, fitting in engine layout, size, weight & other requirements) for the best performing realizable solution. Consideration of the preliminary design of the engine in the totality of these requirements seems to be an interesting topic to address.
Coupling cycle calculations with detailed preliminary design of turbomachinery components for getting optimized turbofan engine is the topic of this article. Detailed preliminary design means generating geometry and getting flow data and performance for each component of the multistage geometry of the engine, sufficient in the scope to move design process to 2D and 3D considerations.
by on Nov 8, 2019 1:49:58 PM
Why supercritical CO2?
Super critical carbon dioxide (sCO2) is one of the hottest topics in the turbomachinery world right now. From my own experience, I remember when the subject occupied a few sleepy sessions at the ASME Turbo Expo several years back. Today, its possible to spend the entire week at the conference and never leave a well-attended session dedicated specifically to sCO2.
by on Oct 25, 2019 11:19:06 AM
I remember my geography high school teacher talking about maps and how the different projections of the actual globe change the way we visualize it in 2D views.
Figure 1 - Photo by Muhammad Haikal Sjukri on Unsplash -
by on Aug 2, 2019 10:21:55 AM
The previous blog, Entropy Happens… Deal with It! ended with the statement, “That’s how Concepts NREC deals with the constraints of the Second Law of Thermodynamics when designing high-efficiency turbomachinery – we literally put entropy to work!” That blog not only lead to an increase in sales of bumper sticker sales emblazoned with “Working on it, STAY TUNED!”, it led to a request to explore this statement in a little more detail – particularly as the idea might apply to the analysis, design and manufacturing of turbomachinery.
by on Jul 26, 2019 8:59:39 AM
If you design turbomachinery for a living, you are already doing multidisciplinary optimization (MDO), regardless of whether you have a special software tool with MDO built in or not. Turbomachines, by their nature, require advanced fluid dynamics as well as very high mechanical complexity. Whenever you make a trade-off between performance and durability or performance and weight/inertia, you are doing an MDO study. Adding MDO software to your traditional design approaches can give you additional insight into the trade-offs, and save you time by avoiding the need for manual iteration.
by on Jul 19, 2019 9:09:00 AM
If there’s one thing good about sitting in snarled traffic in Boston, it’s that you get to see some very original bumper stickers. The most recent bumper sticker I saw was probably the strangest one, no doubt created by some engineering professor who doesn’t see that the glass is half full, but that it has a safety factor of 2! Nevertheless, the bumper sticker stated the obvious when one thinks about it: ENTROPY HAPPENS! And then, to emphasize the point, the artist has the letters slowly “evaporating,” demonstrating graphically that entropy proceeds from order to chaos.
by on Jun 21, 2019 9:22:14 AM
Wow, Concepts NREC had a lot going on at this year's ASME Turbo Expo 2019 in Phoenix, AZ! We held our North American CAE User Group Meeting, spoke to over 200 people at our booth, chaired several sessions and presented two papers. In case you were not able to go, here are the abstracts from the two papers:
by on Jun 14, 2019 11:35:56 AM
Summer is almost here, at least in my hemisphere, so here are some of the best places around the world people in the turbomachinery industry might find interesting! Know of another? Share your favorite!
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