An energy based fouling model for gas turbines: EBFOG

Fouling is a major problem in gas turbines for aeropropulsion. The aerodynamics and heat load of the blades are severely affected by this phenomenon with local geometrical variations due to deposition and erosion. Currently two major models are available in literature for the evaluation of fouling effects in CFD: The first one is based on a critical threshold for the viscosity, whereas the second is characterized by the normal velocity to the surface. Both models aim to define a likelihood coefficient which estimates the probability a particle has to stick to a surface, known as sticking coefficient. However current models lack of generality being application specific. This work presents an innovative model for the estimation of the sticking probability. The fouling effect is defined as function of particle velocity, temperature and size through an energy based approach. Expressing the energy involved in the impact through an Arrhenius' type equation a general formulation for the sticking coefficient is obtained. The method, named EBFOG (Energy Based FOulinG), is the first "energy" based model presented in the open literature that can account any common deposition effect in gas turbines. The EBFOG model is implemented into a Lagrangian tracking procedure, coupled to a full three-dimensional CFD solver. Particles are tracked inside the domain and the velocity, size and temperature of each ones are calculated. The local geometry of the blade is modified accordingly to the deposition rate, the mesh is modified and the CFD solver updates the flow field. The application of this model to particle deposition in high pressure turbine vanes is investigated showing the flexibility of the proposed methodology. Such model is particular important in aircraft engines where the effect of fouling for the turbine, in particular the reduction of the HP nozzle throat area, influences heavily the performance: The energy based approach is thus used to quantify the area modification and estimate the variation of the compressor performance. The compressor map as a function of the operating hours in a severe environment can be in this way predicted to estimate, for example, the time that an engine can fly in a cloud of volcanic ashes. For this reason the impact of the fouling on the throat area of the nozzle is quantified for different conditions.