Previous tests simulating the effects of TBC (thermal barrier coating) on an internally and film cooled model turbine vane showed that the insulating effects of TBC dominate over variations in film cooling geometry and blowing ratio. In this study overall and external effectiveness were measured using a matched Biot number model vane simulating a TBC of thickness 0.6d, where d is the film cooing hole diameter. This was a 35% reduction in thermal resistance from previous tests. Overall effectiveness measurements were taken for an internal cooling only configuration, as well as for three rows of showerhead holes with a single row of holes on the pressure side of the vane. This pressure side row of holes was tested both as round holes and as round holes embedded in a realistic trench with a depth of 0.6 hole diameters. Even in the case of this thinner TBC, the insulating effects dominate over film cooling. In addition, using measurements of the convective heat transfer coefficient above the vane surface, and the thermal conductivities of the vane wall and simulated TBC material, the overall effectiveness of the thin TBC thickness can be predicted from the thick TBC data, for an internal cooling only configuration.

Thermal barrier coatings (TBC's) see extensive use in high temperature gas turbines. However, little work has been done to experimentally characterize the combination of TBC and film cooling. The purpose of this study is to investigate the cooling performance of a thermally conducting turbine vane with a realistic film cooling trench geometry embedded in TBC. Additionally, the effect of contaminant deposition on the realistic trench was studied. The trench is termed realistic because it takes into account probable manufacturing limitations. The vane model and TBC used for this study were designed to match the thermal behavior of an actual gas turbine vane with TBC by properly scaling their convective heat transfer coefficients, thermal conductivities, and characteristic length scales. This study built upon previously published results with various film cooling geometries consisting of round holes, craters, an ideal trench, and a novel trench. The previous study showed that large changes in blowing ratio resulted in negligible effects on cooling performance. Changes to film cooling geometry also resulted in minor effects on cooling performance. This study found that the realistic trench and an idealized trench perform similarly. However, the width of the realistic trench left the vane wall more exposed to mainstream temperatures, especially at lower film coolant flow rates. This study also found that the trench designs helped to mitigate deposition formation better than round holes; however, the realistic trench was more prone to deposition within the trench. The overall cooling effectiveness was similar for both trench designs and relatively unchanged from the pre-deposition performance while the overall cooling effectiveness for round holes increased due to the additional thermal insulation offered by the unmitigated deposition.

Little work has been done to understand the interconnected nature of film cooling and thermal barrier coatings (TBC's) on protecting high temperature turbine components. With increasing demands for improved engine performance it is vital that a greater understanding of the thermal behavior of turbine components is achieved. The purpose of this study was to investigate how various film cooling geometries affect the cooling performance of a thermally conducting turbine vane with a TBC. The vane model used in this study was designed to match the thermal behavior of real engine components by properly scaling the convective heat transfer coefficients as well as the thermal conductivity of the vane wall. This allowed for the measurement of temperatures at the interface of the TBC and vane wall which, when non-dimensionalized, are representative of the temperatures present for actual engine vanes. This study found that the addition of TBC on the surface of an internally cooled vane produced a near constant cooling performance despite significant changes in the blowing ratio. The craters, trench and modified trench of this study were found to provide much better film cooling coverage than round holes; however, the improved film cooling coverage led to only slight improvements in temperature at the interface of the TBC and vane wall. These results suggest that there is minimal advantage in using more complicated cooling configurations, particularly since they may be more susceptible to TBC spallation. However, the improved film coverage from the trench and crater designs may increase the life of the TBC which would be greatly beneficial to the long-term thermal protection of the vane.

A systems level analysis is presented for a solar organic Rankine cycle (S-ORC) for assessing the feasibility of the cycle to be used in small scale rural/residential power generation. A thermodynamic model was generated for a system composed of the collector, the heat transfer fluid, the pump, the expander, and the heat exchangers, using five different working fluids. Based on the collector efficiency and incident radiation, the thermodynamic efficiency of the system was evaluated. For flat panel solar collectors, the highest system efficiency was found to be 6.2% when using R-134a as a working fluid. R-134a also required the least boiler heat transfer area, although its operation required relatively higher pressures. The performance of the solar-ORC system is compared with that of photovoltaic systems and the practicality of these solar thermal systems are discussed in terms of system size and end use.

Recent interest has been shown in using synthetic gaseous (syngas) fuels to power gas turbine engines. An important issue concerning these fuels is the potential for increased contaminant deposition that can inhibit cooling designs and expedite the material degradation of vital turbine components. The purpose of this study was to provide a detailed understanding of how contaminants deposit on the surface of a turbine vane with a thermal barrier coating (TBC). The vane model used in this study was designed to match the thermal behavior of real engine components by properly scaling the convective heat transfer coefficients as well as the thermal conductivity of the vane wall. Four different film cooling configurations were studied: round holes, craters, a trench, and a modified trench. The contaminants used in this study were small particles of paraffin wax that were sprayed into the mainstream flow of the wind tunnel. The wax particles modeled both the molten nature of contaminants in an engine as well as the particle trajectory by properly matching the expected range of Stokes number. This study found that the presence of film cooling significantly increased the accumulation of deposits. It was also found that the deposition behavior was strongly affected by the film cooling configuration that was used on the pressure side of the vane. The craters and trench performed the best in mitigating the accumulation of deposits immediately downstream of the film cooling configuration. In general, the presence of deposits reduced the film cooling performance on the surface of the TBC. However, the additional thermal insulation provided by the deposits improved the cooling performance at the interface of the TBC and vane wall.