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In high-efficiency gas turbine engines, the cooling air for the high-pressure turbine stage is expanded through stationary preswirl nozzles, transferred through the preswirl chamber, and delivered to the blade feed holes of the rotor. By accelerating the cooling air in the direction of rotation, the total temperature relative to the rotor disk and the pressure losses occurring at the receiver hole inlet can be reduced. The discharge behavior of a direct-transfer preswirl system has been investigated experimentally for different number of receiver holes and different inlet geometries, varying axial gap widths between stator and rotor and for rotational Reynolds numbers up to [Re.sub.[phi]] =2.3 X [10.sup.6]. The discharge coefficients of the preswirl nozzles are given in the absolute frame of reference while the definition of the discharge coefficients of the receiver holes is applied to the rotating system in order to consider the work done by the rotor. A momentum balance is used to evaluate the deflection of the preswirled air entering the receiver holes. The flow in the preswirl chamber is characterized by introducing an effective velocity of the cooling air upstream of the rotor disk. The influences of geometrical parameters and operating points are reported and discussed in this paper. [DOI: 10.1115/1.1787514]

The secondary, air system of modern gas turbine engines consists of numerous stationary or rotating passages to transport the cooling air, taken from the compressor, to thermally high loaded components that need cooling. Thereby the cooling air has to be metered by orifices to control the mass flow rate. Especially the discharge behavior of rotating holes may vary in a wide range depending on the actual geometry and the operating point. The exact knowledge of the discharge coefficients of these orifices is essential during the design process in order to guarantee a well adapted distribution of the cooling air inside the engine. This is crucial not only for a safe and efficient operation but also fundamental to predict the component's life and reliability. In this paper two different methods to correlate discharge coefficients of rotating orifices are described and compared, both in the stationary and rotating frame of reference. The benefits of defining the discharge coefficient in the relative frame of reference will be pointed out. Measurements were conducted for two different length-to-diameter ratios of the orifices with varying inlet geometries. The pressure ratio across the rotor was varied for rotational Reynolds numbers up to [Re.sup.[PHI]] =8.6 x [10.sup.5]. The results demonstrate the strong influence of rotation on the discharge coefficient. An analysis of the complete data shows significant optimizing capabilities depending on the orifice geometry. [DOI: 10.1115/1.1771685]

This paper describes an experimental study of the cooling efficiency of a preswirl rotor-stator system equipped with a small number of preswirl nozzles of circular shape, located on a radius equal to that of the receiver disk holes. In the direct transfer cooling air system, total air temperatures were measured in the relative frame, i.e., inside the receiver holes by means of small total temperature probes for different throughflow rates, rotational Reynolds numbers and swirl ratios. The experimental data were compared with a simple theoretical model which predicts air temperatures in an 'ideal' preswirl system. This comparison served to quantify the efficiency of this cooling scheme. In a subsequent one-dimensional analysis which took into account flow data obtained in an earlier experimental study by the same authors, two different mechanisms responsible for the elevated cooling air temperatures were determined. The new model considers in addition to the observed reduction of swirl due to viscous drag on the stator and mixing inside the rotor-stator cavity, the work put in by the rotor at high disk rotational Reynolds numbers and low cooling airflow rates. [DOI: 10.1115/1.1765124]

The discharge behavior of a 'direct-transfer' preswirl system has been investigated experimentally. The influences of the pressure ratio and the swirl ratio as well as the influence of the receiver and stator geometry were investigated. The discharge coefficients of the preswirl nozzles are given in the absolute frame of reference. The definition of the discharge coefficient of the receiver holes is applied to the rotating system in order to consider the work done by the rotor. Numerical calculations carried out for a free expansion through the stationary preswirl nozzles show very good agreement with experimental data. [DOI: 10.1115/1.1413474]

Methane (CH4) production is a ubiquitous, apparently unavoidable side effect of fermentative fibre digestion by symbiotic microbiota in mammalian herbivores. Here, a data compilation is presented of in vivo CH4 measurements in individuals of 37 mammalian herbivore species fed forage-only diets, from the literature and from hitherto unpublished measurements. In contrast to previous claims, absolute CH4 emissions scaled linearly to DM intake, and CH4 yields (per DM or gross energy intake) did not vary significantly with body mass. CH4 physiology hence cannot be construed to represent an intrinsic ruminant or herbivore body size limitation. The dataset does not support traditional dichotomies of CH4 emission intensity between ruminants and nonruminants, or between foregut and hindgut fermenters. Several rodent hindgut fermenters and nonruminant foregut fermenters emit CH4 of a magnitude as high as ruminants of similar size, intake level, digesta retention or gut capacity. By contrast, equids, macropods (kangaroos) and rabbits produce few CH4 and have low CH4 : CO2 ratios for their size, intake level, digesta retention or gut capacity, ruling out these factors as explanation for interspecific variation. These findings lead to the conclusion that still unidentified host-specific factors other than digesta retention characteristics, or the presence of rumination or a foregut, influence CH4 production. Measurements of CH4 yield per digested fibre indicate that the amount of CH4 produced during fibre digestion varies not only across but also within species, possibly pointing towards variation in microbiota functionality. Recent findings on the genetic control of microbiome composition, including methanogens, raise the question about the benefits methanogens provide for many (but apparently not to the same extent for all) species, which possibly prevented the evolution of the hosting of low-methanogenic microbiota across mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]