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A full-scale test bench for the analysis of frictional and modal behavior of nozzle guide vanes (NGV) is an advanced tool enabling high design accuracy for these components equipped with an increasing number of turbo-expanders. This subassembly is a key feature enabling operational flexibility for the expander. During the NGVs design, great attention must be paid to the natural frequencies of its kinematic chain, which are influenced by internal clearances and by friction. In this paper, the results of a testing campaign performed on an NGV assembly employing realistic blade geometry are presented together with details concerning the test bench commissioning and setup procedure. The testing campaign involves three different combinations of blade orientation and preload corresponding to typical design conditions of the expander. In addition, two bushing clearance values corresponding to different worn-out conditions were investigated. The measurements of the global friction coefficient based on actuator force detection are summarized. After that, the reconstruction of mode shapes based on experimental modal analysis is explained. The results highlight the importance of loading conditions on the actual value of friction force and their influence on blade natural frequencies. The testing campaign was used to properly validate finite element models to be used for further investigations.

A full-scale test bench for the analysis of frictional and modal behavior of Nozzle Guide Vanes (NGV) is an advanced tool enabling high design accuracy for these components equipped in an increasing number of turboexpanders. This sub-assembly is a key feature enabling operational flexibility for the expander. Great attention must be paid during the NGV’s design to the natural frequencies of its kinematic chain, which are influenced by internal clearances and by friction. In this paper the results of a testing campaign performed on an NGV assembly employing actual blade geometry are presented together with details concerning the test bench commissioning and set-up procedure. The testing campaign involves three different combinations of blade orientation and pre-load corresponding to typical design conditions of the expander. In addition, two different bushing clearances values corresponding to worn out conditions were investigated. The measurements of the global friction coefficient based on actuator force detection are summarized. After that, the reconstruction of mode shapes based on experimental modal analysis is explained. The results highlight the importance of loading conditions on the actual value of friction force and their influence on blade natural frequencies. The testing campaign was used to properly validate Finite Element Models to be used for further investigations.

It is nowadays a common understanding that, due to the uneven availability of renewable energy sources, the operation of traditional power generation plants and especially of combined cycles has to be more flexible and subject to more frequent and, most probably, colder starts than in the past. This phenomenon translates into a negative impact on maintenance intervals and operating costs as resulting by a higher increase rate of equivalent operating hours. In addition, the optimization of start-up time, largely driven by initial components temperature, has become a key performance indicator for the profitability of such plants. The case study presented in this paper deals with a steam turbine in a combined cycle power plant, commissioned on the early 2000s. The turbine is currently operating daily for half of the year and occasionally for the other half, collecting about 150 warm and 30 cold starts per year. The application to the steam turbine of a Thermal Warming System (TWS) is analyzed in detail by assessing casing and rotor temperature distribution, in transient operation. The control algorithms, that allows maximizing the system effectiveness while safeguarding against possible issues due to uneven temperature distributions, are also discussed. The resulting increase in average starting temperature, as evidenced by online rotor temperature calculation, is then considered with respect to its benefits for maintenance optimization and plant profitability.

In turbomachinery applications the possibility to reduce size and costs of main flow-path components, by increasing shaft rotating speed, has always been appealing. The technological challenge in increasing this power density capability is typically related to performance prediction, to operating stress in blades and shafts, as well as to the need for a more accurate rotor-dynamic analysis. Yet another aspect, often reduced to standard assessments in less demanding applications, is related to the analysis of overspeed scenarios where, following a sudden loss of load and/or driven inertia, the turbomachine shall maintain its mechanical integrity. Especially in steam turbines applications, where the behavior of the machine is strongly affected by the plant conditions, valves intervention time and connected volumes, the reduction of the rotor inertia, against comparable power, may produce overspeed scenarios that can become a primary design constraint and, if overlooked, may have both availability and safety implications. In this paper several approaches to the analysis of overspeed scenarios are discussed, with increasing level of detail. The energy-based overspeed analysis method, as required by API612, is first discussed against practical design cases. A more accurate dynamic model is then presented, and its results compared with those of the energy-based approach. Finally, the sensitivity analysis of the overspeed peak value with respect to critical design parameters is discussed. With respect to previous works, mostly based on load rejection scenarios, the main focus is on the scenario of sudden coupling loss.

An increasing number of turboexpanders are equipped with Nozzle Guide Vane (NGV) as the first stator stage. By varying the throat area of the first stator vane the NGV enables an additional control methodology to the line-up power output allowing higher operational flexibility and higher efficiency at partial load and partial speed. The design of this component might become critical for enabling high expander availability considering its exposure to high temperature, thermal loading, and fluid induced vibrations. This is especially true also considering that the vibration frequencies of this sub-assembly are influenced by internal clearances and by the value of the friction coefficient, which leaves a relevant margin of error when using numerical methods (such as FEM) for predicting the actual structural behavior of this component. In this paper, the design of a full-scale test bench for the determination of both friction coefficients and modal behavior of a nozzle guide vane geometry is described. The bench enables us to simulate the pre-load due to aerodynamic forces on the NGV airfoil simulating the actual working conditions of bushes and bearings.

Steam Turbines operating in Concentrated Solar Plants and Peaking Combined Cycles are subjected to daily thermal stresses, induced by start-ups and load variations, deeply affecting allowed production per day. The extent and number of such thermal stresses is largely depending on the capability, of both plant and operators, to smooth the variations in steam temperature and load resulting from both weather conditions (in CSPs) and grid demand. In this operating scenario, conservative simplified rules are normally applied to determine daily warm-up times duration at starts, to preserve critical components from Low Cycle Fatigue damage; the planned maintenance intervals, as well, have been typically defined on the basis of a specified number of starts and running hours. In this article, the application of an online Rotor Stress Monitoring (RSM) technology, installed in the Steam Turbine User Control Panel, is used to directly determine the fatigue damage cumulated by each Start-Up and variation in operating condition. The results of application of this technology, with respect to standard formulations, are shown for a specific Concentrated Solar Plant across an operating period of four years. It is shown how, using the RSM as a basis for either startup or maintenance scheduling, can result in optimization of start-up times and maintenance intervals both for new units and retro-fit. The applicability of rotor stress direct monitoring and life analysis to higher temperature services is also introduced.