A Comparison of Partial Admission Axial and Radial Inflow Turbines for Underwater Vehicles

Hanwei Wang, Yue Chao, Tian Tang, Kai Luo and Kan Qin
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Hanwei Wang: School of Marine Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, Shaanxi, China
Yue Chao: Xi’an Precision Machinery Research Institute, Xi’an 710077, Shaanxi, China
Tian Tang: Xi’an Precision Machinery Research Institute, Xi’an 710077, Shaanxi, China
Kai Luo: School of Marine Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, Shaanxi, China
Kan Qin: School of Marine Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, Shaanxi, China

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-20

Abstract: The metal fueled steam Rankine cycle has been successfully applied to Unmanned Underwater Vehicles. However, the suitable turbine configuration is yet to be determined for this particular application. In this paper, the mean-line design approach based on the existing empirical correlations is first described. The corresponding partial admission axial and radial inflow turbines are then preliminarily designed. To assess the performance of designed turbines, the three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations and steady-state structural analysis are performed. The results show that axial turbines are more compact than radial inflow turbines at the same output power. In addition, since radial inflow turbines can reduce the exit energy loss, this benefit substantially offsets the increment of the rotor losses created by the low speed ratios and supersonic rotor inlet velocity. On the contrary, due to the large volume of dead gas and strong transient effects caused by the high rotor blade length of radial inflow turbines, the overall performance between axial and radial inflow turbines is comparable (within 4%). However, the strength of radial inflow turbines is slightly superior because of lower blade inlet height and outlet hub radius. This paper confirms that the axial turbine is the optimal configuration for underwater vehicles in terms of size, aerodynamics and structural performance.

Keywords: partial admission; turbine comparison; computational fluid dynamics; underwater vehicles; loss breakdown (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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