Compressor fouling is one of the main causes of performance degradation of gas turbines. Miscrosized particles adhere to the blade surfaces increasing the surface roughness and modifying the airfoil shape. In the present work, the contamination of the Allison 250 C-18 compressor engine with four sorts of micrometric dust has been provided. The tests were performed changing the relative humidity at the compressor inlet and the rotational speed of the machine.

After each test, a photographic inspection of the internal fouled parts has been realized and the digital pictures have been analyzed by means of an image processing package. The deposits build-up of stator vanes and rotor blades have been post-processed and the more affected regions of each compressor stage have been highlighted. In addition to this, a numerical simulation has been performed and the flow field data have been used for localizing the blade regions which show the most favorable conditions for particle impact using a theoretical model.

The combination of the theoretical model with the results of the CFD simulations gives the chance to better understand the experimentally founded deposition patterns. Those results have been finally compared to the pictures of the patterns. The possibility to detect and measure the deposition patterns on a rotating test rig and the comparison with models and experiments gave the possibility to assess in detail the particle deposition phenomenon on a multistage axial compressor flow path.


Deposition Pattern Analysis on a Fouled Multistage Test Compressor

Division / Sponsor:
International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI)

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/GT/GT2020/volume/84058

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