Book Description

The effects of an industrial gas turbine's Exhaust Collector Box (ECB) geometry on static pressure recovery and total pressure loss were investigated in this study experimentally and computationally. This study aims to further understand how exit boundary conditions affect the performance of a diffuser system as well as the accuracy of industry standard computational models. A design of experiments approach was taken using a Box-Behnken design method for investigating three geometric parameters of the ECB. In this investigation, the exhaust diffuser remained constant through each test, with only the ECB being varied. A system performance analysis was conducted for each geometry using the total pressure loss and static pressure recovery from the diffuser inlet to the ECB exit. Velocity and total pressure profiles obtained with a hotwire anemometer and Kiel probe at the exit of the diffuser and at the exit of the ECB are also presented in this study. A total of 13 different ECB geometries are investigated at a Reynolds number of 60,000.