AERODYNAMIC PERFORMANCE INVESTIGATION OF MODERN MARINE GAS TURBINE INTAKE SYSTEM

Gas turbines (GTs) have been used on board for many years. To safe guard these engines working efficiently and stably, several types of air intake system have been employed. The aerodynamic performance of marine gas turbine intake system is one of the important aspects which is associated with the marine operating conditions and should be studied carefully. In this paper, numerical simulation is carried out on the flow parameters of a vessel and her intake system. How vessel operating conditions and the environment conditions influence the intake system inlet boundary is studied firstly. Under some certain assumptions, the intake inlet total pressure value and the angle between wind and heading direction approximately follow the sine law. Then, unsteady simulation is carried out on the intake system. The total pressure loss variation and which measuring point can represent the pressure loss properly are discussed. It is found that the total pressure distribution varies with the measuring location. Following this, flow parameters at the volute outlet is analyzed in detail, especially the flow field structure and the distortion intensity. The total pressure distribution is non-uniform, which will influence the GT performance and stability significantly.