Numerical analysis of erosion of the rotor

labyrinth seal in a geothermal turbine

Zdzislaw Mazur
a,
*, Gustavo Urquiza
a
,
Fernando Sierra
b
, Rafael Campos
a
a
Instituto de Investigaciones Ele ctricas, Av. Reforma 113, Col. Palmira, 62490, Temixco, Morelos, Mexico
b
Centro de Investigacio n en Energ

a-UNAM, Ap. Postal 34, Col. Centro, 62580 Temixco, Morelos, Mexico
Received 20 August 2001; accepted 20 March 2002
Abstract
Excessive erosion of the labyrinth seal of a 110 MW geothermal turbine has been investi-
gated. This study used computational uid dynamics (CFD) and aims to identify one cause of
erosion and a possible solution for substantially reducing it. The predictions were based upon
a numerical calculation using a CFD model of the labyrinth seal with a water/steam ow
containing hard solid particles and solved with a commercial CFD code: Fluent V5.0. The
results conrmed the existence of ow conditions that play a major role in the rotor labyrinth
seal erosion. Afterwards, the ow path was simulated with changes of rotor labyrinth seal
geometry, which are indeed feasible of being implemented. The results conrmed that it is
possible to reduce the erosion process by approximately 80% by incorporating a steam ow
deector in the fourth stage diaphragm, which changes the steam ow direction in the inlet
zone to the rotor labyrinth seal channel, resulting in a reduction in steam volumetric mass
ow and hard particle velocity by about 44%. # 2002 CNR. Published by Elsevier Science
Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Erosion; Labyrinth seal; Geothermal turbine; Numerical simulation
1. Introduction
Steam contamination is a typical problem in geothermal steam turbines. This is
due to the contents of hard particles of silicon, sulphur, phosphor and other ele-
ments that directly impact on steam path components (Mazur and Kubiak, 1996). In
general, the nozzles, the cover bands and rivets formed on the tenon head of the
Geothermics 31 (2002) 563577
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* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +52-73-182598.
E-mail address: mazur@iie.org.mx (Z. Mazur).
moving blades, the xed blade vanes, the rotor labyrinth seals, radial spill-strips,
rotor discs, control valves and turbine casings are frequently aected by impact
damage (Mazur et al., 1995). The degradation of rotor labyrinth seals commonly
results in considerable reduction of performance of the power plant. The internal
eciency decline in turbines typically reaches about 24% or more (Leyzerovich,
1997). It also leads to a decrease in the time lapse between overhauls. The high
number of repair periods also reduces the total energy production.
One of the most inuential factors aecting turbine eciency is the increase in
axial and radial clearances in the turbine gland seals caused by rubbing and solid
particle erosion. This involves all of the steam path seals, including end seals and over-
shroud seals. The undershroud seals of reaction-type turbines and the root and dia-
phragm seals of impulse-type turbines are also aected.
The problem of the erosion of solid surfaces has been widely studied and the
mechanisms through which it develops are attributed to the small solid particles or
water droplets that hit the surface of the steam path elements continuously.
Nomenclature
A
face
surface area
C
D
drag coecient
d particle diameter
f a impact angle function
F
x
virtual mass force
m mass
m
.
mass ow rate

RR ratio
Re Reynolds number
t time
Greek symbols
o impact angle of the particle
b logarithmic particle Reynolds number
j molecular viscosity
, density
u velocity
o angular velocity
Subscripts
f uid
p particle
0 initial condition
1 nal condition
564 Z. Mazur et al. / Geothermics 31 (2002) 563577
Wear due to solid particle erosion (abrasion) primarily depends on the surface
material exposed to the uid and on the properties of the particles carried with the
uid. The abrasive process on a surface is determined by the relative velocity and
impact angle of the particles as well as the particles/steam ow ratio (Keck et al.,
1997). The particle motion is governed by the local ow patterns. As ow patterns
change signicantly within a turbine, there is no possibility to predict abrasive wear
without knowledge of the local ow patterns.
One economic way of solving the problem of erosion (abrasive wear) is through
the analysis of ow patterns within the turbine under a variety of conditions, using
the computational uid dynamics (CFD) technique as a tool. CFD can be used for
redesigning internal parts (Patancar, 1980; Sierra et al., 1999). In this paper the
problem of erosion on the rotor labyrinth seal of a 110 MW double-ow geothermal
turbine is analyzed. Based on the use of CFD, this investigation aims to identify the
causes of erosion and possible means of reducing it substantially, and to assess the
potential of an RNG (Renormalization Group) ke model for turbulence (Mack et
al., 1999) to solve this problem. The predictions were based on a CFD model of the
labyrinth seal channel with a water-steam ow containing hard solid particles and
solved with a code: Fluent V5.0.
One set of numerical results obtained this way suggests that a vapour jet is one of
the main causes of erosion by direct incidence. The jet constantly impinges on the
surface of the rotor labyrinth seal at velocities predicted around 52 m/s. High levels
of turbulence may also contribute to the problem.
The predictions reported in this paper contain another set of numerical results,
where the entry to the labyrinth seal in the zone of the fourth rotor stage has been
redesigned. The objective was to modify the present ow patterns in such a way as
to reduce their impact on the rotor labyrinth seal surface. The proposed design
incorporates a steam ow deector in the fourth stage diaphragm. The numerical
predictions indicate that this increases the steam ow path, which reduces steam
ow through the seal. The result is a reduction in steam ow and hard particle
velocity by about 44%. As a consequence solid particle erosion is also reduced by
approximately 80%.
The design proposed in this work allows for ow patterns of lower velocity
impinging on the rotor labyrinth seal surface than occur with the current design. All
simulations were conducted in 2-dimensional models referring to the fourth-stage
governor-side rotor labyrinth seal.
2. Background
The continuous operation of four geothermal 110 MW turbines for periods of 15
18 years is the focus of our attention. The turbines contain two identical rotors
arranged in seven stages: three initial stages followed by four double-ow stages.
Geothermal steam ow, typically contaminated with small solid particles and water
droplets, has been thought to produce erosion by steam-washing on the fourth-stage
rotor labyrinth seal surface governor side, as is shown in Fig. 1. In this gure we can
Z. Mazur et al. / Geothermics 31 (2002) 563577 565
also observe the severe damage to the rotor fourth-stage disc transition radius sur-
face, but this problem will be the objective of another study.
As can be seen from Fig. 1, the rotor labyrinth seal surface is subject to gradual
disintegration, loss of seal teeth, increased steam ow leakage and a consequent
deterioration in turbine eciency. Being a costly process, any repairs made represent
passive action because erosion still continues, along with the degradation of the
turbine steam path. A substantial modication to the diaphragm labyrinth arrange-
ment has been envisaged as a possible means of producing better ow patterns,
reducing their impact on the rotor labyrinth seal.
In Fig. 2 the present geometry of the diaphragm/rotor labyrinth seal of the fourth-
stage governor side of the 110 MW geothermal turbine is shown. This conguration
suggests that most of the steam ow containing small solid particles that enters the
fourth-stage diaphragm, because of the open area of the ow channel, runs in an
axial direction, directly impacting at high velocity on the surface of the labyrinth
teeth.
The main parameters that inuence erosion rate are known to be particle ow
velocity and impingement angle (Keck et al., 1997). From this knowledge it is
argued that the physical arrangement facilitates erosion of the rotor labyrinth seal
(Kubiak and Pe rez, 1989). The labyrinth seal entry is an open area with a high-
volume steamowthat contains hard solid particles owing towards the seal channel.
Fig. 1. Damage by erosion to fourth-stage rotor labyrinth seal surface.
566 Z. Mazur et al. / Geothermics 31 (2002) 563577
Counteracting this situation, the proposed geometry incorporates a steam ow
deector in the fourth-stage diaphragm in the labyrinth seal entry, as shown in Fig. 3.
3. Modelling methodology
Numerical 2-dimensional predictions have been carried out with the nite volume
code Fluent V5.0 using an RNG ke model for turbulence (Mack et al., 1999; Fluent,
1999; Launder and Spalding, 1972). The method used in this work is based on the
calculation of the path of several individual solid particles through the ow eld, the
so-called Lagrangian tracking method. Each particle represents a sample of particles
that follow an identical path. The motion of the tracked particles is taken to describe
the average behaviour of the dispersed phase.
While setting up the Lagrangian tracking and the erosion model described below,
the following assumptions have been made:
particleparticle interactions are neglected;
any change of the ow turbulence caused by the particles is not accounted
for;
only spherical, non-reacting and non-fragmentating particles are considered;
and
the geometry modications, caused by the removal of wall by the solid par-
ticles, have been neglected.
Fig. 2. Present conguration of the geometry of the labyrinth seal of the fourth-stage governor side of the
110 MW geothermal turbine.
Z. Mazur et al. / Geothermics 31 (2002) 563577 567
3.1. Governing equations
Consider a discrete particle traveling in a continuous uid medium where the for-
ces acting on the particle that aect its acceleration take place due to the dierence
in velocity between the particle and the uid and due to the displacement of uid by
the particle. The equation of motion for this case was derived by Basset, Boussinesq
and Oseen for a stationary reference frame (Hinze, 1975).
m
p
du
p
dt
3jdC
D
u
f
u
p
_ _

d
3
,
f
6
du
f
dt

d
3
,
f
12
du
f
dt

du
p
dt
_ _
F
x

3
2
d
2

,
f
j
p
_
t
1
t
0
du
f
dt
0

du
p
dt
0

t t
0
p dt
0

d
3
6
,
p
,
f
_ _
o o

RR
_ _

d
3
,
p
3
o u
p
1
where F
x
is the virtual mass force and is given by:
F
x

1
2
,
,
p
d
dt
u u
p
_ _
The last two terms of Eq. (1) are the centripetal and Coriolis force, which are
present only in rotating frames of reference. These two forces are not present under
the real operation conditions of the present case rotor labyrinth seal, so they are not
included in the analysis. Since the steam ow in the labyrinth seal region is not
rotating like the rotor does, centripetal and Coriolis forces are neglected. Centripetal
and Coriolis forces may have an eect only in the perpendicular direction to the
Fig. 3. Proposed conguration of the geometry of the labyrinth seal of the fourth-stage governor side of
the 110 MW geothermal turbine. Units are in mm.
568 Z. Mazur et al. / Geothermics 31 (2002) 563577
plane considered in this work. These forces may act principally on the surface of the
inner diameter of the diaphragm, but this is not a part of the present analysis, which
focusses on the erosion rate of the teeth of the rotor labyrinth seal. Comparison of
the steam/particle ow velocity in the axial and tangential (perpendicular) direction
reveals that the latter is many times smaller than the axially directed component, so
that its inuence on the erosion rate of the seal channel is not considered. A drag
coecient, C
D
(Basset, 1888; Boussinesq, 1897; Oseen, 1910) is introduced to
account for experimental results on the viscous drag of a solid sphere, which
depends on the particle Reynolds number. Within the range 0.01-Re
p
-260, we
have the drag coecient given by the relation:
C
D
1 0.1315 Re
p
_ _
0.820.05[
Re
p
- 20
C
D
1 0.1935 Re
p
_ _
0.6305
Re
p
> 20
with [ log Re
p
_ _
, where the particle Reynolds number is dened by:
Re
p

,
f
u
f
u
p

d
j
2
If all particle acceleration terms are on the left-hand side only, the equations are
integrated by a forward Euler integration method.
In turbulent ows particle trajectories are not deterministic and two particles
injected from a single point at dierent times may follow separate trajectories due to
the random nature of instantaneous uid velocity. As a consequence, the particles
disperse because of the uctuating component of the uid velocity. To account for
the inuence of turbulent uid uctuations on particle motion, the method origin-
ally developed by Dukowicz (1980), Gosman and Ioannides (1983), and Faeth
(1987) has been applied in the code.
The data recorded during the Lagrangian particle tracking include:
number of particles impinging on the surface;
impinging velocity;
direction relative to the surface.
The removal of wall material is calculated using the Finnie model (Finnie, 1960)
developed for ductile materials.
We assume:
no thermophoretic force;
no Brownian motion;
no Saman hit force;
no radiation heat transfer.
Z. Mazur et al. / Geothermics 31 (2002) 563577 569
We do consider:
change of the continuous trajectory due to the eect of the discrete phase
trajectories on the continuum (this is a condition for monitoring erosion).
We need to specify:
starting positions, velocity for each particle stream (relative velocities if
moving frames are used);
diameter of the particle;
mass ow rate of the particle stream that will follow the trajectory of the
individual particle/droplet, m
p
(required only for coupled calculations);
injection refers to a stream of particles:
single one particle stream
group more than one stream (initial conditions)
surface injectionrelease particles from a surface previously dened at the
entry of the steam stream. In this case a particle stream will be released from
each facet of the surface. In order to avoid the use of too many particles,
sample points in plane surface are used.
Particle erosion and accretion rates are monitored at wall boundaries. The erosion
rate is dened as (Fluent, 1999):
R
erosion

N
particles
p1
m
.
p
xf a
A
face
3
where o is the impact angle of the particle path with the wall face, and f(o) is the
impact angle function, and A
face
is wall face surface area. The accretion rate is
dened as (Fluent, 1999):
R
accretion

N
particles
p1
m
.
p
A
face
4
Fig. 4. Computational mesh for the present conguration of the rotor labyrinth channel (not to scale).
570 Z. Mazur et al. / Geothermics 31 (2002) 563577
The computational domain that contains the details of both the present and the
proposed geometry of the rotor labyrinth seal channel are represented by two grids,
which were used to conduct the investigation. These are shown in Figs. 4 and 5.
3.2. Boundary conditions
For the present simulation particle diameter has been set at 80 mm in agreement
with steam chemical analyses (Kubiak and Pe rez, 1989). The steam ow velocity set
as an entry boundary condition was obtained from running a turbine analysis pro-
gram (Blaszko and Lidke, 1989) that resolves the turbine ow thermodynamically
such that a prole of the axial velocity can be obtained for any steam path.
An average axial velocity of 52 m/s was obtained at the inlet to the labyrinth seal
channel of the present design from the calculated prole. A mass-ow inlet bound-
ary was used for the incoming ow of steam water with a mass ow rate of 0.4004
kg/s and a pressure of 2.9910
5
Pa (Fig. 6). The pressure inlet-boundary was used as
Fig. 5. Computational mesh with modied geometry of the ow channel (not to scale).
Fig. 6. Boundary conditions for rotor labyrinth seal channel.
Z. Mazur et al. / Geothermics 31 (2002) 563577 571
outlet boundary with the value just above 1 atm as calculated with the same
program, TUR88.
4. Results
4.1. Modeling results
A series of results is presented, which includes the simulations carried out with the
current labyrinth seal and the proposed conguration (with ow deector). A com-
parison of these results highlights the benet obtained from incorporating a steam
ow deector (Fig. 3) in the fourth-stage diaphragm; this solution increases the
steam ow path around the deector, reducing steam ow through the seal. It pro-
duces a drop in the velocity of the steam ow that impinges on the teeth of the rotor
labyrinth seal. This drop in velocity of the steam (solid particles) means that a reduc-
tion in erosion of the rotor seals can be expected with the conguration proposed.
Fig. 7 shows the numerical solution for the present conguration in the form of a
eld of velocity vectors in the labyrinth seal cavity in the zone of the rst seal tooth,
while Fig. 8 shows the numerical solution for the proposed conguration. The size
and density of vectors for the present design (Fig. 7) indicate that the ow enters the
region of the rst seal tooth with a higher velocity of impingement than with the
modied geometry shown in Fig. 8. Signicant recirculating ow can be observed
after the ow passed the rst seal strip. The reduced size and density of the vectors
Fig. 7. Flow velocity with present geometry of the ow channel.
572 Z. Mazur et al. / Geothermics 31 (2002) 563577
for the proposed design (Fig. 8) indicate smaller velocity and a changed direction of
impingement. Smaller recirculating ow can also be observed after the ow passed
the rst seal strip. The traces of several particles prior to the seal cavity in the zone
of the rst seal tooth, for the present and proposed conguration, are shown in
Figs. 9 and 10, respectively.
In order to quantify the results one station for owvelocity monitoring was chosen,
as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. These proles of velocity versus position in the vertical
Fig. 8. Flow velocity with modied geometry of the ow channel.
Fig. 9. Traces of particles prior to the seal cavity for the present geometry of the ow channel.
Z. Mazur et al. / Geothermics 31 (2002) 563577 573
direction are shown in Fig. 11 for the actual and proposed congurations, respec-
tively. By position we mean radial distance from the rotor outer diameter in the
labyrinth seal channel. By comparing these results we obtain a reduction in steam/
particles velocity of 44% with the proposed conguration.
An interpretation of these results follows. This ow velocity reduction is due to
the ow deector action, which increases ow path length around the deector, as
Fig. 10. Traces of particles prior to the seal cavity for the modied geometry of the ow channel.
Fig. 11. Comparison of axial velocity in the region of impact with the rst seal tooth, emphasizing the
reduction obtained with the proposed deector.
574 Z. Mazur et al. / Geothermics 31 (2002) 563577