Numerical Analysis on the Swirl Flows in the Exhaust Hood of Steam Turbine and Optimization Design

A well-designed exhaust hood of large steam turbines would recover some kinetic energy from the flow between the last stage blades and condenser, which improves the efficiency of the cylinder. The internal flow field of the exhaust hood was firstly numerical investigated using three-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solutions based on the ANSYS-CFX. Then, the effects of the dimensions of the cylinder, bearing cone, diffuser guide, and diffuser ribs on the static pressure recovery performance of the exhaust hood were numerically conducted. The numerical results show that the cylinder length has significantly impact on the static pressure recovery coefficient of the exhaust hood by comparison of the cylinder section area at the fixed bearing cone and diffuser size. The bearing cone and diffuser were optimized to improve the aerodynamic performance of the exhaust hood. The rotationally symmetrical and enlarged diffusers show the different static pressure recovery performance of the exhaust hood. The optimized exhaust hood shows the improved aerodynamic performance by comparison of the initial design. The detailed flow pattern of the initial and optimized exhaust hood is also illustrated and discussed. This paper explicitly shows the interaction, and offers a good strategy for optimization, which has not been thoroughly discussed.