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JET ENGINE / GAS TURBINE COMPONENTS
Air Flow - Combustion
Liner / Swirler System
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DESCRIPTION
A turbine engine manufacturer required an air flow bench capable of testing many different components at low pressure ratios which covered a wide range of flow rates. The test system had to be fully integrated into their manufacturing and quality control processes in order to take advantage of the most current methods of production scheduling and monitoring. The client also required high accuracy and repeatability while minimizing cycle time to achieve target throughput. Improved accuracy would allow manufacturing to produce turbines to the exacting tolerances required by engine designers to lower emission levels.
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SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
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Vacuum Flow
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Pressure Ratio Control
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Customer Shop Floor Information System (SFIS) Integration
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Globally Accessible Database
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Automated system Check and Calibration
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Unit Under Test (UUT) Power Cycling, Communication and Programming Capabilities
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Expandable and Flexible and Instrumentation , Data Acquisition and Control sub-system
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User-friendly Test System Controller Software for Operator, Maintenance and Engineering personnel
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SOLUTION
FLOW SYSTEMS designed and manufactured an Air Flow system that employed a set of seven (7)
Subsonic Venturis housed in a manifold to meter the air flow through each UUT. The Vacuum Bench utilizes a venturi manifold to give a much larger flow range than could be accomplished with any one venturi. A venturi manifold has several venturis arranged with a common inlet and exit manifold and a means of opening or blocking any individual venturi flow path. The manifold is designed so that the flow rate through any one venturi flow path is unaffected by the blocked neighboring venturi flow paths. One set of venturi inlet and differential pressure sensors is shared by all venturis, reducing the number of costly sensors required by the system.
The test stand uses the suction side of a blower to draw air through the test part at a precise pressure ratio while simultaneously measuring the resulting air mass flow rate. The mass air flow through the test part creates a pressure ratio. The mass air flow rate required to establish the pressure ratio target determines the effective flow area of the passage. One subsonic venturi, from the set of seven, is placed in the flow path in order to measure the mass air flow rate through the test passage. A subsonic venturi is a primary flow element that creates a pressure differential between the inlet and throat section as a function of the flow rate through it. There are no moving parts in a venturi and all surfaces are smooth and rounded, so the venturi maintains its accuracy and repeatability for long periods of time.
All Test Results are saved locally in a test results database, and to the customers production Shop Floor Information System. This allows tracking of each manufacturing process performed on the part.
As with all FLOW SYSTEMS' Test System designs, the Test System controller, data acquisition and control subsystems, and all instrumentation are standard, readily available Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) items. This ensures that servicing or replacement of any item can be achieved in a timely manner, providing for a high-availability for the Test System. This includes all of the UUT related instrumentation that was explicitly specified by the customer.
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COMBUSTION
LINER / SWIRLER SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS
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Flow Elements: Seven (7) Subsonic Venturis
» Flow Range: 2 to 1300 SCFM
» Test Pressure Range: 1.01 – 1.05 Pressure Ratio or 5 – 20 INWC (vacuum)
» Accuracy: ± 0.75 % on effective Area and ± 0.60% on Mass Flow, traceable to NIST standards
» Repeatability: Estimated better than 0.25 %
» Cycle Time: 20 seconds on an average part
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SYSTEM LAYOUT
The following illustration depicts the physical layout of the test system.
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SYSTEM SCHEMATIC
The following illustrates the Pneumatic and Instrumentation diagram (P&ID) of the test system.
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SOFTWARE OPERATOR INTERFACE
The following image illustrates the operator interface of the test system.
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