Numerical investigation of a turbine working with a highly unsteady exhaust flow of a hydrogen-driven rotating detonation combustion

Traditionally, turbomachines are designed for steady-state operations around which they achieve optimal performance and efficiency. However, in novel applications, a turbomachine may be exposed to unsteady flow forcing the machine to operate under fluctuating off design conditions. Pressure Gain Combustion (PGC) through detonation can be an extreme example of unsteady flow which affects the turbine performance adversely. The efficient way of energy extraction from PGCs is still an open question which needs extensive turbine design optimizations for such unsteady flow. Any flow field optimization problem in such applications needs a multitude of simulations, which can be too computationally expensive to be utilized as it is realized as an unsteady 3D-CFD problem. In this regard, the current study aims at proposing and evaluating an approach for optimizing a turbine working under highly unsteady exhaust flow of a Rotating Detonation Combustion (RDC). A two stage turbine is placed downstream an RDC and the turbine inlet condition is calculated by a 2D-Euler simulation tool. A turbine optimization problem is defined and three optimization processes with an objective of minimizing entropy are performed using steady-state 3D-CFD simulation as the objective function evaluator. The turbine inlet boundary conditions in the three optimization efforts include peak, mean and trough values of the RDC outlet pulsating flow condition. Finally, detailed unsteady simulations are carried out for the three new geometries and compared with the baseline turbine. The results showed that the steady-state Reynolds Averaged Navier Stocks (RANS) simulations can be utilized using either mean or trough values of the pulsating boundary condition in iterating a design optimization problem, instead of full unsteady RANS simulations applying time and circumferential location dependent boundary conditions. Given the specific RDC boundary condition and the turbine geometry in this study, the optimized turbine exhibited up to 7.71% less entropy generation and up to 7% higher output power compared to the baseline counterpart in unsteady operation. This approach enables a more efficient design optimization process while accounting for the complex dynamics of the RDC exhaust flow. Overall, the approach presented in this paper is practical for optimizing highly unsteady turbomachines specifically for the case of RDCs during any early design optimization procedure, addressing the computational challenges associated with simulating unsteady flows while ensuring the turbine’s effectiveness under real operating conditions.