Fouling affects gas turbine operation, and airborne or fuel contaminants, under certain conditions, become very likely to adhere to surfaces if impact takes place. Particle sticking implies the change in shape in terms of roughness of the impinged surface. The consequences of these deposits could be dramatic: these effects can shut an aircraft engine down or derate a land-based power unit. This occurrence may happen due to the reduction of the compressor flow rate and the turbine capacity, caused by a variation in the HPT nozzle throat area (geometric blockage due to the thickness of the deposited layer and the aerodynamic blockage due to the increased roughness, and in turn boundary layer). Several methods to quantify particle sticking have been proposed in literature so far, and the experimental data used for their validation vary in a wide range of materials and conditions. The experimental analyzes have been supported by (and have given inspiration to) increasingly realistic mathematical models. Experimental tests have been carried out on (i) a full scale gas turbine unit, (ii) wind tunnel testing or hot gas facilities using stationary cascades, able to reproduce the same conditions of gas turbine nozzle operation and finally, (iii) wind tunnel testing or hot gas facilities using a coupon as the target. In this review, the whole variety of experimental tests performed are gathered and classified according to composition, size, temperature, and particle impact velocity. Using particle viscosity and sticking prediction models, over seventy (70) tests are compared with each other and with the model previsions providing a useful starting point for a comprehensive critical analysis. Due to the variety of test conditions, the related results are difficult to be pieced together due to differences in particle material and properties. The historical data of particle deposition obtained over thirty (30) years are classified using particle kinetic energy and the ratio between particle temperature and its softening temperature. Qualitative thresholds for the distinction between particle deposition, surface erosion, and particle break-up, based on particle properties and impact conditions, are identified. The outcome of this paper can be used for further development of sticking models or as a starting point for new insight into the problem.

Fouling and erosion are two pressing problems that severely affect gas turbine performance and life. When aircraft fly through a volcanic ash cloud, the two phenomena occur simultaneously in the cold as well as in the hot section of the engine. In the high-pressure turbine (HPT), in particular, particles soften or melt due to the high gas temperatures and stick to the wet surfaces. The throat area, and hence the capacity, of the HPT is modified by these phenomena, affecting the engine stability and possibly forcing engine shutdown. This work presents a model for deposition and erosion in gas turbines and its implementation in a three-dimensional Navier–Stokes solver. Both deposition and erosion are taken into account, together with deposit detachment due to changed flow conditions. The model is based on a statistical description of the behavior of softened particles. The particles can stick to the surface or can bounce away, eroding the material. The sticking prediction relies on the authors' Energy Based FOulinG (EBFOG) model. The impinging particles which do not stick to the surface are responsible for the removal of material. The model is demonstrated on a HPT vane. The airfoil shape evolution over the exposure time as a consequence of the impinging particles has been carefully monitored. The variation of the flow field as a consequence of the geometrical changes is reported as an important piece of on-board information for the flight crew.

Fouling is a major problem in gas turbines for aeropropulsion because the formation of aggregates on the wet surfaces of the machine affects aerodynamic and heat loads. The representation of fouling in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is based on the evaluation of the sticking probability, i.e., the probability a particle touching a solid surface has to stick to that surface. Two main models are currently available in literature for the evaluation of the sticking coefficient: one is based on a critical threshold for the viscosity, and the other is based on the normal velocity to the surface. However, both models are application specific and lack generality. This work presents an innovative model for the estimation of the sticking probability. This quantity is evaluated by comparing the kinetic energy of the particle with an activation energy which describes the state of the particle. The sticking criterion takes the form of an Arrhenius-type equation. A general formulation for the sticking coefficient is obtained. The method, named energy-based fouling (EBFOG), is the first “energy”-based model presented in the open literature able to account any common deposition effect in gas turbines. The EBFOG model is implemented into a Lagrangian tracking procedure, coupled to a fully three-dimensional CFD solver. Particles are tracked inside the domain, and equations for the momentum and temperature of each particle are solved. The local geometry of the blade is modified accordingly to the deposition rate. The mesh is modified, and the CFD solver updates the flow field. The application of this model to particle deposition in high-pressure turbine vanes is investigated, showing the flexibility of the proposed methodology. The model is particularly important in aircraft engines where the effect of fouling for the turbine, in particular the reduction of the high pressure (HP) nozzle throat area, influences heavily the performance by reducing the core capacity. The energy-based approach is used to quantify the throat area reduction rate and estimate the variation in the compressor operating condition. The compressor operating point as a function of the time spent operating in a harsh environment can be in this way predicted to estimate, for example, the time that an engine can fly in a cloud of volcanic ashes. The impact of fouling on the throat area of the nozzle is quantified for different conditions.

The analysis of the performance losses of a multistage compressor concerning the air contaminant is not widespread in literature and, the mutual interactions of particle materials, air humidity, and compressor load are not well studied. The airborne micrometric particles that enter the compressor can deposit on the internal surfaces, causing the loss of performance of the machine. In this paper, several experimental tests have been carried out on a multistage compressor unit. A detailed analysis has been carried out considering soil and soot ingestion, as well as the air relative humidity (RH) (ranging from 50% RH to 80% RH) and compressor rotating velocity. Several combinations of particle diameter, material, and operating conditions have been considered. The amount of contaminant at the compressor outlet has been measured and the capture efficiency of the whole machine has been determined. Over the exposure time, the capture efficiency ranges from 0.2 to 0.6 according to the powder type and compressor inlet conditions. The capability of the compressor to collect particles changes over time as a function of the condition, even if several tested cases appear characterized by an almost constant capture efficiency trend. In addition, the performance degradation has been monitored over time and, with the reference of the particle concentration, the present experimental campaign covers about 500 operating hours of an actual installation. After a detailed evaluation of experimental uncertainty, the performance losses due to particle contamination have been assessed. The losses in the compressor performance have been estimated by means of the pressure ratio of the axial stages. The maximum degradation has been estimated equal to 0.53%/h for the compressor pressure ratio. Soot particles appear stickier, especially in the presence of higher humidity and represent the most detrimental operating conditions for the compressor unit.

Compressor fouling is one of the main causes of gas turbine performance degradation. Microsized particles adhere to the blade surfaces increasing the surface roughness and modifying the airfoil shape. In this work, the contamination of the Allison 250 C18 multistage compressor engine with four sorts of micrometric dust has been provided. The tests were performed changing the relative humidity (RH) at the compressor inlet and the unit rotational speed. After each test, a photographic inspection of the internal fouled parts has been realized and the digital pictures have been analyzed employing an image processing package. The deposit's build-up of stator vanes and rotor blades has been postprocessed and the most affected regions of each compressor stage have been highlighted. Besides, a numerical simulation of the machine has been performed. The numerical flow field has been used to highlight the blade regions, which show the most favorable conditions for particle deposition. A theoretical model has been applied to the flow field to simulate the particle deposition. The combination of the deposition model with the results of the numerical simulations gives the chance to better understand the experimentally founded deposition patterns. Those results have been finally compared to the pictures of the patterns. The possibility to detect and measure the deposition patterns on a rotating test rig and the comparison with models and experiments gave the possibility to assess in detail the particle deposition phenomenon on a multistage axial compressor flow path.

Land-based power units have to fulfill even more high levels of production and reliability. In harsh environments (desert and tropical installations, typically), the power unit ingests high amounts of dust that might deposit inside the compressor. In this paper, the analysis of a multistage compressor performance that operates under sandy and humid conditions has been assessed. The compressor units, which equips the Allison 250 C18 compressor, has been subjected to multiple runs under severe conditions of soil dust ingestion. The compressor has been operated according to subsequent runs, and at the end of each run, the performance curve was recorded; the performance losses, in terms of pressure ratio, have been measured during the operations. The characteristic curve of each run is representative of the level of contamination of the unit. Finally, the compressor has been washed, and the performance curve, in the recovered conditions, has been recorded. The results show the modification and the downward shift of the characteristic curves which lead to a gradual loss of the compressor performance. The curves realized after dust ingestion have been compared with the recovered curve after online washing. The measurement shows a promising recovery of the performances, even if the compressor flow path appears affected by localized deposits able to resist to the droplet removal action. Detailed photographic reports of the inlet guide vane (IGV) and the first compressor stages have been included in this analysis. After each run, the IGV, the rotor blade and stator vane of the first stage, and the hub and the shroud surfaces have been photographed. The pictures show the deposition patterns on the blades and the compressor surfaces. The comparison of the pictures of the internal surfaces, before and after the washing, highlights the parts that are more critical to clean and needy of attention during offline washing and overhaul.