Forward design and performance evaluation of a high-efficiency pre-swirl supply air system for turbine cooling

Accurately predicting system performance in the early phases is difficult because high temperature-drop pre-swirl system design currently relies heavily on experience and iterative refining. This paper proposes a forward design concept-based 1D-to-3D integrated design framework to overcome this problem. This framework is used for quick prediction and performance optimization of high temperature-drop pre-swirl systems. It starts with design point parameters and emphasizes stability. Initial one-dimensional aerodynamic parameter calculations and three-dimensional numerical iterations successfully developed a high-performance pre-swirl system. It was then improved, analyzed, and evaluated. The results show that the system temperature drop difference between one-dimensional design, three-dimensional numerical simulation, and actual data is less than 5 % and 1.5 %, respectively, provided that the flow rate and pressure requirements of the turbine blades are met. The temperature drop efficiency can reach 82 % when the attack angle is between 6° and 18°, which is more than 27 % greater than that of traditional techniques. In order to increase turbine efficiency, the specific power consumption falls between −55.74 and −16.48 kW/(kg/s) at all operating conditions. According to the results of the entropy increase, the losses in the pre-swirl nozzle and pre-swirl cavity account for approximately 76 % of the total, establishing distinct design optimization goals. In conclusion, this forward design method provides a viable strategy for the iterative optimization of high temperature-drop pre-swirl systems, while maintaining air supply performance, and successfully enhances prediction precision and design efficiency.