Dust Filtration for Gas Turbine Cooling System

Project goal: To design a dust filtration system that stops particles entering turbine cooling passages, preventing the plugging that leads to hot corrosion of turbine components.The sponsor’s auxiliary power units, or APUs, experience severe dust ingestion in areas such as Middle East. These units operate on the ground and fine particles from dust and sand storms enter through the engine inlet and obstruct the cooling system within the gas turbine. The components most affected are the first-stage nozzle vane cooling passages and the turbine rotor cooling circuit. The designed system is designed to increase APU life expectancy while decreasing premature failure in the field. It incorporates two filters, cyclonic and barrier, which work together to trap the incoming dust particles. Trade-offs in weight, size, reliability, cost and performance were performed to determine an optimal configuration. The final design of the filtration system was analyzed and tested to capture data for the sponsor, and the system was designed as a line replaceable unit to allow easy access for simple maintenance.