Our Mission: 'To make our industry quieter, safer and greener'
Problem/Ask
The Institute has been awarded a government grant to upgrade its infrastructure to supply air at 327°C 50 bar (a) to the Oxford Turbine Test Facility (OTRF). This facility features a full-scale rotating turbine and aerodynamic turbo-brake enabling heat transfer and aerothermal performance measurements of various turbine blade geometries. Air will be blown down through the test rig for up to 60s with a mass flow of 30Kg/s in normal operating conditions and 40Kg/s in Emergency vent scenarios before being safely & quietly discharged to atmosphere. The university welcomes acoustic solutions for the complete design, manufacture, and installation of an Exhaust Silencer system and supporting steelwork.
Unique Challenges
The Customer did not want to restrict the ability to run the Test Rig current configuration which utilizes pressure-rated Dump Tanks. It was therefore requested that a solution be proposed whereby the customer could easily switch between the existing Dump Tanks or the new Exhaust Silencer system.
Planning permission has been granted for the Test Rig to vent heated air up to a height of 10m within the confines of the existing Rig footprint, meaning a highly efficient solution was needed.
Solution/Proposal
Cullum designed, manufactured, and installed a bespoke solution consisting of a removable Cascade Bend complete with air turning vanes, a High-performance vertical Silencer with acoustic Bullet, outlet Duct complete with bird mesh, all supported by BS EN 1090 compliant Steelwork. The solution has enabled the customer to operate safely & quietly under the new uprated testing conditions and retain the capability to run previous testing scenarios by easily removing the Cascade Bend and connecting to the existing Dump Tanks.
Key Customer Outcomes
The customer now has the ability to conduct further research under new operating conditions within the Oxford Turbine Test Facility (OTRF).
Capabilities
