The Development of Wake Flow in a Centrifugal Impeller

1980 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 382-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. W. Johnson ◽  
J. Moore

Three-dimensional flow, leading to the formation and the growth of a wake in a centrifugal impeller, has been studied. Results of flow measurements in a 1 m dia, shrouded, centrifugal compressor impeller running at 500 rpm are presented. Relative velocities and rotary stagnation pressures (p* = p + 1/2ρW2 − 1/2ρω2r2) were measured, on five cross-sectional planes between the inlet and outlet of the impeller, using pressure probes which were traversed within the rotating impeller passage. Particular attention was given to the convection of low p* fluid by secondary flows and to the formation of the wake in the shroud/suction-side corner region of the passage.

Author(s):  
M. W. Johnson ◽  
J. Moore

Detailed flow measurements made in a 1-m dia shrouded centrifugal impeller running at 500 rpm are presented. All 3 mutually perpendicular components of relative velocity and rotary stagnation pressures were measured on 5 cross-sectional planes between the inlet and the outlet, using probes which were traversed within the rotating impeller passage. The reduced static pressures were also calculated from these flow measurements. The measurements were made for an impeller flow rate corresponding to approximately zero incidence at the blade leading edges. Shroud boundary layer separation and secondary flow were observed to lead to the formation of a wake in the suction-side/shroud corner region. It is concluded that the turbulent mixing associated with the shroud boundary layer separation and the strength of the secondary flow strongly influence the size and location of the wake respectively.


1983 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. W. Johnson ◽  
J. Moore

Detailed flow measurements made in a 1-m dia shrouded centrifugal impeller running at 500 rpm are presented. All three mutually perpendicular components of relative velocity and rotary stagnation pressures were measured on five cross-sectional planes between the inlet and the outlet, using probes which were traversed within the rotating impeller passage. The reduced static pressures were also calculated from these flow measurements. The measurements were made for an impeller flow rate corresponding to approximately zero incidence at the blade leading edges. Shroud boundary layer separation and secondary flow were observed to lead to the formation of a wake in the suction-side/shroud corner region. It is concluded that the turbulent mixing associated with the shroud boundary layer separation and the strength of the secondary flow strongly influence the size and location of the wake, respectively.


1982 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. W. Johnson ◽  
J. Moore

Three-dimensional flows and their influence on the stagnation pressure losses in a centrifugal compressor impeller have been studied. All 3 mutally perpendicular components of relative velocity and stagnation pressure on 5 cross-sectional planes, between the inlet and outlet of a 1 m dia shrouded impeller running at 500 rpm were measured. Comparisons were made between results for a flow rate corresponding to nearly zero incidence angle and two other flows, with increased and reduced flow rates. These detailed measurements show how the position of separation of the shroud boundary layer moved downstream and the wake’s size decreased, as the flow rate was increased. The wake’s location, at the outlet of the impeller, was also observed to move from the suction surface at the lowest flow rate, to the shroud at higher flow rates.


Author(s):  
Qun Zheng ◽  
Shunlong Liu

Numerical investigations of internal flow field in centrifugal compressor impeller channel are carried out in this paper. Topological analyses of limit streamline pattern are used to interpret the Jet-Wake formation. With such a technique, it can give a clearly description of the wake. And the shape of the wake, the wake onset and wake developing process are depicted in detail. The numerical results also present the internal vortices, secondary flows and their effects on the Jet-Wake pattern formation. The influences of Coriolis force on flow field of the centrifugal impeller are also discussed.


Author(s):  
A Pinarbasi ◽  
M W Johnson

In the current work three-dimensional flow measurements in two types of centrifugal compressor vaneless diffuser were obtained using hot wire anemometry. The first diffuser was conical, designed to give a constant flow area, while the second straight wall diffuser had a constant axial width. Measurements of mean velocity, flow angle and velocity fluctuation level were obtained on eight cross-sectional planes in each diffuser. The jet-wake flow pattern and the impeller blade wakes are clearly visible at the inlet of both diffusers. Mixing out of the blade wake proceeds more rapidly in the straight diffuser. The hub boundary layer also develops more rapidly in this diffuser because of the adverse pressure gradient. Velocity fluctuation level measurements highlight the mixing regions within the diffusers. Recommendations are also made for the design of vaned diffusers. A larger vaneless space would be required with a straight wall diffuser and significant twisting of the vane would be required for both diffuser geometries if significant incidence losses are to be avoided.


1983 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. W. Johnson ◽  
J. Moore

Three-dimensional flows and their influence on the stagnation pressure losses in a centrifugal compressor impeller have been studied. All three mutually perpendicular components of relative velocity and stagnation pressure on five cross-sectional planes, between the inlet and outlet of a 1-m dia shrouded impeller running at 500 rpm were measured. Comparisons were made between results for a flow rate corresponding to nearly zero incidence angle and two other flows, with increased and reduced flow rates. These detailed measurements show how the position of separation of the shroud boundary layer moved downstream and the wake’s size decreased, as the flow rate was increased. The wake’s location, at the outlet of the impeller, was also observed to move from the suction surface at the lowest flow rate, to the shroud at higher flow rates.


Author(s):  
K. Yamada ◽  
K. Funazaki ◽  
K. Hiroma ◽  
M. Tsutsumi ◽  
Y. Hirano ◽  
...  

In the present work, unsteady RANS simulations were performed to clarify several interesting features of the unsteady three-dimensional flow field in a turbine stage. The unsteady effect was investigated for two cases of axial spacing between stator and rotor, i.e. large and small axial spacing. Simulation results showed that the stator wake was convected from pressure side to suction side in the rotor. As a result, another secondary flow, which counter-rotated against the passage vortices, was periodically generated by the stator wake passing through the rotor passage. It was found that turbine stage efficiency with the small axial spacing was higher than that with the large axial spacing. This was because the stator wake in the small axial spacing case entered the rotor before mixing and induced the stronger counter-rotating vortices to suppress the passage vortices more effectively, while the wake in the large axial spacing case eventually promoted the growth of the secondary flow near the hub due to the migration of the wake towards the hub.


AIChE Journal ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 1746-1761 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. T. M. Jilisen ◽  
P. R. Bloemen ◽  
M. F. M. Speetjens

Author(s):  
Kiyotaka Hiradate ◽  
Hiromi Kobayashi ◽  
Takahiro Nishioka

This study experimentally and numerically investigates the effect of application of curvilinear element blades to fully-shrouded centrifugal compressor impeller on the performance of centrifugal compressor stage. Design suction flow coefficient of compressor stage investigated in this study is 0.125. The design guidelines for the curvilinear element blades which had been previously developed was applied to line element blades of a reference conventional impeller and a new centrifugal compressor impeller with curvilinear element blades was designed. Numerical calculations and performance tests of two centrifugal compressor stages with the conventional impeller and the new one were conducted to investigate the effectiveness of application of the curvilinear element blades and compare the inner flowfield in details. Despite 0.5% deterioration of the impeller efficiency, it was confirmed from the performance test results that the compressor stage with the new impeller achieved 1.7% higher stage efficiency at the design point than that with the conventional one. Moreover, it was confirmed that the compressor stage with the new impeller achieved almost the same off-design performance as that of the conventional stage. From results of the numerical calculations and the experiments, it is considered that this efficiency improvement of the new stage was achieved by suppression of the secondary flows in the impeller due to application of negative tangential lean. The suppression of the secondary flows in the impeller achieved uniformalized flow distribution at the impeller outlet and increased the static pressure recovery coefficient in the vaneless diffuser. As a result, it is thought that the total pressure loss was reduced downstream of the vaneless diffuser outlet in the new stage.


Author(s):  
Bob Mischo ◽  
Beat Ribi ◽  
Christof Seebass-Linggi ◽  
Sebastiano Mauri

The focus of this paper lies on the leakage flow across the shroud of a centrifugal compressor impeller. It is common practice to use shrouded impellers in multi stage compressors featuring a single shaft. The rotating impeller then has to be sealed against the higher pressure in the downstream diffuser by means of labyrinths. The relative amount of leakage is higher for stages designed for low flow, meaning that the associated losses gain in relevance. In addition to this loss source, the injection of the leakage flow has a serious influence on the main flow in a region where it is prone to separation, i.e. at the suction side of the impeller blades close to the shroud, where the highest relative velocities are found. The present paper discusses the numerical results of several geometrical arrangements where the leakage flow was mixed with the main flow in different ways. The distance between the location of injection and the leading edge of the impeller as well as the orientation of the injected flow showed a distinct influence on the performance of the entire stage, mainly on stability.


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