Effect of Geometry on the Performance of Radial Vaneless Diffusers

1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (4) ◽  
pp. 550-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingkang Zhu ◽  
S. A. Sjolander

The paper presents measurements of the steady aerodynamic characteristics of a series of five radial vaneless diffusers with walls varying from mildly divergent to strongly convergent. The static pressure recovery was determined and the flow was traversed at the inlet and the outlet of the diffuser for a broad range of flow rates in each case. It was found that wall convergence results in a negative (stabilizing) slope in the pressure rise curve for the diffuser. Furthermore, at high flow rates convergence was found to reduce the pressure recovery far less than one would expect and at intermediate flow rates convergence actually improved the pressure recovery. The better-than-expected performance is thought to be closely related to the observed improvement in the flow uniformity at the diffuser outlet when convergent walls are used.

Author(s):  
C. Hariharan ◽  
M. Govardhan

AbstractThe present work reports the effect of inlet clearance on the performance of a centrifugal blower, with parallel wall volute, over its full operating range. For a particular impeller configuration, four volutes based on constant angular momentum principle, have been designed and analysed numerically for varying inlet clearances ranging from 0 mm (ideal clearance) to 5 mm. The computational methodology is validated using experimental data. The results indicate that as the clearance increases, the impeller performance in terms of both static and total pressure rise deteriorate. Further, the stage performances deteriorate in terms of efficiency and specific work for all mass flow rates. However, the performance of volute improves at lower mass flow rates compared to the Best Efficiency Point (BEP). A set of correlations have been developed to predict the change in stage performance as a function of clearance ratio. The non-dimensional values of change in specific work, isentropic efficiency and static pressure are found to be same irrespective of the shape of the volute.


1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (4) ◽  
pp. 978-984 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. A. Muggli ◽  
K. Eisele ◽  
M. V. Casey ◽  
J. Gu¨lich ◽  
A. Schachenmann

This paper describes an investigation into the use of CFD for highly loaded pump diffuser flows. A reliable commercial Navier-Stokes code with the standard k-ε turbulence model was used for this work. Calculations of a simple planar two-dimensional diffuser demonstrate the ability of the k-ε model to predict the measured effects of blockage and area ratio on the diffuser static pressure recovery at low loading levels. At high loading levels with flow separation the k-ε model underestimates the blockage caused by the recirculation in the flow separation region and overestimates the pressure recovery in the diffuser. Three steady-state calculations of a highly loaded vaned diffuser of a medium specific speed pump have been carried out using different inlet boundary conditions to represent the pump outlet flow. These are compared to LDA measurement data of the flow field and demonstrate that although the Navier-Stokes code with the standard k-ε turbulence model is able to predict the presence of separation in the flow, it is not yet able to accurately predict the static pressure rise of this highly loaded pump diffuser beyond the flow separation point.


2006 ◽  
Vol 110 (1106) ◽  
pp. 215-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. S. Cohen ◽  
F. Motallebi

Abstract The results of an investigation into the effects that sub-boundary layer vortex generators (SBVGs) have on reducing normal shock-induced turbulent boundary-layer separation are presented. The freestream Mach number and Reynolds number were M = 1·45 and 15·9 × 106/m, respectively. Total pressure profiles, static pressure distributions, surface total pressure distributions, oil flow visualisation and Schlieren photographs were used in the results analysis. The effects of SBVG height, lateral spacing and location upstream of the shock were investigated. A novel curved shape SBVG was also evaluated and comparisons against the conventional flat vane type were made. The results show that in all but two cases, separation was completely eliminated. As expected, the largest SBVGs with height, h = 55%δ, provided the greatest pressure recovery and maximum mixing. However, the shock pressure rise was highest for this case. The experiments showed that the mid height SBVG array with the largest spacing provided similar results to the SBVG array with the largest height. Reducing the distance to shock to 10δ upstream also showed some improvement over the SBVG position of 18δ upstream. It was suggested that total elimination of the separated region may not be required to achieve a balance of improved static pressure recovery whilst minimising the pressure rise through the shock. The effect of curving the SBVGs provided an improved near wall mixing with an improved static and surface total pressure recovery downstream of the separation line. The optimum SBVG for the current flow conditions was found to be the curved vanes of h = 40%δ, with the largest spacing, located at 18δ upstream of the shock. Overall, it was apparent from the results that in comparison to larger vortex generators with a height comparable to δ, for SBVGs the parameters involved become more important in order to obtain the highest degree of mixing from a given SBVG configuration.


2014 ◽  
Vol 699 ◽  
pp. 422-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Normayati Nordin ◽  
Zainal Ambri Abdul Karim ◽  
Safiah Othman ◽  
Vijay R. Raghavan

Various diffuser types characterized by the geometry are introduced in the flow line to recover the energy. A 3-D turning diffuser is a type of diffuser that its cross-section diffuses in all 3 directions of axes, i.e. x, y and z. In terms of applicability, a 3-D turning diffuser offers compactness and more outlet-inlet configurations over a 2-D turning diffuser. However, the flow within a 3-D turning diffuser is expected to be more complex which susceptible to excessive losses. As yet there is no established guideline that can be referred to choose a 3-D turning diffuser with an optimum performance. This paper aims to investigate the effects of varying inflow Reynolds number (Rein) on the performance of 3-D turning diffuser with 90o angle of turn. The outlet pressure recovery (Cp) and flow uniformity (σu) of 3-D turning diffuser with an area ratio (AR = 2.16) and outlet-inlet configurations (W2/W1 = 1.44, X2/X1 = 1.5), operated at inflow Reynolds number of Rein = 5.786E+04 - 1.775E+05 have been experimentally tested. The experimental rig was developed by incorporating several features of low subsonic wind tunnel. This was mainly to produce a perfect fully developed and uniform flow entering diffuser. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) was used to examine the flow quality, and a digital manometer was used to measure the average static pressure of the inlet and outlet of turning diffuser. There is a promising improvement in terms of flow uniformity when a 3-D turning diffuser is used instead of a 2-D turning diffuser with the same AR. An unexpected trend found with a drop of pressure recovery at maximum operating condition of Rein = 1.775E+05 shall require further investigations. The results obtained from this study will be in future used to validate the numerical codes. Upon successful validation, several other configurations will be numerically tested in order to establish the guidelines in the form of mathematical models.


2013 ◽  
Vol 465-466 ◽  
pp. 526-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Hazirah Nohseth ◽  
Normayati Nordin ◽  
Safiah Othman ◽  
Vijay R. Raghavan

Turning diffuser is an engineering device that is widely used in the industry to reduce the flow velocity as well as change the direction of the flow. Having a curvature shape causes its performance to decrease in terms of pressure recovery (Cp) and flow uniformity (σu). Therefore, this study presents the work done in designing baffles to be installed in the turning diffuser with ratio of AR=2.16 to improve the flow uniformity and pressure recovery. It also aims to investigate the mechanism of flow structure and pressure recovery in turning diffusers by means of turning baffles. The results with varying inflow Reynolds number (Rein) between 5.786E+04 1.775E+05 have been experimentally tested and compared with previous study. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) was used to determine the flow uniformity. On the other hand, a digital manometer provided the average static pressure of the inlet and outlet of turning diffuser. The best produced pressure recovery of Cp=0.526 were recorded when the system were operated at the highest Reynolds number tested Rein=1.775E+05. This result shows an improvement up to 54.625% deviation from previous study with Cp=0.239. The flow uniformity also shows an improvement of 47.127% deviation from previous study at the same Rein with σu=3.235 as compared to previous study σu=6.12.


1982 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Pampreen

This paper discusses the static pressure recovery characteristics of four different centrifugal compressor impellers. Comparison is made to effectiveness values obtained with rectangular and conical diffuser data. Effectiveness levels comparable to the diffuser data occur up to the point of maximum flow path curvature. In the radial portion of the impellers, rotation affects static pressure recovery. Also presented are values of rotor exit deviation angle deduced from the jet-wake analysis of these four impellers. It was found that deviation angle is only a function of blade exit angle. The sensitivity of the value of calculated deviation angle to the magnitude of assumed aerodynamic blockage is discussed. For the jet-wake model, the deviation angle is zero for blade exit angles of thirty degrees.


1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 1785-1794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vlastimil Kubáň ◽  
Josef Komárek ◽  
Zbyněk Zdráhal

A FIA-FAAS apparatus containing a six-channel sorption equipment with five 3 x 26 mm microcolumns packed with Spheron Oxin 1 000, Ostsorb Oxin and Ostsorb DTTA was set up. Combined with sorption from 0.002M acetate buffer at pH 4.2 and desorption with 2M-HCl, copper can be determined at concentrations up to 100, 150 and 200 μg l-1, respectively. For sample and eluent flow rates of 5.0 and 4.0 ml min-1, respectively, and a sample injection time of 5 min, the limit of copper determination is LQ = 0.3 μg l-1, repeatability sr is better than 2% and recovery is R = 100 ± 2%. The enrichment factor is on the order of 102 and is a linear function of time (volume) of sample injection up to 5 min and of the sample injection flow rate up to 11 ml min-1 for Spheron Oxin 1 000 and Ostsorb DTTA. For times of sorption of 60 and 300 s, the sampling frequency is 70 and 35 samples/h, respectively. The parameters of the FIA-FAAS determination (acetylene-air flame) are comparable to or better than those achieved by ETA AAS. The method was applied to the determination of traces of copper in high-purity water.


Author(s):  
Manjunath L Nilugal ◽  
K Vasudeva Karanth ◽  
Madhwesh N

This article presents the effect of volute chamfering on the performance of a forward swept centrifugal fan. The numerical analysis is performed to obtain the performance parameters such as static pressure rise coefficient and total pressure coefficient for various flow coefficients. The chamfer ratio for the volute is optimized parametrically by providing a chamfer on either side of the volute. The influence of the chamfer ratio on the three dimensional flow domain was investigated numerically. The simulation is carried out using Re-Normalisation Group (RNG) k-[Formula: see text] turbulence model. The transient simulation of the fan system is done using standard sliding mesh method available in Fluent. It is found from the analysis that, configuration with chamfer ratio of 4.4 is found be the optimum configuration in terms of better performance characteristics. On an average, this optimum configuration provides improvement of about 6.3% in static pressure rise coefficient when compared to the base model. This optimized chamfer configuration also gives a higher total pressure coefficient of about 3% validating the augmentation in static pressure rise coefficient with respect to the base model. Hence, this numerical study establishes the effectiveness of optimally providing volute chamfer on the overall performance improvement of forward bladed centrifugal fan.


Author(s):  
R B Anand ◽  
L Rai ◽  
S N Singh

The effect of the turning angle on the flow and performance characteristics of long S-shaped circular diffusers (length-inlet diameter ratio, L/Di = 11:4) having an area ratio of 1.9 and centre-line length of 600 mm has been established. The experiments are carried out for three S-shaped circular diffusers having angles of turn of 15°/15°, 22.5°/22.5° and 30°/30°. Velocity, static pressure and total pressure distributions at different planes along the length of the diffusers are measured using a five-hole impact probe. The turbulence intensity distribution at the same planes is also measured using a normal hot-wire probe. The static pressure recovery coefficients for 15°/15°, 22.5°/22.5° and 30°/30° diffusers are evaluated as 0.45, 0.40 and 0.35 respectively, whereas the ideal static pressure recovery coefficient is 0.72. The low performance is attributed to the generation of secondary flows due to geometrical curvature and additional losses as a result of the high surface roughness (~0.5 mm) of the diffusers. The pressure recovery coefficient of these circular test diffusers is comparatively lower than that of an S-shaped rectangular diffuser of nearly the same area ratio, even with a larger turning angle (90°/90°), i.e. 0.53. The total pressure loss coefficient for all the diffusers is nearly the same and seems to be independent of the angle of turn. The flow distribution is more uniform at the exit for the higher angle of turn diffusers.


Author(s):  
Marcus Kuschel ◽  
Bastian Drechsel ◽  
David Kluß ◽  
Joerg R. Seume

Exhaust diffusers downstream of turbines are used to transform the kinetic energy of the flow into static pressure. The static pressure at the turbine outlet is thus decreased by the diffuser, which in turn increases the technical work as well as the efficiency of the turbine significantly. Consequently, diffuser designs aim to achieve high pressure recovery at a wide range of operating points. Current diffuser design is based on conservative design charts, developed for laminar, uniform, axial flow. However, several previous investigations have shown that the aerodynamic loading and the pressure recovery of diffusers can be increased significantly if the turbine outflow is taken into consideration. Although it is known that the turbine outflow can reduce boundary layer separations in the diffuser, less information is available regarding the physical mechanisms that are responsible for the stabilization of the diffuser flow. An analysis using the Lumley invariance charts shows that high pressure recovery is only achieved for those operating points in which the near-shroud turbulence structure is axi-symmetric with a major radial turbulent transport component. This turbulent transport originates mainly from the wake and the tip vortices of the upstream rotor. These structures energize the boundary layer and thus suppress separation. A logarithmic function is shown that correlates empirically the pressure recovery vs. the relevant Reynolds stresses. The present results suggest that an improved prediction of diffuser performance requires modeling approaches that account for the anisotropy of turbulence.


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