Analysis of Radial Compressor Performance at Low Pressure Ratios and Compressor Choke

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Schloßhauer ◽  
Felix Falke ◽  
Johannes Klütsch ◽  
Iris Kreienborg ◽  
Stefan Pischinger

Abstract Strong transient engine load steps can result in low pressure ratio (ΠC) compressor operation for single stage turbocharged (TC) systems. For conventional full load TC engine matching using one-dimensional (1D)-engine process simulation, these operating points are of limited relevance and are consequently less studied. However, for the layout of sequential turbocharging systems, low pressure ratio compressor operation has to be thoroughly understood. Therefore, in this paper, three-dimensional (3D)-computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations will be presented, which analyze the stationary compressor behavior at low pressure ratios. Operating points at ΠC<1 are investigated by reducing the compressor outlet pressure. The simulation results are validated against measurement data acquired at a stationary hot gas test bench. The compressor performance is quantified by a corrected compressor torque. Opposed to the well-known operation at ΠC>1, the compressor generates power close to zero speed for ΠC<1 (turbine operation). At higher mass flowrates and ΠC<1, the compressor consumes power. Pressure build-up in the wheel is overcompensated by losses in the diffusor and the volute resulting in a net pressure drop across the stage. The 3D-CFD simulations also allow a speed-dependent evaluation of the choking cross section inside the compressor. At low circumferential speeds, compressor choke occurs in the volute or at the wheel outlet. At higher speeds, choking is observed at the wheel inlet. This behavior must be accounted for compressor map extrapolation methods for 1D-engine process simulations in order to correctly predict the choking mass flowrate.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Iwrey

Abstract The most common compressor map framework, referred to here as the β-framework, will be shown to suffer from limitations that grow more troublesome in the multiple-map environment. When maps are coupled in series in the β-framework, it is very common to find operating points that are physically unrealizable, but these cannot generally be avoided without first generating them. A feasible situation is described in which the β-framework leads to an apparent physical paradox. In the proposed S-framework, the map itself is recast in terms of independent variables (corrected speed and exit corrected flow) and dependent variables (inlet corrected flow and temperature ratio). The propagation of information in map coupling is split into an upstream-marching corrected flow ‘flux’ and a downstream-marching temperature ‘flux’. Finding the equilibrium operating point requires only finding a simple intersection between curves. The S-framework is then developed further into a more compact S’-framework that exhibits a natural set of qualitative symmetries. The S- and S’-frameworks are shown to simplify compressor map expression, resolve the problems shown with the β-framework, and aid intuition with regard to off-design phenomena. The resolution of the paradox using the S’-framework is a new description of multistage compressor performance hysteresis.


Author(s):  
James H. Page ◽  
Paul Hield ◽  
Paul G. Tucker

Semi-inverse design is the automatic re-cambering of an aerofoil, during a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculation, in order to achieve a target lift distribution while maintaining thickness, hence “semi-inverse”. In this design method, the streamwise distribution of curvature is replaced by a stream-wise distribution of lift. The authors have developed an inverse design code based on the method of Hield (2008) which can rapidly design three-dimensional fan blades in a multi-stage environment. The algorithm uses an inner loop to design to radially varying target lift distributions, an outer loop to achieve radial distributions of stage pressure ratio and exit flow angle, and a choked nozzle to set design mass flow. The code is easily wrapped around any CFD solver. In this paper, we describe a novel algorithm for designing simultaneously for specified performance at full speed and peak efficiency at part speed, without trade-offs between the targets at each of the two operating points. We also introduce a novel adaptive target lift distribution which automatically develops discontinuous changes of calculated magnitude, based on the passage shock, eliminating erroneous lift demands in the shock vicinity and maintaining a smooth aerofoil.


1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Rhie ◽  
A. J. Gleixner ◽  
D. A. Spear ◽  
C. J. Fischberg ◽  
R. M. Zacharias

A multistage compressor performance analysis method based on the three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations is presented in this paper. This method is an average passage approach where deterministic stresses are used to ensure continuous physical properties across interface planes. The average unsteady effects due to neighboring blades and/or vanes are approximated using deterministic stresses along with the application of bodyforces. Bodyforces are used to account for the “potential” interaction between closely coupled (staged) rows. Deterministic stresses account for the “average” wake blockage and mixing effects both axially and radially. The attempt here is to implement an approximate technique for incorporating periodic unsteady flow physics that provides for a robust multistage design procedure incorporating reasonable computational efficiency. The present paper gives the theoretical development of the stress/bodyforce models incorporated in the code, and demonstrates the usefulness of these models in practical compressor applications. Compressor performance prediction capability is then established through a rigorous code/model validation effort using the power of networked workstations. The numerical results are compared with experimental data in terms of one-dimensional performance parameters such as total pressure ratio and circumferentially averaged radial profiles deemed critical to compressor design. This methodology allows the designer to design from hub to tip with a high level of confidence in the procedure.


Author(s):  
Michael Bartelt ◽  
Thomas Kwitschinski ◽  
Thomas Ceyrowsky ◽  
Daniel Grates ◽  
Joerg R. Seume

Increases on mass flow rates of modern radial process compressors result on larger machine components. In particular, the dimensions of the outlet volutes increase strongly, resulting in disproportionately large machines whose technical feasibility is restricted due to technological and economical reasons. A resulting aim is to design modern radial compressors much more compact, while improving the efficiency and the pressure ratio. Therefore, the present experimental investigation addresses the compressor behaviour for reduced dimensions of rectangular volutes. Furthermore, the experimental setups are numerically modelled and different operating points are simulated with a commercial CFD-Code. A rectangular, external reference volute is equipped with differently shaped blockage-inlays and the global compressor parameters are measured for all variants. Additionally, the pressure and velocity distributions of the local flow field are determined experimentally for varying mass flow ratios at different circumferentially distributed volute layers. The decrease of the volute cross-section results in a reduction of the compressor map width especially at high mass flow rates. Recommendations are given for designing compact volutes of large radial compressors.


2014 ◽  
Vol 137 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Ubben ◽  
Reinhard Niehuis

Adjustable diffuser vanes offer an attractive design option for centrifugal compressors applied in industrial applications. However, the knowledge about the impact on compressor performance of a diffuser vane clearance between vane and diffuser wall is still not satisfying. This two-part paper summarizes results of experimental investigations performed with an industrial-like centrifugal compressor. Particular attention was directed toward the influence of the diffuser clearance on the operating behavior of the entire stage, the pressure recovery in the diffuser, and on the diffuser flow by a systematic variation of the parameters diffuser clearance height, diffuser vane angle, radial gap between impeller exit and diffuser inlet, and rotor speed. Compressor map measurements provide a summary of the operating behavior related to diffuser geometry and impeller speed, whereas detailed flow measurements with temperature and pressure probes allow a breakdown of the losses between impeller and diffuser and contribute to a better understanding of relevant flow phenomena. The results presented in Part I show that an one-sided diffuser clearance does not necessarily has a negative impact on the operation and loss behavior of the centrifugal compressor, but instead may contribute to an increased pressure ratio and improved efficiency as long as the diffuser passage is broad enough with respect to the clearance height. The flow phenomena responsible for this detected performance behavior are exposed in Part II, where the results of detailed measurements with pressure probes at diffuser exit and particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements conducted inside the diffuser channel are discussed. The experimental results are published as an open computational fluid dynamics (CFD) testcase “Radiver 2.”


Author(s):  
M. Häfele ◽  
J. Starzmann ◽  
M. Grübel ◽  
M. Schatz ◽  
D. M. Vogt ◽  
...  

A numerical study on the flow in a three stage low pressure industrial steam turbine with conical friction bolts in the last stage and lacing wires in the penultimate stage is presented and analyzed. Structured high-resolution hexahedral meshes are used for all three stages and the meshing methodology is shown for the rotor with friction bolts and blade reinforcements. Modern three-dimensional CFD with a non-equilibrium wet steam model is used to examine the aero-thermodynamic effects of the part-span connectors. A performance assessment of the coupled blades at part load, design and overload condition is presented and compared with measurement data from an industrial steam turbine test rig. Detailed flow field analyses and a comparison of blade loading between configurations with and without part-span connectors are presented in this paper. The results show significant interaction of the cross flow vortex along the part-span connector with the blade passage flow causing aerodynamic losses. This is the first time that part-span connectors are being analyzed using a non-equilibrium wet steam model. It is shown that additional wetness losses are induced by these elements.


Author(s):  
Chae M. Rhie ◽  
Aaron J. Gleixner ◽  
David A. Spear ◽  
Craig J. Fischberg ◽  
Robert M. Zacharias

A novel multistage compressor performance analysis method based on the three-dimensional Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations is presented in this paper. This approach is a “continuous interface plane approach” where deterministic stresses are used to ensure continuous physical properties across interface planes. The average unsteady effects due to neighboring blades and/or vanes are approximated using deterministic stresses along with the application of bodyforces. Bodyforces are used to account for the “potential” interaction between closely coupled (staged) rows. Deterministic stresses account for the “average” wake blockage and mixing effects both axially and radially. The attempt here is to implement an approximate technique for incorporating periodic unsteady flow physics that provides for a robust multistage design procedure incorporating reasonable computational efficiency. The present paper gives the theoretical development of the stress/bodyforce models incorporated in the code, and demonstrates the usefulness of these models in practical compressor applications. Compressor performance prediction capability is then established through a rigorous code/model validation effort using the power of networked workstations. The numerical results are compared with experimental data in terms of one-dimensional performance parameters such as total pressure ratio and circumferentially averaged radial profiles deemed critical to compressor design. This methodology allows the designer to design from hub to tip with a high level of confidence in the procedure.


Author(s):  
Tadashi Tanuma ◽  
Yasuhiro Sasao ◽  
Satoru Yamamoto ◽  
Shinji Takada ◽  
Yoshiki Niizeki ◽  
...  

Low pressure (LP) exhaust hoods are an important component of steam turbines. The aerodynamic loss of LP exhaust hoods is almost the same as those of the stator and rotor blading in LP steam turbines. Designing high performance LP exhaust hoods should lead further enhancement of steam turbine efficiency. This paper presents the results of exhaust hood computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses using last stage exit velocity distributions measured in a full-scale development steam turbine as the inlet boundary condition to improve the accuracy of the CFD analysis. One of the main difficulties in predicting the aerodynamic performance of the exhaust hoods is the unsteady boundary layer separation of exhaust hood diffusers. A highly accurate unsteady numerical analysis is introduced in order to simulate the diffuser flows in LP exhaust hoods. Compressible Navier-Stokes equations and mathematical models for nonequilibrium condensation are solved using the high-order high-resolution finite-difference method based on the fourth-order compact MUSCL TVD scheme, Roe’s approximate Riemann solver, and the LU-SGS scheme. The SST turbulence model is also solved for evaluating the eddy viscosity. The computational results were validated using the measurement data, and the present CFD method was proven to be suitable as a useful tool for determining optimum three-dimensional designs of LP turbine exhaust diffusers.


Author(s):  
Chaitanya V. Halbe ◽  
Walter F. O’Brien ◽  
William T. Cousins ◽  
Vishnu Sishtla

The performance of a compressor is known to be affected by the ingestion of liquid droplets. Heat, mass and momentum transfer as well as the droplet dynamics are some of the important mechanisms that govern the two-phase flow. This paper presents numerical investigations of three-dimensional two-phase flow in a two-stage centrifugal compressor, incorporating the effects of the above mentioned mechanisms. The results of the two-phase flow simulations are compared with the simulation involving only the gaseous phase. The implications for the compressor performance, viz. the pressure ratio, the power input and the efficiency are discussed. The role played by the droplet-wall interactions on the rate of vaporization, and on the compressor performance is also highlighted.


2019 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonios Fatsis ◽  
Nikolaos Vlachakis ◽  
George Leontis

Abstract Centrifugal compressor performance map prediction is of primary importance for safe and effective operation of turbochargers. This article is a contribution on compressor map prediction using empirical relations based on automotive turbocharger manufacturers’ performance maps. The present method evaluates the minimum and the maximum air flow rates, as well as the maximum compressor pressure ratio by original empirical equations exploiting impeller geometrical data. Newly introduced equations based on the mass flows and the maximum pressure ratio acquired above provide the compressor characteristic lines. The method is validated by applying it to various commercial automotive turbochargers with known performance maps from their manufacturers. At intermediate values of impeller speed, where the turbocharger is expected to match the engine, the computed compressor map agrees to the manufacturer’s data, while, differences are observed at the maximum impeller speed line. From the cases examined, it can be stated that the present model can be applied to predict small diameter, high rotational speed compressor performance, particularly at the high efficiency region that the turbocharger is supposed to match the IC engine.


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