scholarly journals Performance Characteristics of Two- and Three-Dimensional Impellers in Centrifugal Compressors

1986 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Harada
Keyword(s):  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Closed Loop ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Performance Characteristics ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Angle Distribution ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Blade Angle ◽  
Operating Range ◽  
Overall Performance

The overall performance of two- and three-dimensional impellers of a centrifugal compressor were tested and compared. A closed loop test stand with Freon gas as working fluid was employed for the experiments. The inlet and outlet velocity distribtions of all impellers were measured using three hole cobra probes. As a result, it has been revealed that three-dimensional impellers are superior to two-dimensional one in terms of efficiency, head coefficient and operating range. Further, it has also been clarified that the impeller slip factor is affected by blade angle distribution.

Performance Characteristics of Two- and Three-Dimensional Impellers in Centrifugal Compressors

1988 ◽  
Vol 110 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Harada
Keyword(s):  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Closed Loop ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Test Stand ◽  
Performance Characteristics ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Angle Distribution ◽  
Blade Angle ◽  
Operating Range ◽  
Overall Performance

The overall performance of two- and three-dimensional impellers of a centrifugal compressor were tested and compared. A closed-loop test stand with Freon gas as the working fluid was employed for the experiments. The inlet and outlet velocity distributions of all impellers were measured using three-hole cobra probes. As a result, it has been revealed that three-dimensional impeller in terms of efficiency, head coefficient, and operating range. Further, it has also been clarified that the impeller slip factor is affected by blade angle distribution.

Performance Characteristics of Shrouded and Unshrouded Impellers of a Centrifugal Compressor

1985 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 528-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Harada
Keyword(s):  
Velocity Distribution ◽  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Closed Loop ◽  
Unsteady Flows ◽  
Test Stand ◽  
Performance Characteristics ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Overall Performance ◽  
Hot Film

The overall performance of shrouded and unshrouded identical impellers of a centrifugal compressor were tested and compared. A closed loop test stand with Freon gas as the working fluid was employed for the experiments. The inlet and outlet velocity distributions of both impellers were measured using a three-hole cobra probe and a hot-film probe to determine the velocity distribution and unsteady flows due to wakes and inlet stall.

scholarly journals Comparative Study of Unsteady Flows in a Transonic Centrifugal Compressor With Vaneless and Vaned Diffusers

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael M. Cui
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Unsteady Flow ◽  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Power Laws ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Local Flow ◽  
Transonic Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Compressor Performance ◽  
Overall Performance

To reduce vibration and noise level, the impeller and diffuser blade numbers inside an industrial compressor are typically chosen without common divisors. The shapes of volutes or collectors in these compressors are also not axis-symmetric. When impeller blades pass these asymmetric structures, the flow field in the compressor is time-dependent and three-dimensional. To obtain a fundamental physical understanding of these three-dimensional unsteady flow fields and assess their impact on the compressor performance, the flow field inside the compressors needs to be studied as a whole to include asymmetric and unsteady interaction between the compressor components. In current study, a unified three-dimensional numerical model was built for a transonic centrifugal compressor including impeller, diffusers, and volute. HFC 134a was used as the working fluid. The thermodynamic and transport properties of the refrigerant gas were modeled by the Martin-Hou equation of state and power laws, respectively. The three-dimensional unsteady flow field was simulated with a Navier-Stokes solver using the k-ε turbulent model. The overall performance parameters are obtained by integrating the field quantities. Both unsteady flow field and overall performance are analyzed comparatively for each component. The compressor was tested in a water chiller system instrumented to obtain both overall performance data and local flow field quantities. The experimental and numerical results agree well. The correlation between the overall compressor performance and local flow field quantities is defined. The methodology developed and data obtained in these studies can be applied to centrifugal compressor design and optimization.

Effect of Suction Elbow and Inlet Guide Vanes on Flow Field in a Centrifugal Compressor Stage

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael M. Cui
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Power Laws ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Guide Vanes ◽  
Design And Optimization ◽  
Inlet Guide Vanes ◽  
Compressor Design ◽  
Overall Performance

Suction elbows and inlet guide vanes (IGVs) are typical upstream components in front of first-stage impellers in centrifugal compressors. The three-dimensional distortion induced by elbows and IGVs affects the flow field behind the IGV housing. Since the flow field in front of the impeller is subsonic, the flow motion induced by the rotating impeller will interact with the elbow and IGVs as well. The flow field resulting from these interactions is three-dimensional. The nature of this flow field defines design requirements of upstream components and impact overall performance of the compressor. To understand the mechanism controlling the interactions of up-steam components and optimize the compressor design for better efficiency and reliability, a numerical simulation of the flow field inside the entire first stage of the compressor was conducted. The stage studied includes suction elbow, IGV housing with vanes, and first-stage impeller. HFC 134a was used as the working fluid. The thermodynamic and transport properties of the refrigerant gas were modeled by the Martin-Hou equation of state and power laws respectively. The three-dimensional flow field was simulated with a Navier-Stokes solver using the k-ε turbulence model. The overall performance parameters are obtained by integrating the field quantities. The force, torque, and arm of moment acting on the IGVs were then calculated. The results can be used to improve centrifugal compressor design to achieve higher efficiency and improve reliability. The methodology developed in the current study can be applied to centrifugal compressor design and optimization.

An Airfoil Diffuser With Variable Stagger and Solidity for Centrifugal Compressor Applications

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Abdelwahab
Keyword(s):  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Aerodynamic Performance ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Compressor Stage ◽  
Operating Range ◽  
Compressor Impeller ◽  
Dimensional Variable ◽  
Wide Operating

Airfoil diffusers have been extensively used in industrial centrifugal compressors. However, the majority of these diffusers are two-dimensional and have fixed solidity. This paper presents a numerical investigation of a new three-dimensional airfoil diffuser, i.e. variable stagger, which has a varying solidity in the span wise direction. The premise of this configuration is to better align the diffuser blade with the non uniform flow leaving the compressor impeller as well as to combine the benefits of the known wide operating range of the low solidity diffusers with the high performance of the high solidity diffusers. Numerical simulations of several impeller-diffuser configurations are presented. The first configuration uses a three-dimensional variable solidity airfoil diffuser while the others use conventional diffusers with different solidities. The results of the simulations are presented in terms of the aerodynamic performance of both the impeller and diffusers as well as the overall stage performance. The analysis indicates that the three dimensionality of the flow path of the proposed diffuser greatly impacts the diffuser as well as the impeller aerodynamic performance. The analysis also indicates the superiority of the proposed new diffuser geometry over the analyzed conventional airfoil diffusers in extending the operating range of the compressor stage as well as improving its efficiency.

scholarly journals Comparative Study of Unsteady Flows in a Transonic Centrifugal Compressor with Vaneless and Vaned Diffusers

2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael M. Cui
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Unsteady Flow ◽  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Power Laws ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Local Flow ◽  
Transonic Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Compressor Performance ◽  
Overall Performance

To reduce vibration and noise level, the impeller and diffuser blade numbers inside an industrial compressor are typically chosen without common divisors. The shapes of volutes or collectors in these compressors are also not axis-symmetric. When impeller blades pass these asymmetric structures, the flow field in the compressor is time-dependent and three-dimensional. To obtain a fundamental physical understanding of these three-dimensional unsteady flow fields and assess their impact on the compressor performance, the flow field inside the compressors needs to be studied as a whole to include asymmetric and unsteady interaction between the compressor components. In the current study, a unified three-dimensional numerical model was built for a transonic centrifugal compressor including impeller, diffusers, and volute. HFC 134a was used as the working fluid. The thermodynamic and transport properties of the refrigerant gas were modeled by the Martin-Hou equation of state and power laws, respectively. The three-dimensional unsteady flow field was simulated with a Navier-Stokes solver using thek−εturbulent model. The overall performance parameters are obtained by integrating the field quantities. Both the unsteady flow field and the overall performance are analyzed comparatively for each component. The compressor was tested in a water chiller system instrumented to obtain both the overall performance data and local flow-field quantities. The experimental and numerical results agree well. The correlation between the overall compressor performance and local flow-field quantities is defined. The methodology developed and data obtained in these studies can be applied to the centrifugal compressor design and optimization.

The Aerodynamics of Three-Dimensional Vaned Diffusers in Industrial Centrifugal Compressors

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Abdelwahab
Keyword(s):  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Pressure Recovery ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Spanwise Direction ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Blade Loading ◽  
Recovery Capacity ◽  
Close Proximity

Vaned diffusers have been used successfully as efficient and compact dynamic pressure recovery devices in industrial centrifugal compressor stages. Typically such diffusers consist of a cascade of two-dimensional blades distributed circumferentially at close proximity to the impeller exit. In this paper three low-solidity diffuser blade geometries are numerically investigated. The first geometry employs variable stagger stacking of similar blade sections along the blade span. The second employs linearly inclined stacking to generate blade lean along the diffuser span. The third geometry employs the conventional two-dimensional low-solidity diffuser geometry with no variable stagger or lean. The variable stagger blade arrangement has the potential of better aligning the diffuser leading edges with the highly non-uniform flow leaving the impeller. Both variable stagger and linearly leaned diffuser blade arrangements, however, have the effect of redistributing the blade loading and flow streamlines in the spanwise direction leading to improved efficiency and pressure recovery capacity of the diffuser. In this paper a description of the proposed diffuser geometries is presented. The results of Three-dimensional Navier-Stokes numerical simulations of the three centrifugal compressor arrangements are discussed. Comparisons between the performance of the two and three-dimensional diffuser blade geometries are presented. The comparisons indeed show that the variable stagger and leaned diffusers present an improvement in the diffuser operating range and pressure recovery capacity over the conventional two-dimensional diffuser geometry.

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Return Channel Vane Aerodynamics With Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Vanes

2016 ◽  
Vol 139 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Hildebrandt ◽  
F. Schilling
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Static Pressure ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Field Performance ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Flow Angle ◽  
Overall Performance ◽  
Return Channel

The present paper deals with the numerical and experimental investigation of the effect of return channel (RCH) dimensions of a centrifugal compressor stage on the aerodynamic performance. Three different return channel stages were investigated, two stages comprising three-dimensional (3D) return channel blades and one stage comprising two-dimensional (2D) RCH vanes. The analysis was performed regarding both the investigation of overall performance (stage efficiency, RCH total pressure loss coefficient) and detailed flow-field performance. For detailed experimental flow-field investigation at the stage exit, six circumferentially traversed three-hole probes were positioned downstream the return channel exit in order to get two-dimensional flow-field information. Additionally, static pressure wall measurements were taken at the hub and shroud pressure and suction side (SS) of the 2D and 3D return channel blades. The return channel system overall performance was calculated by measurements of the circumferentially averaged 1D flow field downstream the diffuser exit and downstream the stage exit. Dependent on the type of return channel blade, the numerical and experimental results show a significant effect on the flow field overall and detail performance. In general, satisfactory agreement between computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-prediction and test-rig measurements was achieved regarding overall and flow-field performance. In comparison with the measurements, the CFD-calculated stage performance (efficiency and pressure rise coefficient) of all the 3D-RCH stages was slightly overpredicted. Very good agreement between CFD and measurement results was found for the static pressure distribution on the RCH wall surfaces while small CFD-deviations occur in the measured flow angle at the stage exit, dependent on the turbulence model selected.

scholarly journals Design and Testing of Swept and Leaned Outlet Guide Vanes to Reduce Stator-Strut-Splitter Aerodynamic Flow Interactions

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Wadia ◽  
P. N. Szucs ◽  
K. L. Gundy-Burlet
Keyword(s):  
Dimensional Analysis ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Potential Flow ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Angle Distribution ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Guide Vanes ◽  
Flow Interactions ◽  
Design And Testing

Large circumferential varying pressure levels produced by aerodynamic flow interactions between downstream stators and struts present a potential noise and stability margin liability in a compression component. These interactions are presently controlled by tailoring the camber and/or stagger angles of vanes neighboring the fan frame struts. This paper reports on the design and testing of a unique set of swept and leaned fan outlet guide vanes (OGVs) that do not require this local tailoring even though the OGVs are closely coupled with the fan frame struts and splitter to reduce engine length. The swept and leaned OGVs not only reduce core-duct diffusion, but they also reduce the potential flow interaction between the stator and the strut relative to that produced by conventional radial OGVs. First, the design of the outlet guide vanes using a single bladerow three-dimensional viscous flow analysis is outlined. Next, a two-dimensional potential flow analysis was used for the coupled OGV-frame system to obtain a circumferentially non-uniform stator stagger angle distribution to further reduce the upstream static pressure disturbance. Recognizing the limitations of the two-dimensional potential flow analysis for this highly three-dimensional set of leaned OGVs, as a final evaluation of the OGV-strut system design, a full three-dimensional viscous analysis of a periodic circumferential sector of the OGVs, including the fan frame struts and splitter, was performed. The computer model was derived from a NASA-developed code used in simulating the flow field for external aerodynamic applications with complex geometries. The three-dimensional coupled OGV-frame analysis included the uniformly-staggered OGVs configuration and the variably-staggered OGVs configuration determined by the two-dimensional potential flow analysis. Contrary to the two-dimensional calculations, the three-dimensional analysis revealed significant flow problems with the variably-staggered OGVs configuration and showed less upstream flow non-uniformity with the uniformly-staggered OGVs configuration. The flow redistribution in both the radial and tangential directions, captured fully only in the three-dimensional analysis, was identified as the prime contributor to the lower flow non-uniformity with the uniformly-staggered OGVs configuration. The coupled three-dimensional analysis was also used to validate the design at off-design conditions. Engine test performance and stability measurements with both uniformly- and variably-staggered OGVs configurations with and without the presence of inlet distortion confirmed the conclusions from the three-dimensional analysis.

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