Impact of Impeller Casing Treatment on the Acoustics of a Small High Speed Centrifugal Compressor

Author(s):  
Sidharath Sharma ◽  
Jorge García-Tíscar ◽  
John M. Allport ◽  
Martyn L. Jupp ◽  
Ambrose K. Nickson

Ported shroud casing treatment is widely used to delay the onset of surge and thereby enhancing the aerodynamic stability of a centrifugal compressor by recirculating the low momentum fluid in the blade passage. Performance losses associated with the use of recirculation casing treatment are well established in the literature and this is an area of active research. The other, less researched aspect of the casing treatment is its impact on the acoustics of the compressor. This work investigates the impact of ported shroud casing treatment on the acoustic characteristics of the compressor. The flow in two compressor configurations viz. with and without casing treatment operating at the design operating conditions of an iso-speed line are numerically modelled and validated with experimental data from gas stand measurements. The pressure fluctuations calculated as the flow solution are used to compute the spectral signatures at multiple locations to investigate the acoustic phenomenon associated with each configuration. Propagation of the frequency content through the ducts has been estimated with the aid of method of characteristics to enhance the content coming from the compressor. Expected tonal aerodynamic noise sources such as monopole (buzz-saw tones) and dipole (Blade Pass Frequency) are clearly identified in the acoustic spectra of the two configurations. The comparison of two configurations shows higher overall levels and tonal content in the case of a compressor with ported shroud operating at design conditions due to the presence of ‘mid-tones’.

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Klemens Vogel ◽  
Reza S. Abhari ◽  
Armin Zemp

Vaned diffusers in centrifugal compressor stages are used to achieve higher stage pressure ratios, higher stage efficiencies, and more compact designs. The interaction of the stationary diffuser with the impeller can lead to resonant vibration with potentially devastating effects. This paper presents unsteady diffuser vane surface pressure measurements using in-house developed, flush mounted, fast response piezoresistive pressure transducers. The unsteady pressures were recorded for nine operating conditions, covering a wide range of the compressor map. Experimental work was complemented by 3D unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations using ansys cfx V12.1 to detail the unsteady diffuser aerodynamics. Pressure fluctuations of up to 34.4% of the inlet pressure were found. High pressure variations are present all along the vane and are not restricted to the leading edge region. Frequency analysis of the measured vane surface pressures show that reduced impeller loading, and the corresponding reduction of tip leakage fluid changes the characteristics of the fluctuations from a main blade count to a total blade count. The unsteady pressure fluctuations in the diffuser originate from three distinct locations. The impact of the jet-wake flow leaving the impeller results in high variation close to the leading edge. It was observed that CFD results overpredicted the amplitude of the pressure fluctuation on average by 62%.


Author(s):  
Klemens Vogel ◽  
Reza S. Abhari ◽  
Armin Zemp

Vaned diffusers in centrifugal compressor stages are used to achieve higher stage pressure ratios, higher stage efficiencies and more compact designs. The interaction of the stationary diffuser with the impeller can lead to resonant vibration with potentially devastating effects. This paper presents unsteady diffuser vane surface pressure measurements using in-house developed, flush mounted, fast response piezo-resistive pressure transducers. The unsteady pressures were recorded for 9 operating conditions, covering a wide range of the compressor map. Experimental work was complemented by 3D unsteady CFD simulations using ANSYS CFX V12.1 to detail the unsteady diffuser aerodynamics. Pressure fluctuations of up to 34.4% of the inlet pressure were found. High pressure variations are present all along the vane and are not restricted to the leading edge region. Frequency analysis of the measured vane surface pressures show that reduced impeller loading and the corresponding reduction of tip leakage fluid changes the characteristics of the fluctuations from a main blade count to a total blade count. The unsteady pressure fluctuations in the diffuser originate from three distinct locations. The impact of the jet wake flow leaving the impeller results in high variation close to the leading edge. It was observed that CFD results overpredicted the amplitude of the pressure fluctuation on average by 62%.


Author(s):  
Suheab Thamizullah ◽  
Abdul Nassar ◽  
Antonio Davis ◽  
Gaurav Giri ◽  
Leonid Moroz

Abstract Turbochargers are commonly used in automotive engines to increase the internal combustion engine performance during off-design operating conditions. When used, the widest operating range for the turbocharger is desired, which is limited on the compressor side by the choke condition and the surge phenomenon. The ported shroud technology is used to extend the operable working range of the compressor, by permitting flow disturbances that block the blade passage to escape and stream back through the shroud cavity to the compressor inlet. The impact of this technology, on a speed-line, at near optimal operating condition, near choke operating condition and near surge operating condition is investigated. The ported shroud (PS) self-recirculating casing treatment is widely used to delay the onset of surge by enhancing the aerodynamic stability of the turbocharger compressor. While the ported shroud design delays surge, it usually comes with a small penalty in efficiency. This research involves designing a single-stage centrifugal compressor for the given specifications, considering the application of an automotive turbocharger. The ported shroud was then introduced in the centrifugal compressor. The performance characteristics were obtained, both at the design and at off-design conditions, both with and without the ported shroud. The performance was compared at various off-design operating speed lines. The entire study, from designing the compressor to optimizing the ported shroud configuration, was performed using the commercial AxSTREAM® software platform. Parametric studies were performed to study the effect of ported shroud axial location along the blade axial length on the operating range and performance. The baseline design, without the ported shroud (P0), and the final geometry with it for all PS inlet axial locations (P1 to P5) were analysed using a commercial CFD package and the results were compared with those from the streamline solver.


Author(s):  
Jisha Noushad ◽  
Anand Babu Dhamarla ◽  
Pavan Kumar

The operating range of any compressor is controlled by Surge and Choke. Surge occurs at lower mass flow rates with large pressure fluctuations and flow reversals, while choke occurs at higher mass flow rates when the flow rate reaches the limit which compressor can discharge. Ported shroud is a cost effective casing treatment that can greatly improve operating range of centrifugal compressors. By removing the stagnant and reverse flow from shroud wall boundary-layer region and recirculating it to impeller inlet, it has been demonstrated that larger range of operability can be achieved without much loss on compressor efficiency. This paper demonstrates the improvement of a centrifugal compressor operational range with ported shroud configuration. A series of CFD simulations were carried out with open source centrifugal compressor geometry (NASA HPCC 4:1) to create performance characteristics/speed-lines. The CFD methodology and practices were validated by comparing the results with the experimental data. Performance evaluation of ported shroud configuration is done with respect to solid shroud. Ported shroud compressor is proven to give higher choke mass flow and also a better surge margin compared to the Solid shroud model. The phenomena of in-flowing and out-flowing port have also been demonstrated. Emphasis was given to understand how ported shroud helps to achieve a better performance. A design optimization study has also been carried out in order to establish the optimum ported shroud configuration. Design parameter such as port location has been selected and the effect of this parameter on the performance of the compressor is studied using CFD. Optimum port geometry was proposed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 998-1011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidharath Sharma ◽  
Jorge García-Tíscar ◽  
John M Allport ◽  
Simon Barrans ◽  
Ambrose K Nickson

Centrifugal turbomachines of smaller sizes operating at higher speeds have become pervasive due to the increased specific power and reliability achieved by improvements in manufacturing, materials and computational methods. The presence of these small turbomachines, specifically compressors, in helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, auxiliary power units, turbochargers and micro gas turbines necessitates superior aerodynamic performance over a broad operational range, which is widely achieved by ported shroud casing designs. In addition to aerodynamic performance, acoustic emissions have become a critical aspect of design for these small centrifugal compressors due to high operational speeds. Furthermore, the literature on the acoustic effects of the casing treatment is rather limited. Therefore, the impact of ported shroud casing treatment on the acoustic and flow features of the compressor operating at the design and near-surge conditions have been quantified by numerically modelling the open and blocked configuration of the compressors. Upon comparing with experimental results, the numerical spectra are shown to capture the differences between the two configurations at the investigated operating points with reasonable accuracy. Although the casing treatment is generally seen to decrease the overall acoustic emission of the compressor at both operating conditions, increased propagation of tonal content in the direction upstream to the impeller is observed, particularly for design operation. Broadband characteristics in the lower and medium frequency regions usually associated with near-surge operation including ‘whoosh’ noise are observed to be alleviated by the ported shroud casing treatment.


Author(s):  
Kevin Prieur ◽  
Daniel Durox ◽  
Thierry Schuller ◽  
Sébastien Candel

This article reports experiments carried out in the MICCA-spray combustor developed at EM2C laboratory. This system comprises 16 swirl spray injectors. Liquid n-heptane is injected by simplex atomizers. The combustion chamber is formed by two cylindrical quartz tubes allowing full optical access to the flame region and it is equipped with 12 pressure sensors recording signals in the plenum and chamber. A high-speed camera provides images of the flames and photomultipliers record the light intensity from different flames. For certain operating conditions, the system exhibits well defined instabilities coupled by the first azimuthal mode of the chamber at a frequency of 750 Hz. These instabilities occur in the form of bursts. Examination of the pressure and the light intensity signals gives access to the acoustic energy source term. Analysis of the phase fluctuations between the two signals is carried out using cross-spectral analysis. At limit cycle, large pressure fluctuations of 5000 Pa are reached, and these levels persist over a finite period of time. Analysis of the signals using the spin ratio indicates that the standing mode is predominant. Flame dynamics at the pressure antinodal line reveals a strong longitudinal pulsation with heat release rate oscillations in phase and increasing linearly with the acoustic pressure for every oscillation levels. At the pressure nodal line, the flames are subjected to large transverse velocity fluctuations leading to a transverse motion of the flames and partial blow-off. Scenarios and modeling elements are developed to interpret these features.


Author(s):  
Peter Gloeckner ◽  
Klaus Dullenkopf ◽  
Michael Flouros

Operating conditions in high speed mainshaft ball bearings applied in new aircraft propulsion systems require enhanced bearing designs and materials. Rotational speeds, loads, demands on higher thrust capability, and reliability have increased continuously over the last years. A consequence of these increasing operating conditions are increased bearing temperatures. A state of the art jet engine high speed ball bearing has been modified with an oil channel in the outer diameter of the bearing. This oil channel provides direct cooling of the outer ring. Rig testing under typical flight conditions has been performed to investigate the cooling efficiency of the outer ring oil channel. In this paper the experimental results including bearing temperature distribution, power dissipation, bearing oil pumping and the impact on oil mass and parasitic power loss reduction are presented.


Author(s):  
Yan Ma ◽  
Guang Xi ◽  
Guangkuan Wu

The present paper describes an investigation of stall margin enhancement and a detailed analysis of the impeller flow field due to self-recirculation casing treatment (SRCT) configuration of a high-speed small-size centrifugal impeller. The influence of different SRCT configurations on the impeller flow field at near-stall condition has been analyzed, highlighting the improvement in stall flow ability. This paper also discusses the influence of the SRCT configurations on the inlet flow angle, inlet swirl velocity and loss distribution in the impeller passage to understand the mechanism of the SRCT configurations in enhancing the stall margin of the impeller. The variation of the bleed flow rate at different operating conditions is also presented in this paper. Finally, the time-averaged unsteady simulation results at near-stall point are presented and compared with steady-state solutions.


Author(s):  
Mónica Galdo Vega ◽  
Jesus Manuel Fernandez Oro ◽  
Katia María Argüelles Díaz ◽  
Carlos Santolaria Morros

This second part is devoted to the identification of vortex sound sources in low-speed turbomachinery. As a starting point, the time-resolved evolution of the vortical motions associated to the wake shear layers (reported in the first part of the present study) is employed to obtain vorticity distributions in both blade-to-blade and traverse locations throughout the axial fan stage. Following, the Powell analogy for generation of vortex sound is revisited to obtain the noise sources in the nearfield region of the fan. Both numerical and experimental databases presented previously are now post-processed to achieve a deep understanding of the aeroacoustic behavior of the vortical scales present in the flow. A LES simulation at midspan, using a 2.5D scheme, allows an accurate description of the turn-out time of the shedding vortices, within high-density meshes in the blades and vanes passages, and a correct modeling of the dynamics of turbulence. Besides, thermal anemometry has been employed with a two-wire probe to measure the planar flow in the midspan sections of the fan. Statistical procedures and signal conditioning of velocity traces have confirmed experimentally the unsteady flow patterns devised in the numerical model. The comparison of the rotor-stator and the stator-rotor configurations provides the influence of the wake mixing and the nucleation of turbulent spots in the distribution of the Powell source terms. Moreover, the relation between the turbomachine configuration and the generation of vortex sound can be established, including the impact of the operating conditions and the contributions of the interaction mechanisms.


Author(s):  
Timothy C. Allison ◽  
Natalie R. Smith ◽  
Robert Pelton ◽  
Jason C. Wilkes ◽  
Sewoong Jung

Successful implementation of sCO2 power cycles requires high compressor efficiency at both the design-point and over a wide operating range in order to maximize cycle power output and maintain stable operation over a wide range of transient and part-load operating conditions. This requirement is particularly true for air-cooled cycles where compressor inlet density is a strong function of inlet temperature that is subject to daily and seasonal variations as well as transient events. In order to meet these requirements, a novel centrifugal compressor stage design was developed that incorporates multiple novel range extension features, including a passive recirculating casing treatment and semi-open impeller design. This design, presented and analyzed for CO2 operation in a previous paper, was fabricated via direct metal laser sintering and tested in an open-loop test rig in order to validate simulation results and the effectiveness of the casing treatment configuration. Predicted performance curves in air and CO2 conditions are compared, resulting in a reduced diffuser width requirement for the air test in order to match design velocities and demonstrate the casing treatment. Test results show that the casing treatment performance generally matched computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions, demonstrating an operating range of 69% and efficiency above air predictions across the entire map. The casing treatment configuration demonstrated improvements over the solid wall configuration in stage performance and flow characteristics at low flows, resulting in an effective 14% increase in operating range with a 0.5-point efficiency penalty. The test results are also compared to a traditional fully shrouded impeller with the same flow coefficient and similar head coefficient, showing a 42% range improvement over traditional designs.


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