Assessment of the Loss Map of a Centrifugal Compressor’s External Volute

Author(s):  
Thomas Ceyrowsky ◽  
Andre Hildebrandt ◽  
Martin Heinrich ◽  
Rüdiger Schwarze

Abstract A volute’s loss coefficient is highly sensitive to Mach number, circumferential velocity and flow rate at volute inlet. In case of a backswept impeller, these parameters are coupled to each other. An increased flowrate leads to a steeper absolute flow angle at impeller exit and hence to a decrease of circumferential velocity. The absolute Mach number is also altered. Therefore, in order to investigate the effects of flowrate and flow angle separately, one would have to vary the diffuser width together with the flowrate, keeping the flow angle constant. This corresponds to coupling the volute with aerodynamically similar impellers, designed for higher and lower flowrates. Since this is elaborate, there is no adequate study available in open literature, assessing a volute’s global loss map. In this work, a new numerical approach for the prediction of a volute’s representative loss map is presented: The volute is calculated by means of steady CFD as a standalone component. The inlet boundary conditions are carefully selected by means of 1D and applied together with different diffuser widths. This allows for separate investigation of the impacts of flow angle, flow rate and Mach number. Validation against full stage CFD confirms the applicability of the standalone model. The results exhibit that minimum losses do not necessarily occur at the theoretical matching point but either when the volute is smaller or bigger, depending on the inlet flow angle. Investigations of the loss mechanisms at different operating conditions provide useful guidelines for volute design. Finally, the validity of these study’s findings for volutes with different geometrical features is examined by comparison with experimental data as well as with fullstage CFD.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-63
Author(s):  
Thomas Ceyrowsky ◽  
Andre Hildebrandt ◽  
Martin Heinrich ◽  
Rüdiger Schwarze

Abstract A volute's loss coefficient is highly sensitive to Mach number, circumferential velocity and flow rate at volute inlet. In case of a backswept impeller, these parameters are coupled to each other. Therefore, in order to investigate the effects of flowrate and flow angle separately, one would have to vary the diffuser width together with the flowrate, keeping the flow angle constant. This corresponds to coupling the volute with aerodynamically similar impellers, designed for higher and lower flowrates. Since this is elaborate, there is no adequate study available in open literature, assessing a volute's global loss map. In this work, a new numerical approach for the prediction of a volute's representative loss map is presented: The volute is calculated by means of steady CFD as a standalone component. The inlet boundary conditions are carefully selected by means of 1D and applied together with different diffuser widths. This allows for separate investigation of the impacts of flow angle, flow rate and Mach number. Validation against full stage CFD confirms the applicability of the standalone model. The results exhibit that minimum losses do not necessarily occur at the theoretical matching point but either when the volute is smaller or bigger, depending on the inlet flow angle. Investigations of the loss mechanisms at different operating conditions provide useful guidelines for volute design. Finally, the validity of these study's findings for volutes with different geometrical features is examined by comparison with experimental data as well as with fullstage CFD.


2016 ◽  
Vol 821 ◽  
pp. 48-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomáš Jelínek ◽  
Petr Straka ◽  
Milan Kladrubský

For the needs of high-performance steam turbines producer the data of a blade section measurement have been analyzed in detail using an experimental and numerical approach. The blade section is used on prismatic blades in high and medium pressure steam turbine parts. The linear blade cascade was tested at four pitch/chord ratios at two different stagger angles. The blade cascade was tested under two levels of Reynolds number in the range of output izentropic Mach numbers from 0.4 to 0.9.The inlet of the test section was measured pitch-wise by five-hole probe to determine the inlet flow angle. The free stream turbulence of inlet flow was determined at 2.5% what is very close to the operating conditions on first high pressure stages. Two-dimensional flow field at the center of the blades was traversed pitch-wise downstream the cascade by means of a five-hole needle pressure probe to find out the overall integral characteristics. The blade loading was measured throughout surface pressure taps at the blade center. An in-house code based on a system of Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes equation closed by non-linear two-equation EARSM k-ω turbulence model was adopted for the predictions. The code utilizes an algebraic model of bypass transition valid for both attached and separated flows taking into account the effect of free-stream turbulence and pressure gradient. Results are presented by integral characteristic in means of kinetic energy loss coefficient and velocity or pressure distribution in the blade wakes or on the blade surface. In this article, the effect of investigated criteria and comparison of experimental and numerical approach are presented and discussed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 136 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Rosa Taddei ◽  
Francesco Larocca

Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations with blade blockage and blade force source terms are solved in the meridional plane of complete axial flow turbomachinery using a finite-volume scheme. The equations of the compressible actuator disk (AD) are introduced to modify the evaluation of the convective fluxes at the leading and trailing edges (LEs and TEs). An AD behaves as a compact blade force which instantaneously turns the flow with no production of unphysical entropy. This avoids unphysical incidence loss across the LE discontinuity and allows for application of all of the desired deviation at the TE. Unlike previous treatments, the model needs no handmade modification of the throughflow (TF) surface and does not discriminate between inviscid and viscous meridional flows, which allows for coping with strong incidence gradients through the annulus wall boundary layers and with secondary deviation. This paper derives a generalized blade force term that includes the contribution of the LE and TE ADs in the divergence form of the TF equations and leads to generalized definitions of blade load, blade thrust, shaft torque, and shaft power. In analyzing a linear flat plate cascade with an incidence of 32 deg and a deviation of 21 deg, the proposed model provided a 105 reduction of unphysical total pressure loss compared to the numerical solution with no modeling. The computed mass flow rate, blade load, and blade thrust showed excellent agreement with the theoretical values. The complete RANS TF solver was used to analyze a four-stage turbine in design and off-design conditions with a spanwise-averaged incidence of up to 2 deg and 43 deg, respectively. Compared to a traditional streamline curvature solution, the RANS solution with incidence and deviation modeling provided a 0.1 to 0.7% accurate prediction of mass flow rate, shaft power, total pressure ratio, and adiabatic efficiency in both the operating conditions. It also stressed satisfactory agreement concerning the spanwise distributions of flow angle and Mach number at LEs and TEs. In particular, secondary deviation was effectively predicted. The RANS solution with no modeling showed acceptable performance prediction only in design conditions and could introduce no deviation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 48-62
Author(s):  
Lennart Harjes ◽  
Christoph Bode ◽  
Jonas Grubert ◽  
Philip Frantzheld ◽  
Patrick Koch ◽  
...  

The Propulsion Test Facility of the TU Braunschweig is capable of investigating future jet engine intakes and fan aerodynamics to a high level of detail. A goal of this facility is the examination of coupled fan-intake-interactions which is not possible in any existing test bench around the world. Before doing research on these interactions, it is important to undergo proper studies of isolated aspirated intakes and fans under varying operating conditions (design and off-design). Therefore comparable result of the well-known LARA nacelle to existing experimental and numerical data has been generated for a first validation purpose. Therefore, comparable studies have been conducted with the LARA nacelle, to that of experimental and numerical investigations performed in the early 1990s at the ONERA F1 wind tunnel (mention reference), in order to generate results for validation. The first results of the validation experiment show differences in peak Mach number between the ONERA F1 and PTF experimental data for identical boundary conditions based on Mach number and crosswind. To investigate this further, a comprehensive numerical study has been carried out. It was inferred that the discrepancy was mainly caused by the Reynolds number effect within the PTF environment and its sensitivity to the inlet flow angle distribution with regard to angle of attack for crosswind. Within the validation test campaign, the experimental investigations showed a separation and reattachment hysteresis, which was identified when crosswind as well as nacelle mass flow had been increased or decreased to set up the different operating points. This phenomenon has still no established theoretical basis for understanding the aerodynamic behaviour. Overall, the applicability of conventional RANS models is shown. Additionally, the sensitivity to the aforementioned boundary conditions and the numerical reproducibility of the hysteresis phenomenon are discussed and compared to new experimental data in detail.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 126-130
Author(s):  
Krasimir Kalev

AbstractA schematic diagram of a hydraulic drive system is provided to stabilize the speed of the working body by compensating for volumetric losses in the hydraulic motor. The diagram shows the inclusion of an originally developed self-adjusting choke whose flow rate in the inlet pressure change range tends to reverse - with increasing pressure the flow through it decreases. Dependent on the hydraulic characteristics of the hydraulic motor and the specific operating conditions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 369-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Pacini ◽  
Alessandra Costanzo ◽  
Diego Masotti

An increasing interest is arising in developing miniaturized antennas in the microwave range. However, even when the adopted antennas dimensions are small compared with the wavelength, radiation performances have to be preserved to keep the system-operating conditions. For this purpose, magneto-dielectric materials are currently exploited as promising substrates, which allows us to reduce antenna dimensions by exploiting both relative permittivity and permeability. In this paper, we address generic antennas in resonant conditions and we develop a general theoretical approach, not based on simplified equivalent models, to establish topologies most suitable for exploiting high permeability and/or high-permittivity substrates, for miniaturization purposes. A novel definition of the region pertaining to the antenna near-field and of the associated field strength is proposed. It is then showed that radiation efficiency and bandwidth can be preserved only by a selected combinations of antenna topologies and substrate characteristics. Indeed, by the proposed independent approach, we confirm that non-dispersive magneto-dielectric materials with relative permeability greater than unit, can be efficiently adopted only by antennas that are mainly represented by equivalent magnetic sources. Conversely, if equivalent electric sources are involved, the antenna performances are significantly degraded. The theoretical results are validated by full-wave numerical simulations of reference topologies.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1546
Author(s):  
Árpád Imre-Lucaci ◽  
Melinda Fogarasi ◽  
Florica Imre-Lucaci ◽  
Szabolcs Fogarasi

This paper presents a novel approach for the recovery of lead from waste cathode-ray tube (CRT) glass by applying a combined chemical-electrochemical process which allows the simultaneous recovery of Pb from waste CRT glass and electrochemical regeneration of the leaching agent. The optimal operating conditions were identified based on the influence of leaching agent concentration, recirculation flow rate and current density on the main technical performance indicators. The experimental results demonstrate that the process is the most efficient at 0.6 M acetic acid concentration, flow rate of 45 mL/min and current density of 4 mA/cm2. The mass balance data corresponding to the recycling of 10 kg/h waste CRT glass in the identified optimal operating conditions was used for the environmental assessment of the process. The General Effect Indices (GEIs), obtained through the Biwer Heinzle method for the input and output streams of the process, indicate that the developed recovery process not only achieve a complete recovery of lead but it is eco-friendly as well.


Author(s):  
Corine Meuleman ◽  
Frank Willems ◽  
Rick de Lange ◽  
Bram de Jager

Surge is measured in a low-speed radial compressor with a vaned diffuser. For this system, the flow coefficient at surge is determined. This coefficient is a measure for the inducer inlet flow angle and is found to increase with increasing rotational speed. Moreover, the frequency and amplitude of the pressure oscillations during fully-developed surge are compared with results obtained with the Greitzer lumped parameter model. The measured surge frequency increases when the compressor mass flow is throttled to a smaller flow rate. Simulations show that the Greitzer model describes this relation reasonably well except for low rotational speeds. The predicted amplitude of the pressure rise oscillations is approximately two times too small when deep surge is met in the simulations. For classic surge, the agreement is worse. The amplitude is found to depend strongly on the shape of the compressor and throttle characteristic, which are not accurately known.


2013 ◽  
Vol 67 (10) ◽  
pp. 2141-2147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Atheba ◽  
Patrick Drogui ◽  
Brahima Seyhi ◽  
Didier Robert

The present work evaluates the potential of the photocatalysis (PC) process for the degradation of butylparaben (BPB). Relatively high treatment efficiency was achieved by comparison to photochemical process. Prior to photocatalytic degradation, adsorption (AD) of BPB occurred on the titanium dioxide (TiO2)-supported catalyst. AD was described by Langmuir isotherm (KL = 0.085 L g−1, qm = 4.77 mg g−1). The influence of angle of inclination of the reactor, pH, recirculation flow rate and initial concentration of BPB were investigated. The PC process applied under optimal operating conditions (recirculation flow rate of 0.15 L min−1, angle of inclination of 15°, pH = 7 and 5 mg L−1 of BPB) is able to oxidize 84.9–96.6% of BPB and to ensure around 38.7% of mineralization. The Langmuir–Hinshelwood kinetic model described well the photocatalytic oxidation of BPB (k = 7.02 mg L−1 h−1, K = 0.364 L mg−1).


2011 ◽  
Vol 189-193 ◽  
pp. 2285-2288
Author(s):  
Wen Hua Jia ◽  
Chen Bo Yin ◽  
Guo Jin Jiang

Flow features, specially, flow rate, discharge coefficient and efflux angle under different operating conditions are numerically simulated, and the effects of shapes and the number of notches on them are analyzed. To simulate flow features, 3D models are developed as commercially available fluid flow models. Most construction machineries in different conditions require different actions. Thus, in order to be capable of different actions and exhibit good dynamic behavior, flow features should be achieved in designing an optimized proportional directional spool valve.


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