Casing Treatment of Centrifugal Compressors

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jisha Noushad ◽  
Anand Babu Dhamarla ◽  
Pavan Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flow ◽  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Reverse Flow ◽  
Pressure Fluctuations ◽  
Centrifugal Compressors ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Casing Treatment ◽  
Operating Range ◽  
Mass Flow Rates ◽  
Ported Shroud

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.

An Investigation of Centrifugal Compressor Stability Enhancement Using a Novel Vaned Diffuser Recirculation Technique

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Galloway ◽  
Daniel Rusch ◽  
Stephen Spence ◽  
Klemens Vogel ◽  
René Hunziker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flow ◽  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Vaned Diffuser ◽  
Casing Treatment ◽  
Operating Range ◽  
Stable Operating ◽  
Mass Flow Rates ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Casing Treatments

The main centrifugal compressor performance criteria are pressure ratio, efficiency, and wide flow range. The relative importance of these criteria, and therefore the optimum design balance, varies between different applications. Vaned diffusers are generally used for high-performance applications as they can achieve higher efficiencies and pressure ratios, but have a reduced operating range, in comparison to vaneless diffusers. Many impeller-based casing treatments have been developed to enlarge the operating range of centrifugal compressors over the last decades but there is much less information available in open literature for diffuser focused methods, and they are not widely adopted in commercial compressor stages. The development of aerodynamic instabilities at low mass flow rate operating conditions can lead to the onset of rotating stall or surge, limiting the stable operating range of the centrifugal compressor stage. More understanding of these aerodynamic instabilities has been established in recent years. Based on this additional knowledge, new casing treatments can be developed to prevent or suppress the development of these instabilities, thus increasing the compressor stability at low mass flow rates. This paper presents a novel vaned diffuser casing treatment that successfully increased the stable operating range at low mass flow rates and high pressure ratios. Detailed experimental measurements from a high pressure ratio turbocharger compressor stage combined with complementary CFD simulations were used to examine the effect of the new diffuser casing treatment on the compressor flow field and led to the improvement in overall compressor stability. A detailed description of how the new casing treatment operates is presented within the paper.

scholarly journals Stall Margin Improvement in a Centrifugal Compressor through Inducer Casing Treatment

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
V. V. N. K. Satish Koyyalamudi ◽  
Quamber H. Nagpurwala
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flow ◽  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Treatment Technique ◽  
Centrifugal Compressors ◽  
Stall Margin ◽  
Casing Treatment ◽  
Operating Range ◽  
Stable Operating ◽  
Stall Margin Improvement

The increasing trend of high stage pressure ratio with increased aerodynamic loading has led to reduction in stable operating range of centrifugal compressors with stall and surge initiating at relatively higher mass flow rates. The casing treatment technique of stall control is found to be effective in axial compressors, but very limited research work is published on the application of this technique in centrifugal compressors. Present research was aimed to investigate the effect of casing treatment on the performance and stall margin of a high speed, 4 : 1 pressure ratio centrifugal compressor through numerical simulations using ANSYS CFX software. Three casing treatment configurations were developed and incorporated in the shroud over the inducer of the impeller. The predicted performance of baseline compressor (without casing treatment) was in good agreement with published experimental data. The compressor with different inducer casing treatment geometries showed varying levels of stall margin improvement, up to a maximum of 18%. While the peak efficiency of the compressor with casing treatment dropped by 0.8%–1% compared to the baseline compressor, the choke mass flow rate was improved by 9.5%, thus enhancing the total stable operating range. The inlet configuration of the casing treatment was found to play an important role in stall margin improvement.

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

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidharath Sharma ◽  
Jorge García-Tíscar ◽  
John M. Allport ◽  
Martyn L. Jupp ◽  
Ambrose K. Nickson
Keyword(s):  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Pressure Fluctuations ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Aerodynamic Noise ◽  
Noise Sources ◽  
Casing Treatment ◽  
Active Research ◽  
Ported Shroud ◽  
The Impact

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’.

Characterizing Flow Effects of Ported Shroud Casing Treatment on Centrifugal Compressor Performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
George A. Christou ◽  
Choon S. Tan ◽  
Borislav T. Sirakov ◽  
Vai-Man Lei ◽  
Giuseppe Alescio
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flow ◽  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Flow Path ◽  
Main Flow ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Casing Treatment ◽  
Compressor Performance ◽  
Flow Effects ◽  
Ported Shroud

This paper presents an investigation of the effects of ported shroud (PS) self-recirculating casing treatment used in turbocharger centrifugal compressors for increasing the operable range. The investigation consists of computing three-dimensional flow in a representative centrifugal compressor with and without PS at various levels of approximations in flow physics and geometrical configuration; this provides an enabler for establishing the causal link between PS flow effects and compressor performance changes. It is shown that the main flow path perceives the PS flow as a combination of flow actuations that include injection and removal of mass flow and injection of axial momentum and tangential momentum. A computational model in which the presence of the PS is replaced by imposed boundary conditions (BCs) that reflect the individual flow actuations has thus been formulated and implemented. The removal of a fraction of the inducer mass flow has been determined to be the dominant flow actuation in setting the performance of PS compressors. Mass flow removal reduces the flow blockage associated with the impeller tip leakage flow and increases the diffusion in the main flow path. Adding swirl to the injected flow in the direction opposite to the wheel rotation results in an increase of the stagnation pressure ratio and a decrease of the efficiency. The loss generation in the flow path has been defined to rationalize efficiency changes associated with PS compressor operation.

Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Tip Clearance to the Performance of a Small Centrifugal Compressor

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Tang ◽  
Teemu Turunen-Saaresti ◽  
Arttu Reunanen ◽  
Juha Honkatukia ◽  
Jaakko Larjola
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flow ◽  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Flow Distribution ◽  
Ideal Gas ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Flow Angle ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Real Gas ◽  
Mass Flow Rates

Numerical analysis is conducted for the 3-dimensional impeller and vaneless diffuser of a small centrifugal compressor. The influence of impeller tip clearance is investigated. A Navier-Stokes flow solver Finflo has been applied for the simulation. A practical real gas model has been generated for the calculation. Simulations with different sizes of tip clearance at different mass flow rates have been made. The results are compared to experimental results at a certain tip clearance and one operating point. Reasonable agreement has been obtained. The ideal gas model has also been applied to compare with the real gas model. The numerical results show that tip clearance has a significant effect on the performance of a small centrifugal compressor. As the size of tip clearance increases, both the pressure ratio and the efficiency decrease. The decreasing rate of efficiency is higher at higher mass flow rates and lower at lower mass flow rates. The input power of the compressor hardly changes with different sizes of tip clearance, but increases as the mass flow rate increases. The incidence of impeller and flow angle at the exit of the impeller increase as the size of tip clearance increases. Correlations of the size of tip clearance with the efficiency drop and change of flow angle at the exit of impeller are given. The detailed flow distribution shows that as the size of tip clearance increases, the tangential leaking flow at the tip clearance makes the low velocity flow region grow larger and move from the suction-shroud corner to the center of the flow channel. The main flow at the pressure side is compressed and accelerated. Therefore the uniformity of the flow in the whole channel decreases. The detailed flow distribution also shows that the leaking flow is stronger at higher mass flow rates.

Numerical Investigation of Rotating Stall Characteristics and Active Stall Control in Centrifugal Compressors

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taher Halawa ◽  
Mohamed Alqaradawi ◽  
Osama Badr ◽  
Mohamed S. Gadala
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flow Rate ◽  
Mass Flow ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Rotating Stall ◽  
Air Injection ◽  
Tip Leakage Flow ◽  
Centrifugal Compressors ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Injection Angle ◽  
Mass Flow Rates

This paper focuses on providing better view for the understanding of rotating stall phenomenon in centrifugal compressors by using numerical simulations and presents a study of the role of air injection method in delaying stall inception by using different injection parameters aiming at increasing the efficiency of this method. Results showed that the formation of stall begins at the impeller inlet due to early flow separation at low mass flow rates and due to the increase of the turbulence level and the absence of fluid orientation guidance at the vaneless region. The flow weakness causes back flow that results in the formation of the tip leakage flow which causes stall development with time. Results also showed that using air injection at specified locations at the vaneless shroud surface at injection angle of 20° and with injection mass flow rate of 1.5% of the inlet design mass flow rate, can delay the stall onset to happen at lower mass flow rate about 3.8 kg/s comparing with using injection with angle of 10° with different injection mass flow rates and also comparing with the case of no injection.

scholarly journals Experimental and Numerical Assessment of the Impact of an Integrated Active Pre-Swirl Generator on Turbocharger Compressor Performance and Operating Range

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 3537
Author(s):  
Charles Stuart ◽  
Stephen Spence ◽  
Sönke Teichel ◽  
Andre Starke
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flow ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Centrifugal Impeller ◽  
Boost Pressure ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Operating Range ◽  
Surge Margin ◽  
Mass Flow Rates ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
The Impact

The implementation of increasingly stringent emissions and efficiency targets has seen engine downsizing and other complementary technologies increase in prevalence throughout the automotive sector. In order to facilitate ongoing improvements associated with the use of these strategies, delivering enhancements to the performance and stability of the turbocharger compressor when operating at low mass flow rates is of paramount importance. In spite of this, a few concepts (either active or passive) targeting such aims have successfully transitioned into use in automotive turbochargers, due primarily to the requirement for a very wide compressor-operating range. In order to overcome the operational limitations associated with existing pre-swirl generation devices such as inlet guide vanes, this study developed a concept comprising of an electrically driven axial fan mounted upstream of a standard automotive turbocharger centrifugal compressor. Rather than targeting a direct contribution to compressor boost pressure, the fan was designed to act as a variable pre-swirl generation device capable of being operated completely independently of the centrifugal impeller. It was envisioned that this architecture would allow efficient generation of the large pre-swirl angles needed for compressor surge margin extension and efficiency enhancement at low mass flow rate-operating points, while also facilitating the delivery of zero pre-swirl at higher mass flow rates to ensure no detrimental impact on performance at the rated power point of the engine. Having progressed through 1-D and 3-D aerodynamic modelling phases to understand the potential of the system, detailed component design and hardware manufacture were completed to enable an extensive experimental test campaign to be conducted. The experimental results were scrutinized to validate the numerical findings and to test the surge margin extension potential of the device. Compressor efficiency improvements of up to 3.0% pts were witnessed at the target-operating conditions.

Numerical Analysis of an Alternate Stall in a Radial Vaned Diffuser

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Benichou ◽  
I. Trébinjac
Keyword(s):  
Flow Pattern ◽  
Flow Structure ◽  
Channel Flow ◽  
Mass Flow ◽  
Computational Domain ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Operating Range ◽  
Stable Operating ◽  
Mass Flow Rates ◽  
Low Mass

The flow structure in the radial diffuser of a centrifugal compressor is analyzed from steady and unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) simulations performed at one rotation speed for which two stable operating ranges separated by an unstable zone have been experimentally experienced. Below a given mass flow rate, close to the peak efficiency point, phase-lagged single-passage simulations do not converge properly anymore. A low frequency appears in the CFD, which cannot be associated with any physical phenomenon. The computational domain is then extended, so that several passages of both the impeller and the diffuser are taken into account. At intermediate mass flow rates, an unstable operating range exists and simulations cannot converge properly either. Nevertheless, if the compressor is further throttled, another stable operating range is obtained at low mass flow rates. The flow structure in that stable operating range is rather unusual: an internal periodicity emerges inside the radial diffuser, involving a two-channel flow pattern. This two-channel flow pattern is found to be stable and fixed in time. Moreover, the phase shift between two adjacent channel pairs happens to be constant. This indicates that a new space – time periodicity is established at low mass flow rates, which involves groups of two passages in the radial diffuser. It is confirmed thanks to a new phase-lagged simulation including one impeller passage and two diffuser passages which shows a good convergence and which gives the same results, both in terms of performance and flow physics.

An Investigation on the Loss Generation Mechanisms Inside Different Centrifugal Compressor Volutes for Turbochargers

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Tanganelli ◽  
Francesco Balduzzi ◽  
Alessandro Bianchini ◽  
Giovanni Ferrara ◽  
Francesco Cencherle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Entropy Generation ◽  
Mass Flow ◽  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Generation Rate ◽  
Entropy Generation Rate ◽  
Outlet Section ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Mass Flow Rates ◽  
Generation Mechanisms ◽  
Loss Mechanisms

In centrifugal compressor design, the volute plays a key role in defining the overall efficiency and operating range of the stage. The flow at the impeller outlet is indeed characterized by a high kinetic energy content, which is first converted to potential energy in the diffuser downstream. The compressed gas is then collected by the volute at the cylindrical outlet section of the diffuser and directed to the intake piping, possibly with a further pressure recovery to enhance the stage performance. Due to the high flow speed at the volute inlet, the capability of ensuring the lowest amount of total pressure loss is pivotal to prevent a detriment of the machine efficiency. Moreover, the flow conditions change when the volute operates far from its design point: at mass flow rates lower than the design one, the flow becomes diffusive, while at higher mass flow rates the fluid is accelerated, thus leading to different loss-generation mechanisms. These phenomena are particularly relevant in turbocharger applications, where the compressor needs to cover a wide functioning range; moreover, in these applications the definition of the volute shape is often driven also by space limitations imposed by the vehicle layout, leading to a variety of volute types. The present paper reports an analysis on the sources of thermodynamic irreversibilities occurring inside different volutes applied to a centrifugal compressor for turbocharging applications. Three demonstrative geometrical configurations are analyzed by means of 3D numerical simulations using common boundary conditions to assess the overall volute performance and the different loss mechanisms, which are evaluated in terms of the local entropy generation rate. The modification of the loss mechanisms in off-design conditions is also accounted for by investigating different mass flow rates. It is finally shown that the use of the entropy generation rate for the assessment of the irreversibilities is helpful to understand and localize the sources of loss in relation to the various flow structures.

Numerical Analysis of Flow Characteristics of the Low-Speed Centrifugal Compressor Stage Comprising Wedge Diffuser

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Seralathan ◽  
N.S.V. Bhavaniprasad ◽  
J. Sai Krishna ◽  
S. Lakshmankumar ◽  
V. Hariram ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Flow Rate ◽  
Mass Flow ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Grid Turbulence ◽  
Compressor Stage ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Low Speed ◽  
Centrifugal Compressor Stage ◽  
Mass Flow Rates

Wedge type diffusers are used generally in the highly loaded stages of smaller jet engines as it is compact in size. Low speed centrifugal compressor (LSCC) is selected for this present study as experimental details are available. A centrifugal compressor stage comprising wedge type diffuser is used in this numerical investigation in which studies are carried out at design mass flow rate (30kg/s) and off-design mass flow rates (23.64kg/s and 36.36kg/s) at constant rotational speed of 1920 rpm. Single passage approach is chosen to model the computational domain which is meshed with unstructured grid. Turbulence model chosen is kω-SST. The investigation revealed the jet-wake structure along the pressure side and suction side of the impeller and its subsequently mixing at impeller exit vaneless diffuser region. Diffusion process in the LSCC is observed to be effective as the outlet values of absolute velocity are lesser compared to its inlet values. Highest static pressure rise is observed for design mass flow rate and followed by below and above off-design mass flow rates.

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