This study focuses on the vaneless diffuser of a centrifugal compressor. The examined stage consists of an unshrouded impeller, a parallel wall vaneless diffuser and a volute. The walls of the diffuser were movable allowing different pinch configurations to be investigated. The baseline geometry had no pinch i.e. the height of the diffuser was equal to the height of the impeller flow channel plus the axial running clearance. The work consists of both numerical and experimental parts. Quasi-steady, turbulent, fully 3D numerical simulations were conducted.The inlet cone, rotor and diffuser were modelled. Six different configurations were studied. The height of the pinch was altered and the pinch made to different walls was tested. Two of the numerically studied cases were also experimentally investigated. The overall performance of the compressor, the circumferential static and total pressure and the spanwise total pressure distribution before and after the diffuser were measured. The numerical and experimental studies showed that the pinch improved the efficiency of the compressor.
Two different volute geometries of a radial compressor at three different operating points have been analyzed using Computational Fluid Dynamics and detailed laboratory measurements. The performance of the volutes were compared using steady-state CFD-analysis, where the volute and the impeller with diffuser were modeled separately. In addition, a time dependent simulation of the complete compressor using the sliding mesh technique was performed for one operation point. Both volutes were manufactured and the overall performance of the compressor, the pressure distribution in the volute and the flow field in the volute inlet were measured with the respective volute geometries. The results obtained from steady, quasi-steady and time-accurate simulations are compared with experimental data.
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.
The paper describes the results of tip clearance variation experiments in centrifugal compressors. The compressors work at different peripheral Mach number speeds either with vaneless or vaned diffusers. In the experiments, the compressors were operated in a thermally steady state after which the axial positions of the shafts were changed. The changes in the performance of the compressors were recorded and analyzed. The clearance between the impeller and its housing affects the efficiency of the centrifugal compressor. The clearance is optimized to adapt to various phenomena: thermal expansions, impeller tip deflections, shaft bending and gyroscopic motions. The compressors of this study are equipped with active magnetic bearings. They contain a control system, which constantly measures and controls the position of the shaft. This gives useful information about impeller clearance variation, and the measured results are precise within 1/100 millimeters.
The study deals with the cooling of a high-speed electric machine through an air gap with numerical and experimental methods. The rotation speed of the test machine is between 5000~40000 r/rain and the machine is cooled by a forced gas flow through the air gap. In the previous part of the research the friction coefficient was measured for smooth and grooved stator cases with a smooth rotor. The heat transfer coefficient was recently calculated by a numerical method and measured for a smooth stator-rotor combination. In this report the cases with axial groove slots at the stator and/or rotor surfaces are studied. Numerical flow simulations and measurements have been done for the test machine dimensions at a large velocity range. At constant mass flow rate the heat transfer coefficients by the numerical method attain bigger values with groove slots on the stator or rotor surfaces. The results by the numerical method have been confirmed with measurements. The RdF-sensor was glued to the stator and rotor surfaces to measure the heat flux through the surface, as well as the temperature.
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