Although centrifugal compressors are widely used in construction, they consume a large amount of energy; in existing multistage centrifugal compressors, there is a serious pressure loss of ~15.13% when gas flows through the diffuser, bend, and return channel. In this study, we analyze the loss mechanisms of these stages in detail, using computational fluid dynamics. Based on this analysis, we present a new type of integrated blade, connecting the diffuser, bend, and return channels, which can eliminate the airflow stall phenomenon. Through effective control of the airflow spreading process, we minimized losses in the component, which improved its efficiency by 4.39% and increased the pressure ratio by 2.86% relative to a compressor without the newly-designed integrated blade. The concepts used in the creation of this component can provide a reference for the future design of blades for flow through parts of multistage compressors.
Variable inlet guide vane (IGV) is used to control the mass flow and generate prewhirl in centrifugal compressors. The efficient operation of IGV is limited to the range of aerodynamic characteristics of their vane profiles. In order to find out the best vane profile for IGV regulation, the modern optimization method was adopted to optimize the inlet guide vane profile. The main methodology idea was to use artificial neural network for continuous fitness evaluation and use genetic algorithm for global optimization. After optimization, the regulating performance of IGV has improved significantly, the prewhirl ability has been enhanced greatly, and the pressure loss has been reduced. The mass flow and power of compressor reduced by using the optimized guide vane at large setting angles, and the efficiency increased significantly; the flow field distribution has been improved obviously, since the nonuniform distribution of flow and flow separation phenomenon greatly weakened or even completely disappeared. The achievement of this research can effectively improve the regulation ability of IGV and the performance of compressor.
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