Interaction between rotating impeller and stationary diffuser in a centrifugal compressor is of practical importance in evaluating system performance. The present study aims at investigating how the interaction influences the unsteady diffuser performance and understanding the physical phenomena in the centrifugal compressor. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method has been applied to predict the flow field in the compressor, which has a conventional vaned diffuser (VD) and a low solidity vaned diffuser (LSVD). The radial gaps between impeller and diffuser and different flow coefficients are varied. The results obtained show that the major parameter that influences the unsteady variation of diffuser performance is due to the circumferential variation of the flow angle at the diffuser vane leading edge. The physical phenomena behind the pressure recovery variation are identified as the unsteady vortex shedding and the associated energy losses. The vortex core region as well as the shedding of vortices from the diffuser vane are triggered by the variation in the diffuser vane loading, which in turn is influenced by the circumferential variation of the impeller wake region. There is little unsteady variation of flow angle in the span-wise direction. This indicates that the steady state performance characteristics are related to the span-wise variation of flow angle, while the unsteady characteristics are contributed by the circumferential variation of flow angle. At design conditions, dominant frequency components of pressure fluctuation are all periodic and at near stall, these are aperiodic.
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January 2014
Research-Article
A Numerical Study of the Unsteady Interaction Effects on Diffuser Performance in a Centrifugal Compressor
S. Anish,
and Research Centre,
Daejoo Machinery Co. Ltd.,
S. Anish
Fluid Machinery Technology
and Research Centre,
Daejoo Machinery Co. Ltd.,
1028 Wolam-dong, Dalseo
,Daegu 704-833
, South Korea
e-mail: anish.surendran@gmail.com
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N. Sitaram,
N. Sitaram
Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
e-mail: nsitaram@iitm.ac.in
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
,Chennai 600-036, Tamil Nadu
, India
e-mail: nsitaram@iitm.ac.in
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H. D. Kim
H. D. Kim
1
Professor
School of Mechanical Engineering,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Andong National University
,388 Songchun-Dong, Andong
,Gyeongbuk 760-749
, South Korea
e-mail: kimhd@andong.ac.kr1Corresponding author.
Search for other works by this author on:
S. Anish
Fluid Machinery Technology
and Research Centre,
Daejoo Machinery Co. Ltd.,
1028 Wolam-dong, Dalseo
,Daegu 704-833
, South Korea
e-mail: anish.surendran@gmail.com
N. Sitaram
Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
e-mail: nsitaram@iitm.ac.in
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
,Chennai 600-036, Tamil Nadu
, India
e-mail: nsitaram@iitm.ac.in
H. D. Kim
Professor
School of Mechanical Engineering,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Andong National University
,388 Songchun-Dong, Andong
,Gyeongbuk 760-749
, South Korea
e-mail: kimhd@andong.ac.kr
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI) of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF TURBOMACHINERY. Manuscript received November 29, 2012; final manuscript received December 23, 2012; published online September 23, 2013 Editor: David Wisler.
J. Turbomach. Jan 2014, 136(1): 011012 (10 pages)
Published Online: September 23, 2013
Article history
Received:
November 29, 2012
Revision Received:
December 23, 2012
Citation
Anish, S., Sitaram, N., and Kim, H. D. (September 23, 2013). "A Numerical Study of the Unsteady Interaction Effects on Diffuser Performance in a Centrifugal Compressor." ASME. J. Turbomach. January 2014; 136(1): 011012. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4023471
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