The Features of Flow in a Parallel-Walled Radial Vaneless Diffuser

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. B. Abidogun ◽  
S. A. Ahmed

Abstract Detailed experimental investigation of flow features in a parallel-walled radial vaneless diffuser of a centrifugal blower was carried out. Maximum flow rate through the blower, at a constant impeller speed of 1500 rpm, was maintained throughout the experiment to ensure that no self-exited flow oscillation occurs in the diffuser. The symmetrical flowfield in the diffuser was measured along a radial path using an X-wire probe. The radial and tangential velocity distributions and their statistics, as well as flow angle distribution, are reported. The results presented in this paper agree well with earlier work on this subject. For instance, the flow angle at half the diffuser width, which is the position at which critical flow angle (measured from the radial direction) have been generally reported to be about 78°, did not exceed 65° from the diffuser inlet to its outlet along the measurement path. The result also showed that the flow exiting the impeller is skewed as revealed by the triple velocity product correlations. This data is a useful tool for vaneless diffuser calculation model developers as there are very limited data that paralleled the current one as expounded in the text of this paper.

Author(s):  
J. C. Pa´scoa ◽  
A. C. Mendes ◽  
L. M. C. Gato

This paper presents the results of the aerodynamic redesign of an annular turbine blade row. The inverse method herein applied is an extension to 3D of an iterative inverse design method based on the imposition of the blade load, thickness distribution and stacking line. We define a mass-averaged mean tangential velocity over one blade pitch, ru¯θ, as the main design variable, since its derivative is related to the aerodynamic load. A time-lagged formulation for the 3D camber surface generator is given in order to include the blade thickness distribution into the design algorithm. The hybrid viscous-inviscid design code comprises three main components: the blade update algorithm; a fast inviscid 3D Euler code; and a viscous analysis code. The blade geometry and flow conditions are typical of LP turbine nozzle guide vanes. The design method will demonstrate its ability to redesign blade rows that achieve lower flow losses and a more uniform exit flow angle distribution. The performance of the new blades is checked by means of a Navier-Stokes computation using the κ–ε turbulence model. The presented results show a minor decrease in the losses and a better redistribution of the exit flow angle.


1999 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junichi Kurokawa ◽  
Sankar L. Saha ◽  
Jun Matsui ◽  
Takaya Kitahora

In order to control and suppress rotating stall in the diffuser of a centrifugal turbomachine, a passive method of utilizing radial shallow grooves is proposed and its effect is studied theoretically and experimentally. The results show that radial grooves of 3 mm depth on one wall or of only 1 mm depth on both walls can suppress rotating stall in a vaneless diffuser for the entire flow range. Theoretical considerations have revealed that this remarkable effect of radial grooves is caused by two mechanisms; one is a significant decrease in tangential velocity at the diffuser inlet due to mixing between the main flow and the groove flow, and the other is a remarkable increase in radial velocity due to the groove reverse flow. Both effects have the same contribution to increase the flow angle. [S0098-2202(00)02901-1]


1978 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 711-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Inoue ◽  
N. A. Cumpsty

The behavior of the distorted flow discharged from a centrifugal impeller within a vaneless diffuser is examined theoretically by assuming small disturbances to a main flow. The inlet static pressure distribution is found in the calculation and allowance is made for circumferential nonuniformity in the relative flow angle. The flow is treated as incompressible and inviscid. The analysis shows that the decay of irrotational disturbances is more rapid with increasing disturbance wave number (e.g. more impeller blades) and the effect of the main flow condition on this behavior is very small. With rotational disturbances, however, the decay is slower than in the irrotational case and the effect of wave number is less. However, the phase angle between radial and tangential velocity fluctuations is found to have a strong influence on the decay processes for rotational disturbances. The present small perturbation theory is compared with the well-known Dean and Senoo theory which assumes that the relative flow angle is circum ferentially uniform. The comparison shows that the present theory predicts results very similar to the Dean and Senoo theory for impellers with large blade numbers (>20). For small numbers of blades the large circumferential nonuniformity in relative flow angle, appears at smaller radii and the inaccuracy of the Dean and Senoo theory becomes pronounced.


Author(s):  
A. Hildebrandt ◽  
M. Genrup

This paper presents a numerical investigation of the effect of different back sweep angles and exducer widths on the steady-state impeller outlet flow pattern of a centrifugal compressor with a vaneless diffuser. The investigations have been performed with commercial CFD and in-house programmed 1-D codes. CFD calculations aim to investigate how flow pattern from the impeller is quantitatively influenced by compressor geometry parameters; thereby, the location of wake and its magnitude (flow angle and relative velocity magnitude) are analyzed. Results show that the increased back sweep impeller provides a more uniform flow pattern in terms of velocity and flow deviation angle distribution, and offers better potential for the diffusion process inside a vaneless (or vaned) diffuser. Secondary flux fraction and flow deviation angle from CFD simulation are implemented into the 1-D two-zone program to improve 1-D prediction results.


Author(s):  
M. Jansen ◽  
M. Rautenberg

For a 90-deg centrifugal compressor impeller with an extremely distorted exit flow distribution a vaned diffuser has been designed. The maximum flow angle difference across the diffuser width at the entrance is 29 deg. In order to match the vane inlet angle to this flow angle distribution the diffuser vanes are three dimensionally twisted. The map of the compressor with the twisted diffuser is compared with those using a commonly designed cambered vane diffuser and a straight channel diffuser. On the basis of detailed flow field measurements directly before and behind the diffuser and of the static pressure distribution along the diffuser, the performance of the twisted diffuser is discussed.


2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Hildebrandt ◽  
M. Genrup

This paper presents a numerical investigation of the effect of different back sweep angles and exducer widths on the steady-state impeller outlet flow pattern of a centrifugal compressor with a vaneless diffuser. The investigations have been performed with commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and in-house programmed one-dimensional (1D) codes. CFD calculations aim to investigate how flow pattern from the impeller is quantitatively influenced by compressor geometry parameters; thereby, the location of wake and its magnitude (flow angle and relative velocity magnitude) are analyzed. Results show that the increased back sweep impeller provides a more uniform flow pattern in terms of velocity and flow deviation angle distribution, and offers better potential for the diffusion process inside a vaneless (or vaned) diffuser. Secondary flux fraction and flow deviation angle from CFD simulation are implemented into the 1D two-zone program to improve 1D prediction results.


Author(s):  
Thore Bastian Lindemann ◽  
Jens Friedrichs ◽  
Udo Stark

For a competitive low pressure axial fan design low noise emission is as important as high efficiency. In this paper a new design method for low pressure fans with a small hub to tip ratio including blade sweep is introduced and discussed based on experimental investigations. Basis is an empirical axial and tangential velocity distribution at the rotor outlet combined with a distinctive sweep angle distribution along the stacking line. Several fans were designed, built and tested in order to analyze the aerodynamic as well as the aeroacoustic behavior. For the aerodynamic performance particular attention was paid to compensate the influence of reduced pressure rise and efficiency due to increasing blade sweep. This was achieved by a method of increasing the blade chord depending on the local sweep angle which is based on single airfoil data. The tested fans without this compensation revealed a significant noise reduction effect of up to approx. 6 dB(A) for a tip sweep angle of 64° which was accompanied by an unsatisfactory effect of reduced overall aerodynamic performance. The second group of fans did not only confirm the method of the aerodynamic compensation by a nearly unchanged pressure rise and efficiency characteristic but also revealed an increased aeroacoustic benefit of in average 9.5 dB(A) compared to the unswept version. Beside the overall characteristics the individual differences between the designs are also discussed using results of wall pressure measurements which show some significant changes of the blade tip flow structure.


2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarek Mekhail ◽  
Zhang Li ◽  
Du Zhaohui ◽  
Willem Jansen ◽  
Chen Hanping

Abstract The PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) technology is a brand-new technique of measuring velocity. It started in the 1980’s with the development of high-speed photography and the image processing technique of computers. This article deals with PIV applied to the study of unsteady impeller-vaneless diffuser interaction in centrifugal fen. Experiments were carried out at The Turbomachinery Laboratory of Shanghai Jiaotong University. The test rig consists of a centrifugal, shrouded impeller, diffuser and volute casing all made of plexiglass. A series of performance measurements were carried out at different speeds and different vaneless diffuser widths. PIV measurements were applied to measure the unsteady flow at the exit part of the impeller and the inlet part of the diffuser for the case of the same width vaneless diffuser. The absolute flow field is measured at medium flow rate and at maximum flow rate. It is informative to capture the whole flow field at the same instant of time, and it might be more revealing to observe the unstable flow in real time.


2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Budimir Rosic ◽  
John D. Denton

Shroud leakage flow undergoes little change in the tangential velocity as it passes over the shroud. Mixing due to the difference in tangential velocity between the main stream flow and the leakage flow creates a significant proportion of the total loss associated with shroud leakage flow. The unturned leakage flow also causes negative incidence and intensifies the secondary flows in the downstream blade row. This paper describes the experimental results of a concept to turn the rotor shroud leakage flow in the direction of the main blade passage flow in order to reduce the aerodynamic mixing losses. A three-stage air model turbine with low aspect ratio blading was used in this study. A series of different stationary turning vane geometries placed into the rotor shroud exit cavity downstream of each rotor blade row was tested. A significant improvement in flow angle and loss in the downstream stator blade rows was measured together with an increase in turbine brake efficiency of 0.4 %.


1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshinobu Tsujimoto ◽  
Yoshiki Yoshida ◽  
Yasumasa Mori

Rotating stalls in vaneless diffusers are studied from the viewpoint that they are basically two-dimensional inviscid flow instability under the boundary conditions of vanishing velocity disturbance at the diffuser inlet and of vanishing pressure disturbance at the diffuser outlet. The linear analysis in the present report shows that the critical flow angle and the propagation velocity are functions of only the diffuser radius ratio. It is shown that the present analysis can reproduce most of the general characteristics observed in experiments: critical flow angle, propagation velocity, velocity, and pressure disturbance fields. It is shown that the vanishing velocity disturbance at the diffuser inlet is caused by the nature of impellers as a “resistance” and an “inertial resistance,” which is generally strong enough to suppress the velocity disturbance at the diffuser inlet. This explains the general experimental observations that vaneless diffuser rotating stalls are not largely affected by the impeller.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document