Measured and Predicted Secondary Flows in a Centrifugal Impeller

1971 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. G. Howard ◽  
E. Lennemann

The complete velocity distribution, including both primary and secondary velocities, has been measured in passages of centrifugal impellers of simple shape. Comparison is made with theoretically predicted secondary vorticities based on a simple combination of an inviscid primary flow and a streamwise vorticity generation analysis. The measured velocities were obtained in a water-flow impeller rig using a miniature, cylindrical, hot-film probe positioned on the rotating impeller and traversed and controlled remotely through slip rings. The understanding of the complex flow patterns was assisted by a photographic study employing a hydrogen bubble, flow visualization technique.

2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Brun ◽  
Rainer Kurz

Secondary flows are undesirable in centrifugal compressors as they are a direct cause for flow (head) losses, create nonuniform meridional flow profiles, potentially induce flow separation/stall, and contribute to impeller flow slip; that is, secondary flows negatively affect the compressor performance. A model based on the vorticity equation for a rotating system was developed to determine the streamwise vorticity from the normal and binormal vorticity components (which are known from the meridional flow profile). Using the streamwise vorticity results and the small shear-large disturbance flow method, the onset, direction, and magnitude of circulatory secondary flows in a shrouded centrifugal impeller can be predicted. This model is also used to estimate head losses due to secondary flows in a centrifugal flow impeller. The described method can be employed early in the design process to develop impeller flow shapes that intrinsically reduce secondary flows rather than using disruptive elements such as splitter vanes to accomplish this task.


1957 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Austin G. Smith

SummaryA method is presented for the calculation of the streamwise component of vorticity, for flows in rotating passages. The method may be regarded as an extension of the methods applied in recent years to the calculation of secondary flows in stationary passages.Attention is concentrated on the quantityI=p+½ρV2−½ρU2,whereVis the fluid velocity relative to the rotor andUis the rotor tangential velocity.Iremains constant along a streamline in the rotor, and is found to enter into the equation for the generation of vorticity in much the same way as the total head enters for flow in stationary passages.An approximate calculation of the streamwise vorticity generated in a simple axial-flow rotor is made, and qualitative consideration is given to the flow in a centrifugal impeller. Just as for the calculation of secondary flows in stationary passages, an approximate shape of the streamline must be assumed before the secondary flows can be calculated.


1980 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 382-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. W. Johnson ◽  
J. Moore

Three-dimensional flow, leading to the formation and the growth of a wake in a centrifugal impeller, has been studied. Results of flow measurements in a 1 m dia, shrouded, centrifugal compressor impeller running at 500 rpm are presented. Relative velocities and rotary stagnation pressures (p* = p + 1/2ρW2 − 1/2ρω2r2) were measured, on five cross-sectional planes between the inlet and outlet of the impeller, using pressure probes which were traversed within the rotating impeller passage. Particular attention was given to the convection of low p* fluid by secondary flows and to the formation of the wake in the shroud/suction-side corner region of the passage.


Author(s):  
Kevin Liu ◽  
Hongzhou Xu ◽  
Michael Fox

Cooling of the turbine nozzle endwall is challenging due to its complex flow field involving strong secondary flows. Increasingly-effective cooling schemes are required to meet the higher turbine inlet temperatures required by today’s gas turbine applications. Therefore, in order to cool the endwall surface near the pressure side of the airfoil and the trailing edge extended area, the spent cooling air from the airfoil film cooling and pressure side discharge slots, referred to as “phantom cooling” is utilized. This paper studies the effect of compound angled pressure side injection on nozzle endwall surface. The measurements were conducted in a high speed linear cascade, which consists of three nozzle vanes and four flow passages. Two nozzle test models with a similar film cooling design were investigated, one with an axial pressure side film cooling row and trailing edge slots; the other with the same cooling features but with compound angled injection, aiming at the test endwall. Phantom cooling effectiveness on the endwall was measured using a Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP) technique through the mass transfer analogy. Two-dimensional phantom cooling effectiveness distributions on the endwall surface are presented for four MFR (Mass Flow Ratio) values in each test case. Then the phantom cooling effectiveness distributions are pitchwise-averaged along the axial direction and comparisons were made to show the effect of the compound angled injection. The results indicated that the endwall phantom cooling effectiveness increases with the MFR significantly. A compound angle of the pressure side slots also enhanced the endwall phantom cooling significantly. For combined injections, the phantom cooling effectiveness is much higher than the pressure side slots injection only in the endwall downstream extended area.


Author(s):  
Kiyotaka Hiradate ◽  
Hiromi Kobayashi ◽  
Takahiro Nishioka

This study experimentally and numerically investigates the effect of application of curvilinear element blades to fully-shrouded centrifugal compressor impeller on the performance of centrifugal compressor stage. Design suction flow coefficient of compressor stage investigated in this study is 0.125. The design guidelines for the curvilinear element blades which had been previously developed was applied to line element blades of a reference conventional impeller and a new centrifugal compressor impeller with curvilinear element blades was designed. Numerical calculations and performance tests of two centrifugal compressor stages with the conventional impeller and the new one were conducted to investigate the effectiveness of application of the curvilinear element blades and compare the inner flowfield in details. Despite 0.5% deterioration of the impeller efficiency, it was confirmed from the performance test results that the compressor stage with the new impeller achieved 1.7% higher stage efficiency at the design point than that with the conventional one. Moreover, it was confirmed that the compressor stage with the new impeller achieved almost the same off-design performance as that of the conventional stage. From results of the numerical calculations and the experiments, it is considered that this efficiency improvement of the new stage was achieved by suppression of the secondary flows in the impeller due to application of negative tangential lean. The suppression of the secondary flows in the impeller achieved uniformalized flow distribution at the impeller outlet and increased the static pressure recovery coefficient in the vaneless diffuser. As a result, it is thought that the total pressure loss was reduced downstream of the vaneless diffuser outlet in the new stage.


Author(s):  
R. S. Amano ◽  
Krishna Guntur ◽  
Jose Martinez Lucci

It has been a common practice to use cooling passages in gas turbine blade in order to keep the blade temperatures within the operating range. Insufficiently cooled blades are subject to oxidation, to cause creep rupture, and even to cause melting of the material. To design better cooling passages, better understanding of the flow patterns within the complicated flow channels is essential. The interactions between secondary flows and separation lead to very complex flow patterns. To accurately simulate these flows and heat transfer, both refined turbulence models and higher-order numerical schemes are indispensable for turbine designers to improve the cooling performance. Power output and the efficiency of turbine are completely related to gas firing temperature from chamber. The increment of gas firing temperature is limited by the blade material properties. Advancements in the cooling technology resulted in high firing temperatures with acceptable material temperatures. To better design the cooling channels and to improve the heat transfer, many researchers are studying the flow patterns inside the cooling channels both experimentally and computationally. In this paper, the authors present the performance of three turbulence models using TEACH software code in comparison with the experimental values. To test the performance, a square duct with rectangular ribs oriented at 90° and 45° degree and placed at regular intervals. The channel also has bleed holes. The normalized Nusselt number obtained from simulation are validated with that of experiment. The Reynolds number is set at 10,000 for both the simulation and experiment. The interactions between secondary flows and separation lead to very complex flow patterns. To accurately simulate these flows and heat transfer, both refined turbulence models and higher-order numerical schemes are indispensable for turbine designers to improve the cooling performance. The three-dimensional turbulent flows and heat transfer are numerically studied by using several different turbulence models, such as non-linear low-Reynolds number k-omega and Reynolds Stress (RSM) models. In k-omega model the cubic terms are included to represent the effects of extra strain-rates such as streamline curvature and three-dimensionality on both turbulence normal and shear stresses. The finite volume difference method incorporated with the higher-order bounded interpolation scheme has been employed in the present study. The outcome of this study will help determine the best suitable turbulence model for future studies.


2002 ◽  
Vol 124 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Goto ◽  
Motohiko Nohmi ◽  
Takaki Sakurai ◽  
Yoshiyasu Sogawa

A computer-aided design system has been developed for hydraulic parts of pumps including impellers, bowl diffusers, volutes, and vaned return channels. The key technologies include three-dimensional (3-D) CAD modeling, automatic grid generation, CFD analysis, and a 3-D inverse design method. The design system is directly connected to a rapid prototyping production system and a flexible manufacturing system composed of a group of DNC machines. The use of this novel design system leads to a drastic reduction of the development time of pumps having high performance, high reliability, and innovative design concepts. The system structure and the design process of “Blade Design System” and “Channel Design System” are presented. Then the design examples are presented briefly based on the previous publications, which included a centrifugal impeller with suppressed secondary flows, a bowl diffuser with suppressed corner separation, a vaned return channel of a multistage pump, and a volute casing. The results of experimental validation, including flow fields measurements, were also presented and discussed briefly.


1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Goto

An active method for enhancing pump stability, featuring water jet injection at impeller inlet, was applied to a mixed-flow pump. The stall margin, between the design point and the positive slope region of the head-flow characteristic, was most effectively enlarged by injecting the jet in the counter-rotating direction of the impeller. The counter-rotating streamwise vorticity along the casing, generated by the velocity discontinuity due to the jet injection, altered the secondary flow pattern in the impeller by opposing the passage vortex and assisting the tip leakage vortex motion. The location of the wake flow was displaced away from the casing-suction surface corner of the impeller, thus avoiding the onset of the extensive corner separation, the cause of positive slope region of the head-flow characteristic. This method was also confirmed to be effective for stabilizing a pump system already in a state of surge.


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