Effect of Recirculation Device With Counter Swirl Vane on Performance of High Pressure Ratio Centrifugal Compressor

2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideaki Tamaki

Centrifugal compressors used for turbochargers need to achieve a wide operating range. The author has developed a high pressure ratio centrifugal compressor with pressure ratio 5.7 for a marine use turbocharger. In order to enhance operating range, two different types of recirculation devices were applied. One is a conventional recirculation device. The other is a new one. The conventional recirculation device consists of an upstream slot, bleed slot and the annular cavity which connects both slots. The new recirculation device has vanes installed in the cavity. These vanes were designed to provide recirculation flow with negative preswirl at the impeller inlet, a swirl counterwise to the impeller rotational direction. The benefits of the application of both of the recirculation devices were ensured. The new device in particular, shifted surge line to a lower flow rate compared to the conventional device.

Author(s):  
Hideaki Tamaki

Centrifugal compressors used for turbochargers need to achieve a wide operating range. The author has developed a high pressure ratio centrifugal compressor with pressure ratio 5.7 for a marine use turbocharger. In order to enhance operating range, two different types of recirculation devices were applied. One is a conventional recirculation device. The other is a new one. The conventional recirculation device consists of an upstream slot, bleed slot and the annular cavity which connects both slots. The new recirculation device has vanes installed in the cavity. These vanes were designed to provide recirculation flow with negative preswirl at the impeller inlet, a swirl counterwise to the impeller rotational direction. The benefits of the application of both of the recirculation devices were ensured. The new device in particular, shifted surge line to a lower flow rate compared to the conventional device. This paper discusses how the new recirculation device affects the flow field in the above transonic centrifugal compressor by using steady 3-D calculations. Since the conventional recirculation device injects the flow with positive preswirl at the impeller inlet, the major difference between the conventional and new recirculation device is the direction of preswirl that the recirculation flow brings to the impeller inlet. This study focuses on two effects which preswirl of the recirculation flow will generate. (1) Additional work transfer from impeller to fluid. (2) Increase or decrease of relative Mach number. Negative preswirl increases work transfer from the impeller to fluid as the flow rate reduces. It increases negative slope on pressure ratio characteristics. Hence the recirculation flow with negative preswirl will contribute to stability of the compressor. Negative preswirl also increases the relative Mach number at the impeller inlet. It moves shock downstream compared to the conventional recirculation device. It leads to the suppression of the extension of blockage due to the interaction of shock with tip leakage flow.


Author(s):  
JongSik Oh ◽  
Giri L. Agrawal

The LSD (Low Solidity Diffuser) is becoming popular in most industrial centrifugal compressor designs because it is found to offer a wide operating flow range while maintaining a similar level of efficiency as in case of conventional vaned diffusers. Most related studies have been for low or moderate pressure ratio machines providing a limited range of design information for high-pressure ratio compressors. As a first step forward information of design parameters, a numerical CFD investigation was applied to a high-pressure industrial centrifugal compressor of design total-to-static pressure ratio of 4.0 with LSDs of NACA65-series profiles whose solidity varies from 0.452 to 0.968 in 5 cases with all the other design parameters fixed. Near design flow, the case of 0.839 solidity has the highest isentropic total-to-static efficiency. Other performance changes are accordingly investigated.


Author(s):  
Mingyang Yang ◽  
Ricardo Martinez-Botas ◽  
Yangjun Zhang

The operating range of a centrifugal compressor, determined by surge and choke flow rate, is a key issue for turbocharging since a vehicle internal combustion engine (ICE) is usually operated across a wide range. In this paper a new flow control method is developed and validated numerically, in which an array of circumferentially distributed holes is designed in the inner wall of the inlet duct of a high pressure ratio centrifugal compressor of a turbocharger. Firstly the numerical method is validated by experimental results of the original turbocharging centrifugal compressor with a pressure ratio of 4. Next the validated method is used to investigate the new flow control method and its effect on the compressor’s performance. Results show that the method can enhance the compressor stability and widen the operating range effectively at all investigated speeds. At meantime, the choke flow reduces slightly. The flow details in the compressor are further analysed according to the CFD results. It is found that the flow near the blade tip at inlet is pre-swirled by the method as the conventional IGV does while the flow in the middle span or near the hub remains in an axial direction. As a result, the stability of the compressor is enhanced by the pre-swirl effect at the tip while minimally sacrificing the choke flow rate, thus the map is extended effectively by the flow control method.


Author(s):  
Hideaki Tamaki

Centrifugal compressors used for turbochargers need to achieve a wide operating range. A recirculation device, which consists of a bleed slot, an upstream slot and an annular cavity connecting both slots, is often applied to them. The author developed a high pressure ratio centrifugal compressor with pressure ratio 5.7 for a marine use turbocharger. In order to enhance operating range, a recirculation device was applied, the benefits of its application ensuring. This paper discusses how the recirculation device affects the flow field in the above transonic centrifugal compressor by using steady 3D calculations. It is reported that the interaction between shock and tip leakage vortex is one of the primary causes of stall inception in the impeller. Analysis of shock and tip leakage flow behavior leads to an understanding of the basic mechanism of the enhancement of operating range by the recirculation device. Hence this study focuses on the effect of the recirculation devices on the shock and tip leakage flow. Steady 3D calculations were performed and the effect of the recirculation device was clarified. The bleed slot of the recirculation device works in a similar way to circumferential grooves applied to axial compressors. It reduces the blade loading in the impeller tip region. And hence the velocity of tip leakage flow exiting the bleed slot becomes lower compared with that without the recirculation device. The flow through the bleed slot impinges on the tip leakage flow originated upstream and blocks the extension of the tip leakage flow. It also deflects the trajectory of the tip leakage vortex. In addition to these effects, the bleed slot removes the fluid near the casing. The shock moves downstream due to the reduction of the blockage. All these effects induced by the recirculation device are considered to lead to the suppression of the extension of blockage and to contribute to the enhancement of the compressor operating range.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 04020072
Author(s):  
Wenchao Zhang ◽  
Xiao He ◽  
Baotong Wang ◽  
Zhenzhong Sun ◽  
Xinqian Zheng

Author(s):  
Yang Mingyang ◽  
Martines-botas Ricardo ◽  
Deng Kangyao ◽  
Zhang Yangjun ◽  
Zheng Xinqian

Author(s):  
K. K. Botros

Compression systems are designed and operated in a manner to eliminate or minimize the potential for surge, which is a dynamic instability that is very detrimental to the integrity of the compressor unit. Compressor surge can occur when compressors are subjected to rapid transients such as those occurring following an emergency shutdown (ESD) or a power failure, which in turn, requires fast reaction. To prevent this from occurring, compressor stations are designed with single or dual recycle systems with recycle valves, which are required to open upon ESD. There has been extensive debate and confusion as to whether a single recycle or a dual recycle system is required and the circumstances and the conditions under which one system or the other must be used. This paper discusses this crucial design issue in detail and highlights the parameters affecting the decision to employ either system, particularly for high pressure ratio, low inertia compressors. Parameters such as gas volume capacitance (V) in the recycle path, compressor power train inertia, compressor performance characteristics, the recycle valve coefficient (Cv), prestroke and stroke time, and check valve dynamic characteristic are crucial in determining the conditions for dynamic instabilities. A simple analytical methodology based on the perturbation theory is developed that provides a first-cut analysis to determine if a single recycle system is adequate for a given compression system. The concept of an inertia number is then introduced with a threshold value that determines which recycle system to use. Techniques to circumvent compressor surge following ESD are discussed and their respective effectiveness are highlighted including when and if a delay in the fuel cutoff will be effective. An example of a case study with actual field data of a high pressure ratio centrifugal compressor employed in a natural gas compressor station is presented to illustrate the fundamental concept of single versus dual recycle systems.


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