Analyses of the Compressor Performance Impacts of Centrifugal Compressor Scroll Deformation Due to Installation
Centrifugal compressors have widely applications in industrial gas compression processes. Limitations of installation and compressor package always request to modify the compressor geometry to fit certain constrains. Very often, the modifications of the scroll were performed to meet the space constrains. To meet the installation and package requirements, we always modify the scroll and discharge pipe of the compressors. In this study, an original designed scroll and a modified scroll were analyzed by using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The study is focused on the performance impacts of the scroll local deformation due to installation constrains. The CFD showed favorable agreements with experiments for original scroll. The detailed flow characters and performance impacts were discussed and results showed that current modifications of the scroll did not have significant impacts to the compressor performance. The study results can be used as a basic guidance for a compressor manufactures.