scholarly journals Genetic Algorithm Optimization of the Volute Shape of a Centrifugal Compressor

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Heinrich ◽  
Rüdiger Schwarze

A numerical model for the genetic optimization of the volute of a centrifugal compressor for light commercial vehicles is presented. The volute cross-sectional shape is represented by cubic B-splines and its control points are used as design variables. The goal of the global optimization is to maximize the average compressor isentropic efficiency and total pressure ratio at design speed and four operating points. The numerical model consists of a density-based solver in combination with the SSTk-ωturbulence model with rotation/curvature correction and the multiple reference frame approach. The initial validation shows a good agreement between the numerical model and test bench measurements. As a result of the optimization, the average total pressure rise and efficiency are increased by over1.0%compared to the initial designs of the optimization, while the maximum efficiency rise is nearly 2.5% atm˙corr=0.19 kg/s.

Author(s):  
Hua Chen ◽  
Strong Guo ◽  
Xiao-Cheng Zhu ◽  
Zhao-Hui Du ◽  
Stone Zhao

In a previous publication (Guo & Chen et al., 2007), the authors solved the unsteady, 3-D Navier-Stokes equations with the k-ε turbulence model using CFX software to show that there is a volute stall coincided with the stage stall of a turbocharger centrifugal compressor operated at 423m/s tip speed and the stage stall frequency is dictated by a volute standing wave. This paper presents the flow condition at the vaneless diffuser and volute from the same simulation at various mass flow rates from stage peak efficiency to deep stage stall. Time averaged flow conditions show that (1) the influence of exducer blade passing at the volute inlet rapidly diminishes at the compressor peak pressure ratio point and the influence vanishes when the stage is in stall; (2) only at the peak pressure ratio point, circumferentially averaged, spanwise distribution of radial velocity at the volute inlet has an inflection point and the distribution meets the requirement of the Fjo̸rtoft instability theorem; (3) in the volute discharge section, the flow stalls after the stage stalls and the vortex core at the cross sectional center of the section breaks down; (4) impeller total pressure rise curve has a flat region in the middle before the stage stalls and (5) diffuser stall triggers the stage stall and drives the volute into stall.


Author(s):  
JongSik Oh ◽  
SooHyuk Ro

Two different CFD methods, a time marching method and a pressure correction(or based) method, are developed and applied to centrifugal compressor impellers to investigate their validity of applications. 8 impellers are selected for analysis, among which 7 impellers are open to the public, ranging from low to high level of pressure ratio. In all cases, the time marching method gives a satisfactory solution, but the pressure correction method does not. Up to about 18% less level of total-to-total pressure ratio is predicted by the pressure correction method as the level of the impeller pressure ratio increases up to about 10. The drop of total pressure ratio is caused by the underestimation of static pressure rise which seems to be attributed to inappropriate linearization and discretization of the pressure/density coupling terms in the pressure correction equation.


Author(s):  
Wangzhi Zou ◽  
Xiao He ◽  
Wenchao Zhang ◽  
Zitian Niu ◽  
Xinqian Zheng

The stability considerations of centrifugal compressors become increasingly severe with the high pressure ratios, especially in aero-engines. Diffuser is the major subcomponent of centrifugal compressor, and its performance greatly influences the stability of compressor. This paper experimentally investigates the roles of vanes in diffuser on component instability and compression system instability. High pressure ratio centrifugal compressors with and without vanes in diffuser are tested and analyzed. Rig tests are carried out to obtain the compressor performance map. Dynamic pressure measurements and relevant Fourier analysis are performed to identify complex instability phenomena in the time domain and frequency domain, including rotating instability, stall, and surge. For component instability, vanes in diffuser are capable of suppressing the emergence of rotating stall in the diffuser at full speeds, but barely affect the characteristics of rotating instability in the impeller at low and middle speeds. For compression system instability, it is shown that the use of vanes in diffuser can effectively postpone the occurrence of compression system surge at full speeds. According to the experimental results and the one-dimensional flow theory, vanes in diffuser turn the diffuser pressure rise slope more negative and thus improve the stability of compressor stage, which means lower surge mass flow rate.


Author(s):  
Lei Yu ◽  
William T. Cousins ◽  
Feng Shen ◽  
Georgi Kalitzin ◽  
Vishnu Sishtla ◽  
...  

In this effort, 3D CFD simulations are carried out for real gas flow in a refrigeration centrifugal compressor. Both commercial and the in-house CFD codes are used for steady and unsteady simulations, respectively. The impact on the compressor performance with various volute designs and diffuser modifications are investigated with steady simulations and the analysis is focused on both the diffuser and the volute loss, in addition to the flow distortion at impeller exit. The influence of the tongue, scroll diffusion ratio, diffuser length, and cross sectional area distribution is examined to determine the impact on size and performance. The comparisons of total pressure loss, static pressure recovery, through flow velocity, and the secondary flow patterns for different volute designs show that the performance of the centrifugal compressor depends upon how well the scroll portion of the volute collects the flow from the impeller and achieves the required pressure rise with minimum flow losses in the overall diffusion process. Finally, the best design is selected based on compressor stage pressure rise and peak efficiency improvement. An unsteady simulation of the full wheel compressor stage was carried out to further examine the interaction of impeller, diffuser and the volute. The unsteady flow interactions are shown to have a major impact on the performance of the centrifugal stage.


Author(s):  
Lifang Zeng ◽  
Dingyi Pan ◽  
Shangjun Ye ◽  
Xueming Shao

A fast multiobjective optimization method for S-duct scoop inlets considering both inflow and outflow is developed and validated. To reduce computation consumption of optimization, a simplified efficient model is proposed, in which only inflow region is simulated. Inlet pressure boundary condition of the efficient model is specified by solving an integral model with both inflow and outflow. An automated optimization system integrating the computational fluid dynamics analysis, nonuniform rational B-spline geometric representation technique, and nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II is developed to minimize the total pressure loss and distortion at the exit of diffuser. Flow field is numerically simulated by solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equation coupled with k–ω shear stress transport turbulence model, and results are validated to agree well with previous experiment. S-duct centreline shape and cross-sectional area distribution are parameterized as the design variables. By analyzing the results of a suggested optimal inlet chosen from the obtained Pareto front, total pressure recovery has increased from 97% to 97.4%, and total pressure distortion DC60 has decreased by 0.0477 (21.7% of the origin) at designed Mach number 0.7. The simplified efficient model has been validated to be reliable, and by which the time cost for the optimization project has been reduced by 70%.


Author(s):  
I. Kassens ◽  
M. Rautenberg

In a centrifugal compressor adjustable inlet guide vanes (IGV) in front of the impeller are used to regulate the pressure ratio and the mass flow. The stationary measurement of the velocity profile in front of the impeller with different angles of the IGV displays shock losses at the inlet edge of blade of the impeller. In the partial-load region (e.g. partial-load efficiency) the radial distribution of the flow influences considerably the performance of the impeller. The tested compressor consists of an adjustable IGV with straight vanes, a shrouded impeller and a vaneless, parallel diffuser. In the first measurement location, behind the IGV, total pressure, static pressure and flow angle were measured with a 5-hole cylinder probe. In the second measurement location, in front of the impeller, the measurement of the total pressure was carried out with a Kiel probe and the flow angle with a Cobra probe accordingly the static wall pressure was measured. Taking into consideration the fundamental thermodynamical equations it was possible to determine the velocity profiles because of the measured distributions of the flow angle in these two measurement locations. For different angles of the IGV and with various mass flows the distributions of the deflection defect behind the IGV are described. Starting with the measured distributions of the flow in front of the impeller the flow angles at the impeller inlet are calculated and the distributions of the incidence angle at the impeller inlet are figured out.


1977 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-81
Author(s):  
G. B. Reeves

A method has been developed by which centrifugal compressor flow range and the nature of the pressure ratio characteristic approaching surge can be predicted by use of fundamental impeller exit conditions and diffuser entrance geometry in a system where minimum to maximum flow range is determined by the diffuser. Experimental results from compressor tests demonstrate the influence of these basic variables on flow range. Data from pipe type diffuser configurations designed under the assumptions of the loss-range method verify the capability to estimate flow range. Results of tests confirm the use of the method to predict the shape of the pressure ratio/weight flow characteristic and the location of maximum efficiency at constant speed.


Author(s):  
Hong Wu ◽  
Qiushi Li ◽  
Sheng Zhou

This paper presents an optimization method for fan/compressor which couples throughflow model solving axisymmetric Euler equations with adaptive simulated annealing (ASA) algorithm. One of the advantages of this optimization method is that it spends much less time than 3D optimization due to the rapid solving of throughflow model. In addition, the optimization space is quite extensive because more design variables can be adjusted in throughflow phase, such as swirl distribution, hub curve and sweep. To validate this optimization method, a highly loaded fan rotor with pressure ratio of 3.06 as a baseline is optimized. During the optimization process, the objective function is total pressure ratio, moreover, mass flow and efficiency are selected as the constraint conditions. Three important design variables including swirl distribution, hub curve and sweep are parameterized using Bezier curve, and then optimized in throughflow model independently, finally the optimum designs are validated using 3D viscous CFD solver. It is shown that pressure ratio and rotor loading can be improved further through optimizing swirl distribution, however, hub and sweep curves take more effects on mass flow and efficiency respectively. The optimization results demonstrate the advantage and feasibility of this optimization method.


Author(s):  
Shobhavathy M. Thimmaiah ◽  
Ramesha Gurikelu ◽  
Nisha Sherief

This paper presents the steady state numerical analyses carried out to investigate the effect of forward and backward swept rotor on the overall performance and stability margin of single stage transonic axial flow compressor. Initially, the analyses were carried out on a radially stacked rotor/baseline configuration and obtained the overall performance map of the compressor stage. These results were compared with the available experimental data for validation. Further, investigations were carried out on geometrically modified rotor with six configurations having 5, 10 and 15° forward and backward sweep. A commercial 3-Dimensional CFD package, ANSYS FLUENT was used to compute the complex flow field of transonic compressor rotors. The flow field structures were studied with the help of Mach number total pressure contours. The results of modified rotor geometry indicated that the peak adiabatic efficiency and the total pressure ratio for all the tested forward and backward swept rotor configurations are marginally higher than that of the baseline configuration at all speeds. The operating ranges of all the swept rotor configurations are found to be higher than that of the baseline configuration. The operating range is broader at lower operating speeds than at design speed condition. Rotor with 10° forward sweep and 5° backward sweep indicated the noteworthy improvement in the operating range against the baseline configuration. The stability margin of 11.3, 6.6, 5.2 and 3.5% at 60, 80, 90 and 100% of the design speed respectively compared to the baseline configuration obtained from 10° forward sweep. Rotor with 5° backward sweep showed the stability margin of 12, 4, 3.9 and 3% at 60, 80, 90 and 100% of the design speed respectively compared to the baseline configuration.


Author(s):  
Michael Braun ◽  
Joerg R. Seume

The present paper provides a comparison of a CDA-bladed four-stage high-speed axial compressor and a configuration in which the first three rows are replaced with forward swept blades and vanes. The blades are designed with sweep from mid-span to tip, the vanes from mid-span to the hub. The non-swept portion of the leading edge is kept radial and identical to the CDA blading. The overall performance of the compressor with both configurations is measured at five engine speeds. The flow fields of each rotor and stator at two operating points (“Design Point” and “Near Stall”) of both configurations are investigated at the design speed. On the suction and the pressure side of the third stage vane, static surface pressures are measured to determine the local Mach number distribution and to identify zones of separation. Multistage CFD-computations are carried out for both configurations. The numerical and experimental results of both configurations are compared and show the effect of sweep on the operating map of the compressor from choke to stall: Sweep reduces corner stall and the end-wall losses at high aerodynamic loads. It is shown that the reduction of separation due to sweep leads to an increase of total pressure rise towards lower mass flow so that the present swept compressor achieves higher total pressure ratios at and near the stall limit. An analysis along streamlines suggests that the performance of the compressor could have been improved further by a more uniform total pressure distribution in the front stages and a better match of the sweep in stages 2 and 3.


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