Experimental and Theoretical Analysis of the Flow in a Centrifugal Compressor Volute

In traditional volute design methods, the flow at the volute inlet is assumed to be uniform according to one-dimensional theory. However, many experimental results have shown that under the design operating conditions, the actual distributions of the flow parameters at the volute inlet are different from those predicted by the ideal assumption. This is because of the influence of the nonaxisymmetrical volute geometry, especially due to the presence of the volute tongue. Based on this fact, a new method was considered whereby diflerent volute pro$les can be generated by varying the distributions offlow parameters at the volute inlet. The ultimate objective is to achieve the optimal volute profile design so that the performance of a centrifugal machine can be improved. In this paper, a two-dimensional inverse method has been used to redesign the original volute profiles of two centrifugal fans. The results show that the method presented provides effective improvement to the one-dimensional volute design method. The controlled distribution form of volute inlet flow angle a4 in the redesign is qualitatively discussed and can be used for reference in the volute design and further research.

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“…This fact has been proved in many experiments reported in references (1) to (8). Two examples are given in Figs 2 and 3 (2, 3).…”

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confidence: 67%

A New Approach to The Design of Fan Volute Profiles

Pomfret

Lam

1996

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C:

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“…Detailed measurements by Ayder et al indicated a very complex, threedimensional (3D) flow within the volute and gave fundamental insights for further research [2][3][4]. It is well known that the volute flow causes a rotationally non-symmetric pressure distribution in the diffuser outlet at off-design conditions: the volute acts as a diffuser at lower than design mass flow and as a nozzle at higher than design mass flow, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of the volute on the flow in a centrifugal compressor of a high-pressure ratio turbocharger

Zheng

Huenteler

Yang

et al. 2010

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A:

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Abstract:The asymmetric influence of the volute on the flow in a transonic, high-pressure ratio centrifugal compressor at off-design conditions was investigated. Fully three-dimensional viscous steady-state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was applied to simulate the flow in a 4.2:1 design pressure ratio compressor for automotive application. Computed performance characteristics are presented for low-and high-pressure ratio operating conditions, with and without an overhung volute. The volute was found to severely harm aerodynamic stability of the investigated compressor when operating at lower than design mass flow. The relative narrowing effect of the volute on compressor map width increases with pressure ratio up to a 42 per cent drop in stable flow range at design speed. The inter-passage variations in performance quantities and the influence of the volute tongue region are discussed in detail. The circumferential variations of incidence angle correlate with rotational speed, which, in combination with the higher sensitivity to incidence angle at transonic inflow conditions, seems to deteriorates stability when transonic inflow conditions are reached.

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“…At large flow rates, the volute served as a nozzle and the flow inside the volute was accelerated in the circumferential direction; at low flow rates, the volute served as a diffuser and the flow inside the volute was diffused circumferentially. 21–23…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of vaned diffuser on the potential effect of volute and stall inception of centrifugal compressor

Yang

Zhang

et al. 2020

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D:

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In the automotive turbochargers centrifugal compressor, the volute has a strong potential effect, leading to circumferential nonuniformity of the impeller flow field and compressor stall. In this study, full-annulus unsteady simulations for centrifugal compressors with vaned/vaneless diffusers are carried out. The influence of the diffuser vane on the potential effect of the volute and stall behavior of a centrifugal compressor is studied in detail. Based on the distribution of the casing static pressure, the formation mechanism of the circumferential distribution of static pressure and the reverse propagation process of pressure waves caused by pressure distortion are revealed. The results of this study show that the diffuser vanes can weaken the potential effect of the volute on the impeller flow field by reducing the degree of static pressure distortion. The number of static pressure peaks in the circumferential direction is related to the number of vanes/blades. The diffuser vanes can change the circumferential position of the stall inception, but cannot eliminate the “locking effect” of the volute tongue on the circumferential position of the stall. In other words, the circumferential position of the stall inception is still determined by the volute tongue for a centrifugal compressor with a vaned diffuser. Although the degree of circumferential static pressure distortion inside the impeller is reduced, the stable operating range of the compressor cannot be significantly widened by adjusting the stagger angle of the diffuser vane when the stall first occurs at the impeller inlet.

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Experimental and Theoretical Analysis of the Flow in a Centrifugal Compressor Volute

Cited by 9 publications

References 5 publications

A New Approach to The Design of Fan Volute Profiles

A New Approach to The Design of Fan Volute Profiles

Influence of the volute on the flow in a centrifugal compressor of a high-pressure ratio turbocharger

Influence of vaned diffuser on the potential effect of volute and stall inception of centrifugal compressor

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