In the process of design optimization, computational fluid dynamics was used in the present work to better understand the effects of the Reynolds number on the accuracy of a typical turbine flow meter. The complex three-dimensional unsteady flow field in a one-stage turbine gas flow meter was studied by carrying out numerical simulations using the Navier-Stokes equations solver Fluent. The simulation of all the viscous effects as well as secondary flows, such as the flow in the tip gap and secondary and tertiary vortices in the blade to blade region required very high grid resolution but was necessary in order to capture the intricate features present in the flow field due to the Reynolds number variation. The results of three-dimensional numerical simulations with realistic geometry, including even small geometric features found in the production-type meter were obtained.
展开▼
