A flow field study of the interaction between a centrifugal compressor impeller and two different volutes

摘要

The interaction between an impeller with one large and one small overhung volute was investigated by both computational fluid dynamics simulation and experimental methods. The large volute was mainly generated by increasing the small volute axial length. The computational model, with k–ε turbulence model and wall function, has been used to predict the internal flow of both volutes. The effect of volute tongue on the flow in the impeller was analysed at off-design conditions. The flow structure in the volutes was also investigated in detail. The performance test of the two configurations was carried out in the aero test facility at Solar Turbines Inc. A good agreement between experimental data and numerical simulation results was found on both the whole compressor stage performance and the impeller performance. The largest deviation is close to 10 per cent for the compressor stage performance prediction at high mass flowrate only.