ESTIMATION OF EFFECTIVE LENGTH ALONG WITH FLOW AND PRESSURE CHARACTERISTIC ANALYSES OF A SUDDEN EXPANSION DIFFUSER AND A HYBRID DIFFUSER

摘要

In this paper, the performance simulation of a sudden expansion diffuser and a hybrid diffuser has been carried out. The two-dimensional steady differential equations for conservation of mass and momentum have been solved for Reynolds numbers ranging from 50 to 600. During the simulation, a fixed aspect ratio of 2 has been considered for both diffuser geometries, and a fixed value of half divergence angle of 3.5° has been considered for the hybrid diffuser. At the inlet, a fully developed velocity profile has been used. The effect of Reynolds number on streamline contours and average static pressure has been studied in detail and compared between two diffuser geometries. The effective diffuser lengths for achieving maximum average static pressure at the diffuser exit have been computed for the considered Reynolds numbers.