Numerical solution of turbulent flow through vaneless diffusers of centrifugal compressors
Abstract
An analytical technique is defined for examining laminar and turbulent flow through annular diffusers in the presence of radial and mixed flow impellers. Suitable velocity profiles are obtained with a stream function-vorticity model in conjunction with the k-epsilon turbulence model. A dynamic mesh system, along with relaxation factors and the upwinding technique, is used to overcome problems in the convergence of the iteration procedure. The method is applied to three different types of diffusers in order to study the effect of the inlet velocity profiles on diffuser performance and stability. Predictions are shown to agree well with experimental data.
- Publication:
-
Numerical Methods in Laminar and Turbulent Flow
- Pub Date:
- 1983
- Bibcode:
- 1983nmlt.proc..540A
- Keywords:
-
- Centrifugal Compressors;
- Computational Fluid Dynamics;
- Flow Equations;
- Turbulent Flow;
- Vaneless Diffusers;
- Boundary Layer Flow;
- Computational Grids;
- K-Epsilon Turbulence Model;
- Laminar Flow;
- Variational Principles;
- Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer