Three component hot wire measurements in the vaneless space and vane region of a low speed centrifugal compressor vaned diffuser are presented. These comprise mean velocity and turbulence level distributions for a below and above design flow rate for three vane-to-vane locations at each of five radial measurement stations.
The flow entering the diffuser closely resembles the classic jet-wake flow characteristic of centrifugal impeller discharges. A strong upstream influence of the diffuser vanes is observed which results in significant variations in flow quantities between the vane-to-vane locations. The circumferential variations due to the passage and blade wakes rapidly mix out in the vaneless space, although some variations are still discernible in the vaned region. Comparison with results in a vaneless diffuser suggest that the presence of the vanes accelerates this mixing out process.
