CFD Studies on the Performance of a Centrifugal Compressor With Single Wall Rotating Vaneless Diffusers at the Wall Extension Ratios of 1.1 and 1.15

Efficiency of the centrifugal compressor is affected by non-uniform flow at the exit of the impeller and the losses in the diffuser. This causes a significant loss of total pressure and drop in the performance of a centrifugal compressor. By rotating some portion of stationary vaneless diffuser walls with the speed of the impeller, the shear forces between the flow and diffuser walls are greatly reduced. Thereby improvement in the operating range and performance is achieved. This paper presents CFD studies on the effect of different single wall rotations i.e. hub rotation and shroud rotation of the vaneless diffusers on the overall performance at 10% and 15% extension of impeller walls. It is observed that the performance characteristics of compressors with all RVD models offer higher static pressure recovery and also higher rate of diffusion compared to the base compressor with SVD. It is clear that as extended radius increases from 10% to 15%, substantial improvement of efficiency and reduction of losses are observed for both type of models. Out of two single wall rotation models, SRVD model is able to better mix the jet-wake type of impeller exit flows and minimizes the losses therein and improve the performance of the centrifugal compressor.