Abstract
The paper outlines the CFD study carried out on the Highly Efficient Centrifugal Compressor (HECC) consisting of three blade rows which are an Impeller (main blade/splitter blade), a Diffuser (main/splitter vane) and a Deswirl. The commercial Ansys CFX 2021R2 CFD package has been used for its numerical simulation with a major focus on turbulence modeling to predict the highly complex flow field dominated by three-dimensional, viscous, and unsteady mechanisms in centrifugal compressors. The steady-state CFD calculations were performed to assess the generalized k-omega turbulence model and capture the lessons learned along with the limitations and inconsistencies of the turbulence model. The quantitative and qualitative aero performance results are discussed and validated against the available experimental data. It has been observed that the obtained results are in good agreement with the experimental data over the characteristic curve from the choke to the stall side.
