The present paper considers the suppression of surge instability in compression systems by means of active control strategies based on a high-gain approach. A proper sensor-actuator pair and a proportional controller are selected that, in theory, guarantee system stabilization in any operating condition for a sufficiently high value of the gain. Furthermore, an adaptive control strategy is introduced that allows the system automatically to detect a suitable value of the gain needed for stabilization, without requiring any knowledge of the compressor and plant characteristics. The control device is employed to suppress surge in an industrial compression system based on a four-stage centrifugal blower. An extensive experimental investigation has been performed in order to test the control effectiveness in various operating points on the stalled branch of the compressor characteristic and at different compressor speeds. On one hand, the experimental results confirm the good performance of the proposed control strategy; on the other, they show some inherent difficulties in stabilizing the system at high compressor speeds due to the measurement disturbances and to the limited operation speed of the actuator.

Issue Section:
Technical Papers
Keywords:
gas turbines, compressors, flow control, flow instability, sensors, actuators, gain measurement, testing
Topics:
Actuators, Compression, Compressors, Sensors, Surges, Valves, Adaptive control
1.
Greitzer
,
E. M.
,
1976
, “
Surge and Rotating Stall in Axial Flow Compressors—Part I: Theoretical Compression System Model
,”
ASME J. Eng. Power
,
98
, pp.
190
–
198
.
2.
Moore
,
F. K.
, and
Greitzer
,
E. M.
,
1986
, “
A Theory of Post-Stall Transients in Axial Compression Systems: Part I—Development of Equations
,”
ASME J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power
,
108
, pp.
68
–
76
.
3.
Epstein
,
A. H.
,
Ffowcs Williams
,
J. E.
, and
Greitzer
,
E. M.
,
1989
, “
Active Suppression of Aerodynamic Instabilities in Turbomachines
,”
J. Propul. Power
,
5
, No.
2
, pp.
204
–
211
.
4.
Ffowcs Williams
,
J. E.
, and
Huang
,
X.
,
1989
, “
Active Stabilization of Compressor Surge
,”
J. Fluid Mech.
,
204
, pp.
245
–
262
.
5.
Pinsley
,
L. E.
,
Guenette
,
G. R.
,
Epstein
,
A. H.
, and
Greitzer
,
E. M.
,
1991
, “
Active Stabilization of Centrifugal Compressor Surge
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
113
, pp.
723
–
732
.
6.
Simon
,
J. S.
,
Valavani
,
L.
,
Epstein
,
A. H.
, and
Greitzer
,
E. M.
,
1993
, “
Evaluation of Approaches to Active Compressor Surge Stabilization
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
115
, pp.
57
–
67
.
7.
Behnken, R. L., and Murray, R. M., 1997, “Combined Air Injection Control of Rotating Stall and Bleed Valve Control of Surge,” Proc. 1997 American Control Conference, Albuquerque, NM, pp. 987–991.
8.
Gravdal
,
J. T.
, and
Egeland
,
O.
,
1999
, “
Centrifugal Compressor Surge and Speed Control
,”
IEEE Trans. Control Syst. Technol.
,
7
, No.
5
, pp.
567
–
579
.
9.
Gravdal, J. T., and Egeland, O., 1997, “Compressor Surge Control Using a Close-Coupled Valve and Backstepping,” Proc. 1997 American Control Conference, Albuquerque, NM, pp. 982–986.
10.
Banaszuk
,
A.
, and
Krener
,
A. J.
,
1999
, “
Design of Controllers for MG3 Compressor Models With General Characteristic Backstepping
,”
Automatica
,
35
, pp.
1343
–
1368
.
11.
McCaughan
,
F. E.
,
1990
, “
Bifurcation Analysis of Axial Flow Compressor Stability
,”
SIAM (Soc. Ind. Appl. Math.) J. Appl. Math.
,
50
, pp.
1232
–
1253
.
12.
Abed
,
E. H.
,
Houpt
,
P. K.
, and
Hosny
,
W. M.
,
1993
, “
Bifurcation Analysis of Surge and Rotating Stall in Axial Flow Compressors
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
115
, pp.
817
–
824
.
13.
Kang, W., Gu, G., Sparks, A., and Banda, S., 1997, “Surge Control and Test Functions for Axial Flow Compressors,” Proc. 1997 American Control Conference, Albuquerque, NM, pp. 3721–3725.
14.
Badmus
,
O. O.
,
Chowdhury
,
S.
, and
Nett
,
C. N.
,
1996
, “
Nonlinear Control of Surge in Axial Compression Systems
,”
Automatica
,
32
, No.
1
, pp.
59
–
70
.
15.
Gu
,
G.
,
Sparks
,
A.
, and
Banda
,
S.
,
1999
, “
On Overview of Rotating Stall and Surge Control for Axial Flow Compressors
,”
IEEE Trans. Control Syst. Technol.
,
7
, No.
6
, pp.
639
–
647
.
16.
Willems
,
F.
, and
de Jager
,
B.
,
1999
, “
Modeling and Control of Compressor Flow Instabilities
,”
IEEE Control Syst. Mag.
,
19
, No.
5
, pp.
8
–
18
.
17.
Giannattasio, P., Micheli, D., and Pinamonti, P., 2000, “Active Control of Surge in Compressors Which Exhibit Abrupt Stall,” Proc. Active Control Symp. for Power Systems and Propulsion, RTA/AVT, Braunschweig, Germany, paper MP-051-PSP-15.
18.
Arnulfi
,
G. L.
,
Micheli
,
D.
, and
Pinamonti
,
P.
,
1995
, “
Velocity Measurements Downstream of the Impellers in a Multistage Centrifugal Blower
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
117
, pp.
593
–
601
.
19.
Arnulfi, G. L., Micheli, D., and Pinamonti, P., 1996, “Experimental Investigation on Rotating Stall in a Centrifugal Blower With Two and Four Stages and Vaneless Diffusers,” ASME Paper No. 96-GT-171.
20.
Arnulfi
,
G. L.
,
Giannattasio
,
P.
,
Giusto
,
C.
,
Massardo
,
A. F.
,
Micheli
,
D.
, and
Pinamonti
,
P.
,
1999
, “
Multistage Centrifugal Compressor Surge Analysis: Part I—Experimental Investigation
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
121
, pp.
305
–
311
.
21.
Arnulfi
,
G. L.
,
Giannattasio
,
P.
,
Giusto
,
C.
,
Massardo
,
A. F.
,
Micheli
,
D.
, and
Pinamonti
,
P.
,
1999
, “
Multistage Centrifugal Compressor Surge Analysis: Part II—Numerical Simulation and Dynamic Control Parameter Evaluation
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
121
, pp.
312
–
320
.
22.
Arnulfi
,
G. L.
,
Giannattasio
,
P.
,
Micheli
,
D.
, and
Pinamonti
,
P.
,
2001
, “
An Innovative Device for Passive Control of Surge in Industrial Compression Systems
,”
ASME J. Turbomach.
,
123
, pp.
473
–
483
.
23.
Giannattasio, P., 1999, “Analisi di stabilita` di un sistema di compressione industriale con controllo attivo del pompaggio” [in Italian], Proc. 54th Congresso Nazionale ATI, L’Aquila, Italy, pp. 1437–1451.
24.
Blanchini, F., and Giannattasio, P., 2000, “Adaptive Control of Compressor Surge Instability,” submitted for publication to Automatica.
Copyright © 2002
 by ASME
You do not currently have access to this content.