Two stators of a multistage centrifugal compressor with progressively smaller outer radii have been designed, built, and tested. The aim was to achieve a significant reduction in the outer diameter of the compressor stage without compromising performance. The reduction in size was achieved by reducing the diffusion ratio (outer radius/inner radius) of the vaneless diffuser in two steps. In the first step, the outer diameter of the entire stage was reduced by 8% compared with the baseline design. In the second stage, the outer diameter was reduced by 14%. The outer radius of the smallest design was limited by the impeller exit diameter, which was kept constant, as was the axial length of the stage. The large radius baseline design has been tested on a rotating rig in a 1.5 stage setup. This setup aimed at simulating the multistage behavior by applying a pseudostage upstream of the main stage. The pseudostage consisted of a set of nonrotating preswirl vanes in order to mimic an upstream impeller and was followed by a scaled version of the return channel of the main stage. The experimental database was then used to calibrate a 1D analysis code and 3D–computational fluid dynamics methods for the ensuing design and optimization part. By applying an extensive design-of-experiments, the endwalls as well as the vanes of the stator part were optimized for maximum efficiency and operation range. In order to preserve the multistage performance, the optimization was constrained by keeping the circumferentially averaged spanwise flow profiles at the exit of the smaller radius stages within close limits to the original design. The reduced radius designs were then tested in the same 1.5 stage setup as the baseline design. The results indicate that the reduction in size was feasible without compromising the efficiency and operation range of the stage.
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July 2012
Research Papers
Design and Testing of Multistage Centrifugal Compressors With Small Diffusion Ratios
A. Simpson,
A. Simpson
GE Global Research
, 85748 Garching, Munich, Germany
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M. B. Schmitz,
M. B. Schmitz
GE Global Research
, 85748 Garching, Munich, Germany
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V. Michelassi,
V. Michelassi
GE Oil & Gas
, 50127 Florence, Italy
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S. Evangelisti,
S. Evangelisti
GE Oil & Gas
, 50127 Florence, Italy
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E. Belardini,
E. Belardini
GE Oil & Gas
, 50127 Florence, Italy
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V. Ballarini
V. Ballarini
GE Oil & Gas
, 50127 Florence, Italy
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C. Aalburg
A. Simpson
GE Global Research
, 85748 Garching, Munich, Germany
M. B. Schmitz
GE Global Research
, 85748 Garching, Munich, Germany
V. Michelassi
GE Oil & Gas
, 50127 Florence, Italy
S. Evangelisti
GE Oil & Gas
, 50127 Florence, Italy
E. Belardini
GE Oil & Gas
, 50127 Florence, Italy
V. Ballarini
GE Oil & Gas
, 50127 Florence, ItalyJ. Turbomach. Jul 2012, 134(4): 041019 (8 pages)
Published Online: July 25, 2011
Article history
Received:
October 18, 2010
Revised:
January 24, 2011
Online:
July 25, 2011
Published:
July 25, 2011
Citation
Aalburg, C., Simpson, A., Schmitz, M. B., Michelassi, V., Evangelisti, S., Belardini, E., and Ballarini, V. (July 25, 2011). "Design and Testing of Multistage Centrifugal Compressors With Small Diffusion Ratios." ASME. J. Turbomach. July 2012; 134(4): 041019. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4003715
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