A Study on the Pressure Distribution in the Centrifugal Compressor Channel Diffuser at Design and Off-Design Conditions

설계 및 탈설계점에서의 원심압축기 채널디퓨저 내부의 압력분포에 관한 연구

The aim of this paper is to understand the time averaged pressure distributions in a high-speed centrifugal compressor channel diffuser at design and off-design flow rates. Pressure distributions from the impeller exit to the channel diffuser exit are measured and discussed far various flow rates from choke to near surge condition, and the effect of operating condition is discussed. The strong non-uniformity in the pressure distribution is obtained over the vaneless space and semi-vaneless space caused by the impeller-diffuser interaction. As the flow rate increases, flow separation near the throat, due to large incidence angle at the vane leading edge, increases aerodynamic blockage and reduces the aerodynamic flow area downstream. Thus the minimum pressure location occurs downstream of the geometric throat, and it is named as the aerodynamic throat. And at choke condition, normal shock occurs downstream of this aerodynamic throat. The variation in the location of the aerodynamic throat is discussed.