Numerical Calculation of the Swirling Flow in a Centrifugal Compressor Volute

원심압축기 벌류트 내부의 스월 유동에 관한 수치해석

Flows in the centrifugal compressor volute with circular cross section are numerically investigated. The computational grid for the calculation utilized a multi-block arrangement to form a butterfly grid and flow calculations are performed using commercial CFD software, CFX-TASCflow. The centrifugal compressor of this study has axial diffuser after radial diffuser because of the shape of inlet duct and installation constraints. Due to this feature the swirling flow pattern is different from the other investigations. The flow inside volute is very complex and three dimensional with strong vortex and recirculation through volute tongue. The calculation results show circumferential variations of the swirl and through flow velocity and pressure distribution. The mechanism deciding flow structure is explained by considering the force balance in volute cross section. And static pressure recovery and total pressure loss are estimated from the calculated results and compared with Japikse model.