Advances in Centrifugal Compressors

Abstract

In the case where flow passes through a straight pipe to enter a centrifugal compressor the flow is straight, uniform and has no vorticity, ie swirling motion, so the swirl angle α1 = 0° as illustrated. As the flow passes through the centrifugal impeller, the impeller forces the flow to spin faster as it gets further from the rotational axis. According to a form of Euler's fluid dynamics equation, known as the pump and turbine equation, the energy input to the fluid is proportional to the flow's local spinning velocity multiplied by the local impeller tangential velocity. In many cases, the flow leaving the centrifugal impeller is travelling near the speed of sound. It then flows through a stationary compressor causing it to decelerate. The stationary compressor is ducting with increasing flow-area where energy transformation takes place. If the flow has to be turned in a rearward direction to enter the next part of the machine, e.g. another impeller or a combustor, flow losses can be reduced by directing the flow with stationary turning vanes or individual turning pipes (pipe diffusers). As described in Bernoulli's principle, the reduction in velocity causes the pressure to rise.