Design and Simulation of Radial Flow Turbine Impeller and Investigation Thermodynamic Properties of Flow in LE and TE

Abstract

Centrifugal (radial flow) turbines are widely used in various industries, including power generation industries, so the study on them is of particular importance. The aim of this study was to investigate the thermodynamic properties of fluid flow in Trailing Edge (TE) and (LE) Leading Edge. For this purpose, first, the rotor (impeller) of the radial flow turbine was designed based on some design data such as flow rate, number of blades, rotational speed, diameter and length of the impeller, and then the designed rotor was simulated in 3D. The simulation done in the pressure based method and the turbulence model is SST and the rotational speed was 140,000(RPM). The results showed that the pressure, temperature and enthalpy in TE are less than LE and the areas close to the hub have the highest pressure. Another phenomenon observed is that in the section LE we see the separation of the flow from the blade surface, which then approaches the blade surface again and follows a relatively regular path,so the entropy in TE is greater than LE. At the end, the results of numerical solution were compared with valid data and the error rate and its reasons were discussed.