Effect of Inlet Clearance on the Aerodynamic Performance of a Centrifugal Blower

Abstract

AbstractThe present work reports the effect of inlet clearance on the performance of a centrifugal blower, with parallel wall volute, over its full operating range. For a particular impeller configuration, four volutes based on constant angular momentum principle, have been designed and analysed numerically for varying inlet clearances ranging from 0 mm (ideal clearance) to 5 mm. The computational methodology is validated using experimental data. The results indicate that as the clearance increases, the impeller performance in terms of both static and total pressure rise deteriorate. Further, the stage performances deteriorate in terms of efficiency and specific work for all mass flow rates. However, the performance of volute improves at lower mass flow rates compared to the Best Efficiency Point (BEP). A set of correlations have been developed to predict the change in stage performance as a function of clearance ratio. The non-dimensional values of change in specific work, isentropic efficiency and static pressure are found to be same irrespective of the shape of the volute.