Spiral ring cavity to improve the stability of a centrifugal compressor

Abstract

In this study, a spiral ring cavity (SRC) is proposed to improve the operational stability of a centrifugal compressor. Aerodynamic performance of the compressor was analyzed using three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the shear stress transport turbulence model. To prove the superiority of the proposed cavity, adiabatic efficiency and stall margin of an SRC were compared with those of the smooth casing and conventional cavities, i.e., ring cavity and discrete ring cavities. To find the optimum shape of the cavity, a parametric study was performed for the SRC using three geometric parameters, i.e., the axial location, width of the cavity port, and circumferential location of the SRC. The operation stability was sensitive to the width of cavity port and circumferential location. The SRC improved the stall margin considerably compared to other cavities.