Abstract
A high-performance diffuser is crucial for a high-pressure ratio centrifugal compressor, as it dominates the flow downstream of the impeller. Pipe diffusers have been proved to be effective for high-pressure ratio centrifugal compressors. To understand the performance and flow mechanisms of pipe diffusers, an 8:1 pressure ratio centrifugal compressor is selected and a comparative study of compressor stages with a pipe diffuser and its original wedge diffuser was carried out using numerical simulations. At the design speed, the compressor with the pipe diffuser presents a better performance (lower total pressure loss, higher static pressure recovery and stable flow range) over the whole speedline than that with the wedge diffuser. The peak efficiency of the compressor with the pipe diffuser is 2.4 percentage points higher than that with the wedge diffuser. Compared with the wedge diffuser, the special scalloped leading edge of the pipe diffuser was found to reduce or even eliminate the flow distortion from upstream of the diffuser throat, which is beneficial to suppress the downstream flow separation.
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