Effect of tip clearance on impeller discharge flow and vaneless diffuser performance of a centrifugal compressor

Abstract

To see the tip clearance effect on a centrifugal compressor, time-resolved flow measurements are carried out at the discharge of a centrifugal compressor impeller with a diameter of 280 mm. The impeller is 30° back swept and is operated at a blade tip speed of 260 m/s, which is a rather high speed for measuring time-resolved flow. Six levels of tip clearance ratio ranging from 0.06 to 0.21 were tested. A fast response aerodynamic probe equipped with a single pressure sensor is used for the flow measurements. The correlation between the impeller efficiency and the tip clearance is presented. The mean flow variation from hub to shroud is obtained and its dependence on the tip clearance is discussed. The measured time-resolved flow at impeller exit differs from the classical jet-wake flow model. Four kinds of flow patterns (blade wake, jet, channel wake, and tip clearance flow) are observed at the impeller discharge plane. By increasing the tip clearance, the total pressure loss in the vaneless diffuser decreases, while the impeller loss increases. One-dimensional flow calculations of the vaneless diffuser show that the matching constant of a skin friction coefficient is decreased by increasing the tip clearance.