Effects of Wet Compression on the Flow Behavior of a Centrifugal Compressor: A CFD Analysis

Abstract

Wet compression has been emerging as a prominent method for augmenting net power output from land based gas turbine engine. It is proven more effective than the conventional inlet cooling methods. In this method, fine water droplets are injected just upstream of the compressor impeller. These water droplets absorb the latent heat of evaporation during the compression process of gas-water droplet two-phase flow, consequently reducing the temperature rise. Many gas turbine engineers have performed the feasibility and usefulness studies on this wet compression, but physical understanding on the wet compression process is highly lacking, and related compression flow mechanism remains ambiguous. In the present study, a computational fluid dynamics method has been applied to investigate the wet compression effects on a low speed centrifugal compressor. A Langrangian particle tracking method was employed to simulate the air-water droplet two-phase flow. The power saving achieved with different injection ratio of water droplets has been calculated and it is found that significant saving can be obtained with a water droplet injection ratio of above 3%. The vapor mass fraction varies linearly along the streamwise direction, making the assumption for a constant evaporation rate is valid. With the increase in the injection ratio the polytropic index for compression is coming down. The diffuser pressure recovery has been improved significantly with the wet compression; while the total pressure ratio across the impeller does not improve much. Contrary to the expectation, the evaporation rate is found to be coming down with the increase in the compressor mass flow rate. It is observed that the operating point, at which the peak pressure ratio occurs, shift towards higher mass flow rate during wet compression due to the local recirculation region within the vaneless space between the impeller and diffuser.