A Fast Method for Conjugate Heat Transfer Analysis of Centrifugal Compressor

Abstract

The capability to calculate impeller temperature distribution is important to the life estimation of a centrifugal compressor. Three dimensional conjugate heat transfer (3D CHT) analysis with a high fidelity flow solver has become an indispensable tool for this class of problem. However, the application of 3D CHT analysis in the preliminary design of centrifugal compressor, which may involve the rapid evaluation of a large number of different configurations, is limited by the computation resource and setup time requirement. This paper presents a method of conjugate heat transfer analysis for centrifugal compressor design that requires significantly less computation power and setup time. The method, which consists of a one-dimensional flow model of the gas path and an axisymmetric CHT/flow solver, has been evaluated with data from 3D CHT analysis and experiment. Good agreement in impeller temperature distribution, as well as in impeller temperature trends due to changes in operating condition are obtained. To demonstrate the application of this method, various strategies to lower the impeller temperature are evaluated and discussed.