Design And Retrofit Of A Low Solidity Diffuser For A Pipeline Centrifugal Gas Compressor Application.
Abstract
A high efficiency, single-stage pipeline centrifugal gas
compressor, originally designed with a wedge-type vaned diffuser,
was retrofitted with a vaneless diffuser along with two low solidity
diffuser configurations in order to improve the operating flow
range. The low solidity diffuser configurations included a flat-plate
design and an airfoil-type design. The vaneless and flat-plate low
solidity diffusers were derived from the existing wedge-type vaned
diffuser, while the airfoil-type low solidity diffuser was designed
specifically to match the existing impeller, but within the design
envelope available for retrofit purposes. Computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) was used to establish impeller discharge
conditions, analyze candidate diffusers, and provide some
guidance as to the expected operating range improvement. Both
factory and field testing were conducted to verify the performance
of the diffuser configurations. Test results indicated that the airfoiltype
low solidity diffuser had the best overall efficiency and
operating flow range combination, with one percent and 22 percent
improvements, respectively, when compared to the wedge-type
vaned diffuser.
Description
LecturePg. 57-66
Subject
TurbomachinesCollections
Citation
Flathers, Michael B. (1997). Design And Retrofit Of A Low Solidity Diffuser For A Pipeline Centrifugal Gas Compressor Application.. Texas A&M University. Turbomachinery Laboratories. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /163418.