Validation of a Radial Compressor CFD Analysis

Abstract

In this study, a radial compressor flow at a high speed is investigated by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods. The radial compressor of interest consists of a rotor, diffuser, and exit guide vanes and has an operational rotational speed of 21789 rpm. The geometry of the compressor and its test results such as compression ratio and adiabatic efficiency are available in literature. After extensive mesh convergence tests, steady-state CFD analysis has been performed for compressible and turbulent flow using the ideal gas approach. The main motivation of the study is the determine the appropriate CFD approach and boundary conditions of the problem that will fit best to the measurements. The CFD analysis revealed that the maximum relative errors for the adiabatic efficiency and the pressure ratio were 3.6 % and 1.3 %, respectively.