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Adjustable Diffuser Wall Geometry for Turbomachinery Testing

Company: Fox Rotating Equipment Solutions

Major(s):
Primary: ME
Secondary: EE

Non-Disclosure Agreement: YES

Intellectual Property: YES

Among the many components in a centrifugal compressor, the diffuser is often regarded as the second most important, only behind the impeller that drives the flow through the machine. The diffuser is immediately downstream of the impeller (see figure), which accepts the incoming high kinetic energy gas and begins a conversion to static pressure for a desired application. Depending on the impeller operating conditions and compressor case sizing, the dimensions of a given diffuser can vary in many ways. Different diffuser types can be seen in the figure, such as (a) parallel wall, (b) pinched, and (c) tapered. All of which could have desirable aerodynamic improvements for different machine configurations. While one wall of the diffuser does not change much from test to test, the shroud side (left side wall in the figure) does often change. Couple the frequent costs to replace the shroud side diffuser with it being a long-lead item for manufacturing, and expenses quickly rise over the course of a year of testing. Developing a rig-fixed, movable geometry to accommodate changes to the shroud side diffuser could eliminate long part lead time, increase testing frequency, and decrease testing costs. The engineering team at FOX would be excited to sponsor a team to conduct preliminary development of a movable diffuser wall insert for the test rig. Desirable project outcomes to work towards include: (1) conceptual CAD modelling of the wall insert and actuation equipment and (2) a prototype demonstrator capable of conforming to a specified diffuser wall profile while preserving instrumentation requirements.