Abstract
This research is about improving the performance of a turbo blower when a strong vortex occurs on the shroud of a vaneless diffuser. The design parameters for a vaneless diffuser in a turbo blower were analyzed, and the optimum design conditions for a vaneless diffuser were derived. Among these parameters, the independent ones were outer radius of the diffuser (Rd), cross-sectional area ratio of the diffuser (Ad/Ai), and generation method for the shroud curve in the diffuser. The dependent parameter was fan static efficiency in the CFD; moreover, the purpose of this study was to maximize this efficiency. The influence of the design parameters was analyzed using Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and Design of experiments (DOE). The reliability of CFD results was verified by comparing the experimental and CFD results obtained using a preliminary model. For DOE, a full factorial design and the response surface methodology were employed, and a regression equation was used for deriving the optimum design conditions. The DOE results revealed that as Rd increased and Ad/Ai increased accordingly, the fan static efficiency in the CFD also increased. Furthermore, as Rd increased, the high-value range of the fan static efficiency in the CFD increased. In general, the performance of the turbo blower was enhanced when the vortex region in the vaneless diffuser decreased in area. In addition, the cross-sectional area of the vaneless diffuser was designed to achieve recovery of static pressure.
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Uk-Hee Jung received his B.S. and M.S. from the Korea University of Technology and Education and Korea University, Korea, in 2004 and 2008, respectively. He is currently a researcher in KITECH. His research interests are designs of turbo machinery, numerical analyses, optimization techniques and experimental tests.
Sung Kim received his B.S. and M.S. from the Korea University of Technology and Education and Hanyang University, Korea, in 2006 and 2009, respectively. He is currently a researcher in KITECH. His research interests are designs of turbo machinery, CFD, optimization techniques and experimental tests.
Kyuong-Ho Jung is currently a general manager of the research and development department at Hwang-Hae Electric CO., LTD. His research interests are designs of turbo machinery (variablespeed turbo blower, regenerative blower, etc..) and experimental tests.
Jin-Hyuk Kim received his Ph.D. in Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics at Inha University, Korea, in Aug. 2013. He has been a Senior Researcher in Thermal & Fluid System R&BD Group, at KITECH, Korea. His research interests are designs of turbo machinery, CFD, optimization techniques and experimental tests.
Kyoung-Yong Lee received his B.S. and M.S. from the Korea University of Technology and Education, in 2002 and 2004, respectively. He has been a Senior Researcher at Thermal & Fluid System in KITECH. His research interests are designs of turbo machinery, CFD and experimental tests.
Young-Seok Choi received his B.S. from Seoul National University in 1988, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the same university in 1990 and 1996, respectively. He is currently a principal researcher in KITECH. His research interests are in CFD and design optimization of turbo machinery.
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Jung, UH., Kim, S., Jeong, KH. et al. Numerical study on performance improvement when strong vortex occurs on the shroud of vaneless diffuser in turbo blower. J Mech Sci Technol 30, 2515–2529 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-016-0514-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-016-0514-x