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PIV investigation of the flow induced by a passive surge control method in a radial compressor

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Abstract

Due to recent emission regulations, the use of turbochargers for force induction of internal combustion engines has increased. Actually, the trend in diesel engines is to downsize the engine by use of turbochargers that operate at higher pressure ratios. Unfortunately, increasing the impeller rotational speed of turbocharger radial compressors tends to reduce their range of operation, which is limited at low mass flow rate by the occurrence of surge. In order to extend the operability of turbochargers, compressor housings can be equipped with a passive surge control device such as a “ported shroud.” This specific casing treatment has been demonstrated to enhance the surge margin with minor negative impact on the compressor efficiency. However, the actual working mechanisms of the system remain not well understood. Hence, in order to optimize the design of the ported shroud, it is crucial to identify the dynamic flow changes induced by the implementation of the device to control instabilities. From the full dynamic survey of the compressor performance characteristics obtained with and without ported shroud, specific points of operation were selected to carry out planar flow visualization. At normal working, both standard and stereoscopic particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) measurements were performed to evaluate instantaneous and mean velocity flow fields at the inlet of the compressor. At incipient and full surge, phase-locked PIV measurements were added. As a result, satisfying characterization of the compressor instabilities was provided at different operational speeds. Combining transient pressure data and PIV measurements, the time evolution of the complex flow patterns occurring at surge was reconstructed and a better insight into the bypass mechanism was achieved.

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Acknowledgments

The project was sponsored by Honeywell Turbo Technologies. The authors would like to thank the industrial partner for the permission to publish the results presented in this paper. Also, thanks to Russell G. DiMicco (ex-employee at the University of Cincinnati) for his technical help through the development of the facility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Cincinnati, 745 Baldwin Hall, ML0070, Cincinnati, OH, 45221-0070, USA

    Erwann Guillou, Matthieu Gancedo & Ephraim Gutmark

  2. Honeywell Turbo Technologies, Greater Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Ashraf Mohamed

Authors
  1. Erwann Guillou
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  2. Matthieu Gancedo
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  3. Ephraim Gutmark
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  4. Ashraf Mohamed
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Correspondence to Erwann Guillou.

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Guillou, E., Gancedo, M., Gutmark, E. et al. PIV investigation of the flow induced by a passive surge control method in a radial compressor. Exp Fluids 53, 619–635 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-012-1310-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-012-1310-8

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