Centrifugal compressors are one of the best choices among compressors in supercritical Brayton cycles. A supercritical CO2 centrifugal compressor increases the pressure of the fluid which state is initially very close to the critical point. When the supercritical fluid is compressed near the critical point, wide variations of fluid properties occur. The density of carbon dioxide at its critical point is close to the liquid density which leads to reduction in the compression work. This paper explains a method to overcome the simulation instabilities and challenges near the critical point in which the thermophysical properties change sharply. The investigated compressor is a centrifugal compressor tested in the Sandia supercritical CO2 test loop. In order to get results with the high accuracy and take into account the nonlinear variation of the properties near the critical point, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) flow solver is coupled with a look-up table of properties of fluid. Behavior of real gas close to its critical point and the effect of the accuracy of the real gas model on the compressor performance are studied in this paper, and the results are compared with the experimental data from the Sandia compression facility.
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December 2018
Research-Article
Numerical Investigation of the Flow Behavior Inside a Supercritical CO2 Centrifugal Compressor
Alireza Ameli,
Alireza Ameli
Mem. ASME
Laboratory of Fluid Dynamics,
School of Energy Systems,
Lappeenranta University of Technology,
Lappeenranta 53850, Finland
e-mail: alireza.ameli@lut.fi
Laboratory of Fluid Dynamics,
School of Energy Systems,
Lappeenranta University of Technology,
Lappeenranta 53850, Finland
e-mail: alireza.ameli@lut.fi
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Teemu Turunen-Saaresti,
Teemu Turunen-Saaresti
Laboratory of Fluid Dynamics,
School of Energy Systems,
Lappeenranta University of Technology,
Lappeenranta 53850, Finland
e-mail: teemu.turunen-saaresti@lut.fi
School of Energy Systems,
Lappeenranta University of Technology,
Lappeenranta 53850, Finland
e-mail: teemu.turunen-saaresti@lut.fi
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Jari Backman
Jari Backman
Laboratory of Fluid Dynamics,
School of Energy Systems,
Lappeenranta University of Technology,
Lappeenranta 53850, Finland
e-mail: jari.backman@lut.fi
School of Energy Systems,
Lappeenranta University of Technology,
Lappeenranta 53850, Finland
e-mail: jari.backman@lut.fi
Search for other works by this author on:
Alireza Ameli
Mem. ASME
Laboratory of Fluid Dynamics,
School of Energy Systems,
Lappeenranta University of Technology,
Lappeenranta 53850, Finland
e-mail: alireza.ameli@lut.fi
Laboratory of Fluid Dynamics,
School of Energy Systems,
Lappeenranta University of Technology,
Lappeenranta 53850, Finland
e-mail: alireza.ameli@lut.fi
Teemu Turunen-Saaresti
Laboratory of Fluid Dynamics,
School of Energy Systems,
Lappeenranta University of Technology,
Lappeenranta 53850, Finland
e-mail: teemu.turunen-saaresti@lut.fi
School of Energy Systems,
Lappeenranta University of Technology,
Lappeenranta 53850, Finland
e-mail: teemu.turunen-saaresti@lut.fi
Jari Backman
Laboratory of Fluid Dynamics,
School of Energy Systems,
Lappeenranta University of Technology,
Lappeenranta 53850, Finland
e-mail: jari.backman@lut.fi
School of Energy Systems,
Lappeenranta University of Technology,
Lappeenranta 53850, Finland
e-mail: jari.backman@lut.fi
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Turbomachinery Committee of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING FOR GAS TURBINES AND POWER. Manuscript received May 7, 2018; final manuscript received May 31, 2018; published online August 30, 2018. Assoc. Editor: David Wisler.
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. Dec 2018, 140(12): 122604 (7 pages)
Published Online: August 30, 2018
Article history
Received:
May 7, 2018
Revised:
May 31, 2018
Citation
Ameli, A., Turunen-Saaresti, T., and Backman, J. (August 30, 2018). "Numerical Investigation of the Flow Behavior Inside a Supercritical CO2 Centrifugal Compressor." ASME. J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. December 2018; 140(12): 122604. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4040577
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