Numerical and experimental study of Multi-Stage centrifugal compressor

Flow study in centrifugal compressors is the most complicated one inturbomachinery. The difficulty is mainly due to the unsymmetrical geometry ofblades and volute as well as the presence of secondary flow. The situation becomesworse in the case of multi-stage centrifugal compressor. The investigation is socomplicated because of the presence of return bends between stages. So, it is alarge domain of study.Recently, it is common to use a computational solution to simulate the flowin the compressor. A sector-domain is used to simplify the case study. Fewresearchers considered the full domain of a single-stage centrifugal compressor.The present study concerns the full domain of a four-stage centrifugal compressor.Both computational and experimental investigations were utilized to studythe flow behavior inside the compressor. Computational study was carried out bythe commercial code ”CFD-RC”. Experimental work was accomplished by the useof a data acquisition system, advanced sensors and ”Lab View” interface software.Comparisons between computational and experimental outputs were performed.The computational code was validated experimentally and numerically.Compressor map was drawn numerically and experimentally. Surge was unsteadilysimulated. Surge predicted at mass flow rate of 0.0093 kg/s (0.00719 m3/s nominalflow rate) at 12,000 rpm. Uncertainty was studied for experimental results. Full-domain solution is efficient. Using the parallel computational technology, ”HPC”program, is recommended for future work.