Session: 31-05 Compressor Design

Paper Number: 124093

124093 - Effect of Operational Pressure Reduction on Axial Compressor Performance by Means of 3D CFD Modeling at Nominal Operating Speeds 

The hyperloop system constitutes one of the most promising alternative means of transportation for the next years. Nevertheless, there are still some challenges to face, such as the blockage of the air surrounding the pod inside the tube. In order to solve that, one proposal consists of including a compressor that helps to relieve the pressure conditions between the pod and the tube. Thus, this work makes, for the first time in this context application, a numerical analysis with CFD tools of the performance of the compressor under low Reynolds conditions by decreasing the pressure of the system until hyperloop operation values. By doing so, it is observed how the compressor performance slightly decreases with the pressure. From this point, the efficiency is severely affected until the point where the compressor is totally lost. The flow analysis supported this idea. Initially, at high Reynolds the flow behaved completely turbulent, and almost no separation was observed in the flow. Later, some separation started to appear, but the turbulent nature of the flow allowed the reattachment of it. Eventually, it was observed how the laminar conditions of the flow at low Reynolds constitute the main reason for the huge detachments that appear. Other aspects were also explored, such as the interstitial losses at the tip, which seemed to work in the opposite direction, that is, decreasing with the lower pressures, but being globally way less important than the losses generated by the flow detachment.
Therefore, this work suggests that decreasing the pressure could have a big impact on the propulsive system of a hyperloop vehicle, even opening the door to develop an ad hoc turbomachine for its purpose.

The assessment of these effects will help taking into account compressor performance when selecting the most adequate operation pressure of the hyperloop system. Flow patterns analysis will be useful to provide guidelines on the design of an ad-hoc compressor that takes into account the decrease of the operational pressure and the turbulent-laminar transition in the future.

Presenting Author: Roberto Navarro CMT - Clean Mobility & Thermofluids, Universitat Politècnica de València

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Navarro holds the position of Associate Professor at CMT Institute for Clean Mobility & Thermofluids at Universitat Politècnica de València. His research is focused on numerical simulations and experimental measurements of turbomachinery flow and aeroacoustics, either for internal combustion engine turbochargers or for axial compressors of hyperloop systems.

Authors:

José Galindo CMT - Clean Mobility & Thermofluids, Universitat Politècnica de València
Roberto Navarro CMT - Clean Mobility & Thermofluids, Universitat Politècnica de València
Borja Pallás CMT - Clean Mobility & Thermofluids, Universitat Politècnica de València
Germán Torres Zeleros Global S.L.
Federico Lluesma-Rodríguez Zeleros Global S.L.
Antonio Antoranz ITP Aero