Session: 37-05 Radial Turbomachinery Design

Paper Number: 125811

125811 - Centrifugal Compressor Design Parameters Assessment for Hydrogen Compression 

In the past few years, hydrogen has gained a lot of industrial and public interest as a clean energy source. It has the potential to serve as a good solution to the problems that arise during the transition towards renewable energy. Hydrogen can be produced from utilizing renewable sources like biomass, solar, and wind energy, ensuring minimal environmental impact. With global hydrogen production increasing in recent years and future, the demand for hydrogen compression for purposes of storage and transportation has been increasing as well. The low molar mass of hydrogen creates challenges to hydrogen compression, requiring higher enthalpy increase for the same pressure ratio compared to heavier gases. This, in turn, increases the required velocity which is limited by the compressor rotor material. Recent works on increasing centrifugal hydrogen compressors efficiency have focused on new design choices, such as employing forward curved blades or utilizing advanced materials. This paper aims to explore the initial design parameters of a centrifugal compressor for hydrogen compression, since some of the recommended design parameters established earlier, for example de Haller number, were obtained keeping air compressors in mind. It is intended to investigate whether these initial design parameters can be adjusted for the case of hydrogen compression, focusing on the design of high efficiency centrifugal compressors.

Presenting Author: Andrei Aleksandrov LUT University

Presenting Author Biography: My name is Andrei Aleksandrov, and I have a Master of Science degree, which I earned from LUT University in January 2023. I am currently a Junior Researcher pursuing a doctoral degree at the Laboratory of Fluid Dynamics, LUT University. The focus of my research is on hydrogen compression.

Authors:

Andrei Aleksandrov LUT University
Ahti Jaatinen-Värri LUT University
Antti Uusitalo LUT University
Teemu Turunen-Saaresti LUT University