A Diffusion Factor Correlation for Centrifugal Impeller Stalling

Abstract

Test results pertaining to the stalling characteristics of centrifugal compressor impellers with parallel wall vaneless diffusers are presented and studied to correlate the coincidence of stall with a limiting impeller diffusion capability. It is suggested that a modified diffusion factor, to include the effects of meridional curvature, provides improved stall correlation for a wide specific speed range of backswept impeller types. The possibility of applying this diffusion factor to high loading radially bladed impellers is discussed as dependent upon blockage and windage plus recirculation effects. Use of the diffusion factor limit in the preliminary design of most common turbomachinery types, incompressible and compressible, to assess impeller (or rotor) stall is conceivable.