Compressor Stall Control Through Endwall Recirculation

Experiments that demonstrate the use of endwall recirculation to control the stall of transonic compressor stages are described. Endwall recirculation of a compressor stage is implemented by bleeding air from the casing downstream of a stator blade row and injecting the air as a wall jet upstream of a preceding rotor blade row. The bleed ports, injection ports, and recirculation channels are circumferentially discrete, and occupy only 20–30% of the circumference. The development of compact wall-jet injectors is described first. Next, the results of proof-of-concept steady recirculation tests on a single-stage transonic compressor are presented. Finally, the potential for using endwall recirculation to increase the stability of transonic highly-loaded multistage compressors is demonstrated through results from a rig test of simulated recirculation driving both a steady injected flow and an unsteady injected flow commanded by closed-loop active control during compressor operation at 78–100% of design speed. In this test air from an external source was injected upstream of several rotor blade rows while compressor bleed was increased by an amount equivalent to the injected massflow. During closed loop control, wall static pressure fluctuations were monitored and the injected flow rate was controlled to reduce the stalling mass flow. The use of wall jet injection to study the dynamics of transonic compressor stages is also discussed.Copyright © 2004 by ASME

[1]  Ivor Day,et al.  Stall Inception and the Prospects for Active Control in Four High-Speed Compressors , 1997 .

[2]  James D. Paduano,et al.  Rotating Stall Control in a High-Speed Stage With Inlet Distortion: Part II—Circumferential Distortion , 1999 .

[3]  Armin Orthmann,et al.  Experiments in Active Stall Control of a Twin-Spool Turbofan Engine , 2002 .

[4]  Michael D. Hathaway,et al.  Self-Recirculating Casing Treatment Concept for Enhanced Compressor Performance , 2002 .

[5]  Edward M. Greitzer,et al.  1997 Best Paper Award—Controls and Diagnostics Committee: Active Stabilization of Rotating Stall and Surge in a Transonic Single-Stage Axial Compressor , 1998 .

[6]  Ivor Day.  Stall inception in axial flow compressors , 1993 .

[7]  R. L. Elder,et al.  Effects of a Vane-Recessed Tubular-Passage Passive Stall Control Technique on a Multistage, Axial-Flow Compressor: Results of Tests on the First Stage With the Rear Stages Removed , 2003 .

[8]  Ivor Day,et al.  Experiments in active control of stall on an aeroengine gas turbine , 1998 .

[9]  James D. Paduano,et al.  Rotating Stall Control in a High-Speed Stage With Inlet Distortion: Part I—Radial Distortion , 1999 .

[10]  L. Reid,et al.  Performance of single-stage axial-flow transonic compressor with rotor and stator aspect ratios of 1.63 and 1.78, respectively, and with design pressure ratio of 1.82 , 1978 .

[11]  Michael D. Hathaway,et al.  Compressor Stability Enhancement Using Discrete Tip Injection , 2001 .