Numerical Prediction of Humid Effect to Transonic Flows in Turbomachinery

Transonic condensate flows of moist air through cascade channel in turbomachinery are numerically predicted by using the high-resolution method developed by the authors. The governing equations consist of conservation laws of mixed gas, water vapor, water liquid, and the number density of water droplets, coupled with the momentum equations and the energy equation. The classical condensation theory is employed for modeling homogeneous nucleation and nonequilibrium condensation. These equations are solved by a high-order high-resolution finite-difference method based on the fourth-order compact MUSCL TVD scheme, Roe’s approximate Riemann solver, and the maximum second-order LU-SGS scheme. Transonic condensate flows through a turbine and a compressor cascade channel are calculated with and without condensation. The calculated flow patterns and total pressure losses are compared with the experiments. These results indicate that the humid effect to turbomachinery cannot be neglected for evaluating the real performance in atmospheric humid conditions.