Numerical studies of air humidity importance in the first stage rotor of turbine compressor

Abstract

The paper presents studies of mathematical modelling in transonic flow through the first stage rotor of the axial compressor of homogenous and heterogeneous condensation. The condensation phenomena implemented into a commercial software is based on the classical theory of nucleation and molecular-kinetic droplet growth model. Model is validated against experimental studies available in the literature regarding the flow through the first stage of turbine compressor, i.e. the rotor37 transonic compressor benchmark test. The impact of air humidity and air contamination on the condensation process for different flow conditions is examined. The influence of latent heat release due to condensation exerts a significant impact on the flow structure, thus the analysis of the air humidity and contamination influence on the condensation is presented. The results presented indicate the non-negligible influence of air humidity on the flow structure in the transonic flow regime, thus it is recommended to take condensation phenomenon under consideration in high-velocity airflow simulations.