Comprehensive Performance Improvement for a 16-Stage Axial Compressor

The paper describes the process of gas-dynamic modernization of a 16-stage axial compressor of an industrial gas turbine unit. Tests of the baseline variant of the compressor revealed a significant shortfall of efficiency, pressure ratio, and stability margins. In addition, the ongoing work on the modernization of the entire engine sets the task to the authors of not just achieving design parameters but significantly exceeding them (air mass flow rate by 6%, pressure ratio by 2%, adiabatic efficiency by 1% relative to the design values). To achieve these goals, a numerical model of the compressor was developed and validated. The characteristics obtained with its help were carefully analyzed. It was found that the front stage group has low efficiency, and the rear stage group is significantly oversized in terms of mass flow rate. Modernization works were significantly hampered by the presence of many stages and many independent variables. For this reason, the problem was solved in several stages. A separate modernization of the first and rear groups of stages was performed. Moreover, methods of mathematical optimization were used when developing the rear block of 10 stages. Then the working processes of the compressor parts were matched. As a result of the research, a variant was found to modernize the existing 16-stage axial compressor, providing an increase in the air mass flow rate by 18%, adiabatic efficiency by 3.5%, and margins of gas-dynamic stability up to 16%.