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41643_ASME_full_draft_radial_inlet.pdf

Design and Numerical Investigation of Advanced Radial Inlet for a Centrifugal Compressor Stage Paper Number: IMECE2004-60538 Yunbae Kim Jay Koch Dresser-Rand Company Dresser-Rand Company Olean, NY 14760 Olean, NY 14760 Key words : centrifugal compressor, radial inlet, numerical simulation, inlet distortion, secondary flow, incidence. ABSTRACT The performance of a centrifugal compressor stage can be seriously affected by inlet flow distortions due to an unsatisfactory inlet configuration and the resulting flow structure. In this study, two radial inlets were designed for a centrifugal compressor stage and investigated numerically using a commercially available 3D viscous Navier-Stokes code. The intent of the design was to minimize the total pressure loss across the inlet while distributing the flow as equally and uniformly as possible to the impeller inlet.