PARAMETRIC STUDY AND MEANLINE DESIGN OF MULTISTAGE AXIAL FLOW COMPRESSOR FOR PROCESS APPLICATION

An industrial axial compressor has to meet a wide range of operation requirements. These machines have to run continuously for four to five years before going for overhaul. Hence, overall high level of efficiency may be slightly relaxed to meet this requirement. This requires axial flow compressor design to be more conservative and flexible to accommodate changes required for process industry through modern design & development approaches. This paper deals with finding of optimum flow path configuration that will allow a successful detailed design to follow. The effect of various parameters such as hub to tip ratio, proper selection of design rpm, reactions, work coefficient & flow coefficient has been investigated and selected for optimal performance of the machine. Last stage of the compressor is selected as radial stage with the advantage of reduction in axial length and to provide radial outlet, which is more suitable outlet configuration. Meanline design and streamline analysis for each configuration is determined to find out good operating range (stall-free operation) before starting the detailed design.