Control of Flow Instabilities in Swirl Flow Generator

Abstract

Variable inlet guide vanes (IGVs), which are a type of swirling flow generator, are installed at the inlet of the centrifugal compressors to reduce the inlet Mach number of the rotor blades. However, flow instabilities are known to occur downstream of the IGVs. In this study, circular cylinders with tangential blowing were applied as guide vanes to generate swirling flow, and the flow instabilities downstream of the IGVs or circulation cylinders with tangential blowing were investigated experimentally and numerically. The unsteady flow characteristics downstream of each swirling flow generator are discussed here.