Numerical Investigation of Turning Diffuser Performance by Varying Geometric and Operating Parameters

This paper presents a numerical investigation of pressure recovery and flow uniformity in turning diffusers with 90o angle of turn by varying geometric and operating parameters. The geometric and operating parameters considered in this study are area ratio (AR= 1.6, 2.0 and 3.0) and inflow Reynolds number (Rein=23, 2.653E+04, 7.959E+04, 1.592E+05 and 2.123E+05). Three turbulence models, i.e. the standard k- turbulence model (std k-), the shear stress transport model (SST-k-) and the Reynolds stress model (RSM) were assessed in terms of their applicability to simulate the actual cases. The standard k- turbulence model appeared as the best validated model, with the percentage of deviation to the experimental being the least recorded. Results show that the outlet pressure recovery of a turning diffuser at specified Rein improves approximately 32% by varying the AR from 1.6 to 3.0. Whereas, by varying the Rein from 2.653E+04 to 2.123E+05, the outlet pressure recovery at specified AR turning diffuser improves of approximately 24%. The flow uniformity is considerably distorted with the increase of AR and Rein. Therefore, there should be a compromise between achieving the maximum pressure recovery and the maximum possible flow uniformity. The present work proposes the turning diffuser with AR=1.6 operated at Rein=2.653E+04 as the optimum set of parameters, producing pressure recovery of Cp=0.320 and flow uniformity of u=1.62, with minimal flow separation occurring in the system.