Investigation into the interaction of centrifugal compressor impeller and vaneless diffuser

Centrifugal compressors with parallel-wall and contracting wall vaneless diffuser are designed by using centrifugal compressor computer-aided integrated design system. The internal flow fields of the compressor are calculated by solving three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equation. Four aspects are investigated and calculation results show that the total efficiencies and total pressure ratios of the compressor with contracting wall vaneless diffuser is higher than that of the compressor with parallel-wall. The jet and wake don't mix rapidly inside vaneless diffuser. The outlet blade lean angle doesn't affect the compressor performance. The greater the mass flow rate through impeller, the more uneven the velocity distribution at impeller outlet is.