Centrifugal Compressor Design Parameters Assessment for Hydrogen Compression

Abstract In recent years, hydrogen has gained a lot of interest, and it is considered as one part in the transition towards cleaner energy systems. With global hydrogen production increasing, the demand for hydrogen compression for storage and transportation has been increasing as well. The low molar mass of hydrogen creates challenges for compression, requiring higher enthalpy increase for the same pressure ratio compared to heavier gases. This, in turn, increases the required velocity which is limited by the compressor rotor material. This paper aims to explore the initial design parameters of a hydrogen centrifugal compressor. A 1D design model was used to assess the loss distributions with varying initial design parameters. The most significant losses were analyzed and compared between hydrogen and air as working fluids. The results indicate that the velocity ratio and the de Haller number have more effect on the losses than hub-to-tip diameter ratio, with the de Haller number being the most important. The minimum total losses with hydrogen occur at much lower de Haller numbers than with air, therefore a hydrogen compressor would benefit more from utilizing low de Haller number compared to an air compressor.