Experience of application the computer program based on a simplified mathematical model for industrial centrifugal compressors candidates

Abstract Various engineering techniques are used to calculate and design centrifugal compressors, one of which is the Universal Modelling Method developed at SPbPU. Variants’ of centrifugal compressors analysis is the first step in gas-dynamic design. Brief information on the simplified mathematical model of efficiency is presented. It is possible to compare the variants of compressors with different number of shafts, shafts RPM, the number and location of intercoolers, the type of impellers and diffusers. Examples of a variants’ calculation of a pipeline compressors, a compressor for underground gas storage and a general-purpose air compressor are presented. It is shown that single-shaft compressors for underground gas storages should be optimized by selecting the maximum possible number of stages, by selecting the ratio of loading factors and the diameters of the impellers. It is shown that the single-shaft scheme of a general-purpose air compressor is inferior in efficiency to a two-shaft scheme with larger number of intercoolers. The presented samples have demonstrated that computer program based on a simplified mathematical model for industrial centrifugal compressors provides reliable and sufficient information for different compressors variants’ analysis.