At the Institute of Jet Propulsion and Turbomachinery (IST) of RWTH Aachen University, various centrifugal compressor stages have been investigated on a test rig which has been in operation since 2011. Centrifugal compressors are widely used in industrial applications and account for a not insignificant part of the energy demand. Efficiency can be achieved, among other things, by flexible operation throughout the whole compressor map, which requires a good understanding of part-load behavior. Industry-like centrifugal compressor stages can be examined with the test rig configuration described below.

The performance map of the industrial centrifugal compressor stage designed and commissioned shows good agreement with the prediction, so that the test rig set up is suitable as a research platform for future projects. A follow-up project will aim to investigate the stability limit of the compressor stage and another one the component interactions both aerodynamically and acoustically, so that a better matching of the components can be achieved.

The FVV in the MTZ and ATZ magazine

Results from Industrial Collective Research are accessible to all interested parties and thus final reports of FVV research projects will be presented to the public at our conferences in spring and autumn. In order to further promote the transfer of knowledge and the expansion of the prime movers innovation network, we publish articles on individual projects with particularly interesting new insights in the world's leading specialist magazines for the engine and vehicle industries. MTZ / ATZ and FVV have been working together successfully in this field for many years.