Investigation of volute design with high/supersonic impeller exit Mach

Investigation of Volute Design with High/Supersonic Impeller Exit Mach

A Snapshot of Your Day

High-temperature heat pumps are emerging as a promising solution for district heating, especially when powered by green electricity. The increasing demand for these systems calls for the use of low global warming potential refrigerants such as R1234ze(E), R1234ze(Z), R1234yf, and natural refrigerants like Isobutane (R600a) and CO2. However, designing for high Mach numbers presents significant challenges in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), particularly in accurately modelling the real gas behaviours of these refrigerants.

As a master’s thesis student, you will join the compressor aerodynamics group. This thesis project focuses on the centrifugal compressor used in heat-pump applications. The aim is to explore the implementation of refrigerants in numerical tools, simulate and evaluate the performance of centrifugal compressors with radial diffusers and volutes at both design and off-design points, and develop a comprehensive CFD process. The study will concentrate on high Mach centrifugal compressor components capable of handling high pressure ratios using R600a (Isobutane) and/or R1234ze(E) as reference refrigerants. The primary objective is to parameterize the volute and investigate various numerical approaches using commercial CFD tools to capture flow physics from choke to stall for the entire stage, while examining the errors introduced by using mixing plane or frozen rotor approaches instead of full 360-degree simulations.

How You’ll Make an Impact

● Conduct a comprehensive literature review on the current state-of-the-art regarding volute design in centrifugal compressors.
● Implement refrigerants R600a and/or R1234ze(E) in a commercial CFD tool.
● Perform and evaluate flow simulations for centrifugal compressors with radial diffusers and volutes at both design and off-design points.
● Conduct a parametric study to understand the impact of different volute designs.
● Focus on capturing flow physics from choke to stall for the entire stage.
● Investigate the use of periodic boundary conditions for non-axisymmetric downstream components.
● Compare the accuracy of mixing plane and frozen rotor approaches against full 360-degree simulations.
● Develop an automatic or semi-automatic process for pre- to post-processing in CFD simulations for industrial use.
● Normalize the results to ensure confidentiality while maintaining the integrity of the data.

What You Bring

● M.Sc. student with mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, engineering physics or similar.
● Experience and interests in using CFD tools, e.g., CFX, STAR-CCM+, TRACE, or others.
● Programming skills with Matlab and/or Python.
● Ability to work independently, but not afraid of asking questions to move forward in your work.
● Is structured and communicates well.
● Can find own ways and solutions to challenges and problems.

About the Team

Within the R&D department, the compressor aerodynamics group consists of specialists with deep expertise in both theoretical and practical aspects of compressor design and performance. The team is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of compressor technology and innovation.
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We can offer you employment benefits such as: reduction of working hours, advance vacation, health care allowance and an eventual possibility to a flexible working place.

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Our global team is committed to making sustainable, reliable, and affordable energy a reality by pushing the boundaries of what is possible. We uphold a 150-year legacy of innovation that encourages our search for people who will support our focus on decarbonization, new technologies, and energy transformation.

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Application
Don’t hesitate – apply via https://jobs.siemens-energy.com/en_US/jobs, id nr 264481 no later than 2024-11-01.

Ongoing selection is applied, the role might be filled before last application date.
For questions about the role, please contact the recruiting manager Henrik Pilvinge on henrik.pilvinge@siemens-energy.com.
For questions about the recruitment process please contact the responsible recruiter Ermina Imamovic on ermina.imamovic.ext@siemens-energy.com
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