We proudly announce that Econ Engineering’s CFD simulation presentation was selected among 22 professional expositions at the Munich ISimT-24 Symposium on Innovative Simulations in Turbomachinery. It showcased Econ’s project where the colleagues redesigned a compressor to improve the efficiency of a water-steam cooling cycle.
Simulation service provider ISimQ (with offices in Canada and Germany), founded ISimT-24 to provide a high-quality forum for learning about the applications, trends, and developments in CFD simulation of turbomachinery. It enables experts to gather innovative ideas for their work and research.
After a 4-year hiatus, international industrial, and academic experts from around the world attended 22 professional presentations by representatives of various technology companies and scientific institutions. Econ Engineering’s software partners, Ansys and CFturbo, were also represented. In addition to numerous university participants, interesting presentations were given by Siemens, ComeT, and ISimQ, among others.
Econ Presents at ISimT-24 Symposium on Innovative Simulations in Turbomachinery
Econ Engineering, a leading Hungarian company for engineering simulation, optimization, and software distribution, shared its expertise with an audience of specialists at the “Innovative Simulations in Turbomachinery” symposium in Munich on April 23-24, 2024.
Gábor Zipszer, CFD Simulation Engineer and CFD Project Coordinator at Econ presented a paper titled “Metamodel-Based Optimization of a Compressor Wheel Used in a Water-Steam Cooling Cycle”. In his technical presentation, he showcased how Econ’s engineering team redesigned a compressor to improve the efficiency of a water-steam cooling cycle. The goal was to optimize the existing compressor impeller and volute for higher efficiency and choke mass flow rate while maintaining the compressor’s pressure ratio characteristic.
Econ’s multi-step solution approach consisted of:
- CFD model of the original system and mesh independence study: Econ first built a CFD model of the original compressor impeller and volute and conducted a mesh independence analysis to validate the model’s accuracy.
- Aerodynamic pre-design of new impeller and volute: based on the existing compressor, two new impeller concepts were designed using engineering experience.
- Optimization using a robust, parametric workflow: as the pre-designed impeller concepts did not achieve the desired results, Econ’s team built a robust, parametric workflow in Ansys Workbench. The workflow involved geometry generation in CFturbo, meshing in TuboGrid and Workbench Mesher, and solving the five-operating-point characteristic curve in CFX. The workflow was controlled by optiSlang. The goal was to create a high-fidelity metamodel by varying 13 geometric parameters.
- Sensitivity analysis and metamodel construction: the team first conducted a sensitivity analysis to identify the most influential geometric parameters on compressor performance. Then, they built a set of metamodels to describe the relationship between the 5 most important geometric parameters and compressor performance.
- Application of various optimization strategies: multiple optimization strategies were applied to the set of metamodels to find the most efficient impeller design.
- New compressor wheel design: as a result of metamodel-based optimization, Econ’s engineers created a new compressor wheel design that significantly improves efficiency and choke mass flow rate.
The new compressor wheel design developed by Econ Engineering not only enhances efficiency but also preserves the pressure ratio characteristic. This means the compressor can generate the same pressure as the original design while consuming less energy.
Econ Engineering’s innovative design offers substantial benefits for operators of water-steam cooling systems. Improved efficiency reduces operating costs, while the increase of choke mass flow rate enables a wider operating range of the compressor.
Econ’s CFD simulation activities focus on different areas, for more information please contact us at sales@econengineering.com!
