Numerical simulation of active control of instabilities in an axial compressor under distorted inlet flow

Inlet distortion that may be occurred for various reasons at the entrance of a gas turbine, it is caused to disturbed in compressor performance conditions and also all engine components, so it is very important to investigate its controlling methods. The aim of this paper is numerical simulation of inlet distortion in an axial compressor rotor and active control of the instabilities by the air injection at the blade tip region. Flow simulation of inlet distortion is accomplished at compressor entry with five different geometries of circumferential blockage (amounts of circumferential blockage are: 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% of the compressor inlet duct). For active control of instabilities, 12 injectors have been mounted upstream of the rotor blade row that distributed in circumferential directions symmetrically. The injection mass flow rate does not exceed 2% of the compressor main flow rate at the design point. ANSYS CFX was used for simulation and the turbulence model of k-ω SST has been used through the calculations. The results show that increasing inlet distortion cause to decrease performance and rotor efficiency. Furthermore, for this rotor modeling condition, in 5% and 10% blockage, air injection can improve the rotor performance, but for more than 10% blockage, a strong wake region is formed after the distortion screen and air injection can cause negative effects on rotor performance. Because the strong instabilities can adversely affect the injectors flow and this method instead of modifying the flow field, make it more non uniform than before.