Numerical simulation of air flow through turbocharger compressors with dual volute design

In this paper, turbocharger centrifugal compressors with dual volute design were investigated by using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. The numerical simulation focused on the air flow from compressor impeller inlet to volute exit, and the overall performance level and range are predicted. The numerical investigation revealed that the dual volute design could separate the compressor into two operating regions: “high efficiency” and “low efficiency” regions with different air flow characteristics, and treating these two regions separately with dual diffuser design showed extended stable operating range and improved efficiency by comparing with conventional single volute design. The “dual sequential volute” concept also showed the potential to further extend the stable operating range by closing one of the volutes at low air flow rates. Furthermore, by comparing with other alternate designs such as variable diffuser vanes and variable inlet guide vanes, the operation of the dual sequential volute also features relatively simple control and calibration.