Diffusers

The role of a diffuser was first introduced in Section 3.3 in the context of a low-speed subsonic wind tunnel. There, a diffuser was a divergent duct downstream of the test section whose role was to slow the higher-velocity air from the test section down to a very low velocity at the diffuser exit (see Figure 3.8). Indeed, in general, we can define a diffuser as any duct designed to slow an incoming gas flow to lower velocity at the exit of the diffuser. The incoming flow can be subsonic, as discussed in Figure

3.8, or it can be supersonic, as discussed in the present section. However, the shape of the diffuser is drastically different, depending on whether the incoming flow is subsonic or supersonic.

Before pursuing this matter further, let us elaborate on the concept of total pres­sure p0 as discussed in Section 7.5. In a semiqualitative sense, the total pressure of a flowing gas is a measure of the capacity of the flow to perform useful work. Let us consider two examples:

1. A pressure vessel containing stagnant air at 10 atm

2. A supersonic flow at M = 2.16 and p = 1 atm

In case 1, the air velocity is zero; hence, p0 = p = 10 atm. Now, imagine that we want to use air to drive a piston in a piston-cylinder arrangement, where useful work is performed by the piston being displaced through a distance. The air is ducted into the cylinder from a large manifold, in the same vein as the reciprocating internal combustion engine in our automobile. In case, 1, the pressure vessel can act as the manifold; hence, the pressure on the piston is 10 atm, and a certain amount of useful work is performed, say, Wi. However, in case 2, the supersonic flow must be slowed to a low velocity before we can readily feed it into the manifold. If this slowing process can be achieved without loss of total pressure, then the pressure in the manifold in this case is also 10 atm (assuming V ~ 0), and the same amount of useful work Wi is performed. On the other hand, assume that in slowing down the supersonic stream, a loss of 3 atm takes place in the total pressure. Then the pressure in the manifold is only 7 atm, with the consequent generation of useful work №2, which is less than in the first case; that is, ИА < W. The purpose of this simple example is to indicate that the total pressure of a flowing gas is indeed a measure of its capability to perform useful work. On this basis, a loss of total pressure is always an inefficiency—a loss of the capability to do a certain amount of useful work.

In light of the above, let us expand our definition of a diffuser. A diffuser is a duct designed to slow an incoming gas flow to lower velocity at the exit of the diffuser with as small a loss in total pressure as possible. Consequently, an ideal diffuser would be characterized by an isentropic compression to lower velocities; this is sketched in Figure 10.15a, where a supersonic flow enters the diffuser at M, is isentropically

j2> J,

compressed in a convergent duct to Mach 1 at the throat, where the area is A*, and then is further isentropically compressed in a divergent duct to a low subsonic Mach number at the exit. Because the flow is isentropic, s2 = si, and from Equation (8.73), pQ 2 = pop – Indeed, po is constant throughout the entire diffuser—a characteristic of isentropic flow. However, common sense should tell you that the ideal diffuser in Figure 10.15a can never be achieved. It is extremely difficult to slow a supersonic flow without generating shock waves in the process. For example, examine the convergent portion of the diffuser in Figure 10.15a. Note that the supersonic flow is turned into itself; hence, the converging flow will inherently generate oblique shock waves, which will destroy the isentropic nature of the flow. Moreover, in real life, the flow is viscous; there will be an entropy increase within the boundary layers on the walls of the diffuser. For these reasons, an ideal isentropic diffuser can never be constructed; an ideal diffuser is of the nature of a “perpetual motion machine”—only a utopian wish in the minds of engineers.

An actual supersonic diffuser is sketched in Figure 10.15/7. Here, the incoming flow is slowed by a series of reflected oblique shocks, first in a convergent section usually consisting of straight walls, and then in a constant-area throat. Due to the interaction of the shock waves with the viscous flow near the wall, the reflected shock pattern eventually weakens and becomes quite diffuse, sometimes ending in a weak normal shock wave at the end of the constant-area throat. Finally, the subsonic flow downstream of the constant-area throat is further slowed by moving through a divergent section. At the exit, clearly s2 hence pop < Pop – The art of diffuser design is to obtain as small a total pressure loss as possible, that is, to design the

convergent, divergent, and constant-area throat sections so that ро. г/Рол is as close to unity as possible. Unfortunately, in most cases, we fall far short of that goal. For more details on supersonic diffusers, see Chapter 5 of Reference 21 and Chapter 12 of Reference 1.

Please note that due to the entropy increase across the shock waves and in the boundary layers, the real diffuser throat area A, is larger than,4*. that is, in Figure 10.15, A, > AU