Numerical investigations on the effect of humidity and water ingestion on the performance of a subsonic axial flow compressor

This study investigates the influence of relative humidity and ingestion of water in an aerosol form on the aerodynamic performance of a subsonic axial flow compressor. The numerical simulations were carried out using ANSYS^© CFX solver. The humidified air had detrimental effect on the compressor performance resulting in increase in relative humidity, reduction in static pressure rise by 8% and 5% decrease in the maximum isentropic efficiency. On the contrary, the ingestion of micro-water droplets into the compressor enhanced the efficiency with a reduction in specific work input. This was attributed to evaporative cooling induced by the water droplets.