Microturbines and small gas turbines are often an attractive option for turbo-hybrid application research in aviation due to their simple design and high power to weight ratio. However, the low operating pressure ratios of microturbines leads to low thermal efficiency, which results in very high fuel consumption. Higher operating pressure ratios in microturbines could vastly improve their current fuel efficiency. This thesis focuses on developing a compact, single stage 8:1 pressure ratio centrifugal compressor stage designed to meet the high-pressure ratio requirements of microturbines and small gas turbine engines in turbo hybrid-electric propulsion applications. The first stage vaned diffuser was modified to include a scalloped leading edge ridge to aid stage total-total compression efficiency improvement. A full 3D Navier-Strokes based CDF solver was used in estimating the delta increase in device total-total efficiency due to scalloped leading edge, from the baseline configuration. The solution obtained using CFD was also used to investigate the ameliorating effects of the scallop ridge.
","abstract_html":"<p>Microturbines and small gas turbines are often an attractive option for turbo-hybrid application research in aviation due to their simple design and high power to weight ratio. However, the low operating pressure ratios of microturbines leads to low thermal efficiency, which results in very high fuel consumption. Higher operating pressure ratios in microturbines could vastly improve their current fuel efficiency. This thesis focuses on developing a compact, single stage 8:1 pressure ratio centrifugal compressor stage designed to meet the high-pressure ratio requirements of microturbines and small gas turbine engines in turbo hybrid-electric propulsion applications. The first stage vaned diffuser was modified to include a scalloped leading edge ridge to aid stage total-total compression efficiency improvement. A full 3D Navier-Strokes based CDF solver was used in estimating the delta increase in device total-total efficiency due to scalloped leading edge, from the baseline configuration. The solution obtained using CFD was also used to investigate the ameliorating effects of the scallop ridge.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Gehlot, Vinod Poonamchand"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Aerospace Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-04-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-04-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:26:02Z","subjects":["vaned","diffuser","centrifugal","compressor","Aerospace Engineering"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/edt/268","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Gehlot, Vinod Poonamchand"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Aerospace Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["vaned","diffuser","centrifugal","compressor","Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/268"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Microturbines and small gas turbines are often an attractive option for turbo-hybrid application research in aviation due to their simple design and high power to weight ratio. However, the low operating pressure ratios of microturbines leads to low thermal efficiency, which results in very high fuel consumption. Higher operating pressure ratios in microturbines could vastly improve their current fuel efficiency. This thesis focuses on developing a compact, single stage 8:1 pressure ratio centrifugal compressor stage designed to meet the high-pressure ratio requirements of microturbines and small gas turbine engines in turbo hybrid-electric propulsion applications. The first stage vaned diffuser was modified to include a scalloped leading edge ridge to aid stage total-total compression efficiency improvement. A full 3D Navier-Strokes based CDF solver was used in estimating the delta increase in device total-total efficiency due to scalloped leading edge, from the baseline configuration. The solution obtained using CFD was also used to investigate the ameliorating effects of the scallop ridge.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Scalloped Leading Edge Vaned Diffuser Analysis for a Compact High Pressure Ratio Centrifugal Compressor"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Gehlot, Vinod Poonamchand"],"dc:description.abstract":["Microturbines and small gas turbines are often an attractive option for turbo-hybrid application research in aviation due to their simple design and high power to weight ratio. However, the low operating pressure ratios of microturbines leads to low thermal efficiency, which results in very high fuel consumption. Higher operating pressure ratios in microturbines could vastly improve their current fuel efficiency. This thesis focuses on developing a compact, single stage 8:1 pressure ratio centrifugal compressor stage designed to meet the high-pressure ratio requirements of microturbines and small gas turbine engines in turbo hybrid-electric propulsion applications. The first stage vaned diffuser was modified to include a scalloped leading edge ridge to aid stage total-total compression efficiency improvement. A full 3D Navier-Strokes based CDF solver was used in estimating the delta increase in device total-total efficiency due to scalloped leading edge, from the baseline configuration. The solution obtained using CFD was also used to investigate the ameliorating effects of the scallop ridge.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/268"],"dc:subject":["vaned","diffuser","centrifugal","compressor","Aerospace Engineering"],"dc:title":["Scalloped Leading Edge Vaned Diffuser Analysis for a Compact High Pressure Ratio Centrifugal Compressor"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Aerospace Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:26:02Z"}