Performance optimization of a subsonic Diffuser-Collector subsystem using interchangeable geometries

A subsonic wind tunnel facility was designed and built to test and optimize various diffuser-collector box geometries at the one-twelfth scale.  The facility was designed to run continuously at an inlet Mach number of 0.42 and an inlet hydraulic diameter Reynolds number of 340,000. Different combinations of diffusers, hubs, and exhaust collector boxes were designed and evaluated for overall optimum performance. Both 3-hole and 5-hole probes were traversed into the flow to generate multiple diffuser inlet and collector exit performance profile plots. Surface oil flow visualization was performed to gain an understanding of the complex 3D flow structures inside the diffuser-collector subsystem. The cutback radial hardware was found to increase the subsystem pressure recovery by over 10% from baseline resulting in an approximate 1% increase in gas turbine power output.