IMPACT OF CONDENSATION ON RADIAL EXPANDER PERFORMANCE

Liquid natural gas expanders extract power from natural gas. As the gas expands, temperature drops below the saturation temperature, triggering condensation. Consequently, droplets are created in this subcooled condition, and these droplets cause performance degradation and blade erosion. Yet, analysis of such flows has been scarce. Therefore, this study utilizes CFD to analyze the flow field inside the LNG expander.