Centrifugal compressors are widely used throughout various industrial applications,
including many safety-critical fields like aircraft engines. Thus, the enhancement
of stable operational range is essential, which often requires active surge control
methods. This includes state-of-the-art digital electronic measurement system to detect
the onset of surge, which is a phenomenon that arises under extreme operational conditions
and can lead to either negatively influenced behaviour or even the destruction of
the compressor hardware in the case of uncontrolled conditions. Therefore, a strong
emphasis must be given to observe impending surge and, if possible, to include an
active system that can prevent undesired operational situations. Amongst many passive
and active possibilities of surge control, Blade Load Distribution Control (BLDC)
can be considered as a method, which creates acceptable influence on instabilities
with a minor efficiency loss, consequently, could be applied as an active surge suppression
system. The aim of this paper is to investigate feasible solutions on an existing
centrifugal compressor test bench, which would enable to examine the theoretical solutions
for blade load distribution control.
