RESUMO
This paper presents the first ever direct measurements of total pressure losses across shocks in supersonic flows of organic vapors in non-ideal conditions, so in the thermodynamic region close to the liquid-vapor saturation curve and the critical point where the ideal gas law is not applicable. Experiments were carried out with fluid siloxane MM (hexamethyldisiloxane, C 6 H 18 OSi 2 ), commonly employed in medium-/high-temperature organic Rankine cycles (ORCs), in the Test Rig for Organic VApors (TROVA), a blowdown wind tunnel at the Laboratory of Compressible fluid dynamics for Renewable Energy Applications (CREA lab) of Politecnico di Milano. A total pressure probe was inserted in superheated MM vapor flow at Mach number â¼ 1.5 with total conditions in the range 215 - 230 ∘ C and 2 - 12 bar at varying levels of non-ideality, with a compressibility factor evaluated at total conditions between Z T = 0.68 - 0.98 . These operating conditions are representative of the first-stage stator of ORC turbines. Measured shock losses were compared with those calculated from pre-shock quantities by solving conservation equations across a normal shock, with differences always below 2 % attesting a satisfactory reliability of the implemented experimental procedure. An in-depth analysis was then carried out, highlighting the direct effects of non-ideality on shock intensity. Even at the mildly non-ideal conditions with Z T â³ 0.70 considered here, non-ideality was responsible for a significantly stronger shock compared to the ideal gas limit at same pre-shock Mach number, with differences as large as 6 % .
