Shock loss measurements in non-ideal supersonic flows of organic vapors

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 $$ H $$ OSi $$ ), commonly employed in medium-/high-temperature organic Rankine cycles (ORCs), in the Test Rig for Organic VApors (TROVA), a blowdown wind tunnel at the Laboratory of Compressible fluid dynamics for Renewable Energy Applications (CREA lab) of Politecnico di Milano. A total pressure probe was inserted in superheated MM vapor flow at Mach number $$ with total conditions in the range $$ and $$ at varying levels of non-ideality, with a compressibility factor evaluated at total conditions between $$ . These operating conditions are representative of the first-stage stator of ORC turbines. Measured shock losses were compared with those calculated from pre-shock quantities by solving conservation equations across a normal shock, with differences always below $$ 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 $$ considered here, non-ideality was responsible for a significantly stronger shock compared to the ideal gas limit at same pre-shock Mach number, with differences as large as $$ .