A look-up table-based numerical simulation of a helium–xenon centrifugal compressor

The high molar mass of xenon induces non-ideal gas behavior in helium–xenon (He–Xe) mixtures, leading to discrepancies between computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions and experimental data for the performance of He–Xe centrifugal compressors. To resolve these discrepancies, this paper implements an experimentally validated method for computing the thermophysical properties of a 40 g/mol He–Xe mixture. A novel transformation procedure is developed to generate thermodynamically consistent look-up tables (LUTs) with interpolation errors constrained to less than 0.1%. The performance of a He–Xe centrifugal compressor is evaluated through CFD simulations comparing the ideal gas model (IGM) with the newly developed LUT approach. Results reveal that the LUT method effectively corrects the IGM's overestimation of the compressor performance, achieving error reductions of 3.64% in isentropic efficiency and 1.73% in total pressure ratio. Entropy production analysis further validates the LUT's superior capability in capturing He–Xe real gas effects, quantifying a 1.25% increase in flow losses within shock-dominated regions and revealing a more substantial 4.47% discrepancy in wake mixing zones relative to IGM predictions. These findings provide quantitative evidence for the significant impact of He–Xe thermophysical properties on both overall compressor performance and detailed flow loss mechanisms, conclusively establishing the LUT approach as essential for high-fidelity CFD simulations.