Experimental setup for labyrinth seals: Pressure, temperature, mass flow rate, rotation velocity, and pressure drop simultaneous measurement.

Labyrinth seals (LSs) in turbomachinery are used to minimize leaks. This study presents an experimental setup designed to test and validate LS designs. The test bench (TB) described in this paper can evaluate different LS designs obtained through various methods to find better solutions to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Prototypes with conventional geometry, such as straight-through and interlaced LSs, are initially implemented and tested. A measurement procedure and experimental methodology for collecting leakage data are defined. The experimental methodology includes a measurement TB that supports a pressure difference of up to 5 bar. The leakage rate is measured in g/s using instrumentation that corrects the mass flow rate based on pressure and temperature measurements. The experimental results are compared to the Computational Fluid Dynamics results. Thus, the setup given in this article is a new and versatile TB setup focused on leakage measurement, which allows being used for analyzing various types of LS (with or without rotor structures) and is effective for evaluating the performance of LSs, helping the development of new LS geometries that can reduce GHG emissions.
(© 2025 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.)