Channel diffuser with splitter vanes

Claim 1

A diffuser for a centrifugal impeller capable of discharging air at a supersonic velocity, said diffuser comprising: means for forming a plurality of passages generally tangent to the periphery of said impeller, said passages having rectangular cross-sectional shapes and intersecting one another at their inlet ends closely adjacent the periphery of said impeller to form a series of substantially straight leading edges disposed normal to the flow from said impeller and at a predetermined distance closely adjacent the periphery of said impeller, each of said passages having an inlet region adJacent said impeller and a downstream subsonic region forming a diverging cross-sectional area; at least one thin splitter vane positioned in the inlet region of each one of said passages, said splitter vane having a relatively sharp, substantially straight leading edge disposed at said predetermined distance from the periphery of said impeller and having a predetermined shape for dividing the inlet regions of each passage into at least two flow paths having substantially the same divergence to produce substantially equal velocities of the flow on both sides of the trailing edge of the splitter vane.