🔍 Key Concepts

• Basic construction and airflow path of a centrifugal flow compressor • Difference between axial flow and radial/centrifugal flow compressors • How air moves through inlet, impeller, diffuser, and discharge in a centrifugal compressor

💭 Think About

• Sketch or visualize the airflow path through a centrifugal compressor: does it stay straight, curve, or change multiple times? • Ask yourself: as air goes from the eye of the impeller, through the impeller blades, and into the diffuser, is its direction constant or being turned? • Consider whether any part of the compressor simply "lets air out" without changing its direction first.

✅ Before You Answer

• Be clear on what a centrifugal (radial) compressor actually does to the airflow direction, compared to a straight-through axial compressor • Identify how many distinct stages or components inside the compressor actively turn or redirect the flow • Verify whether the inlet and outlet alone are the only places where direction could change, or if internal parts also redirect the air