This document discusses the principles and operation of centrifugal compressors. It notes that centrifugal compressors were commonly used in early aviation gas turbines and small engines due to their smaller flow capacity compared to axial flow compressors, which are more suitable for large engines requiring increased power. The document then describes the key components and working principles of centrifugal compressors, including how air is accelerated by the impeller into a high-velocity whirl before being decelerated and its pressure increased in the diffuser section. It also discusses factors like slip that affect the efficiency of pressure rise and energy transfer within the compressor.
This document discusses the principles and operation of centrifugal compressors. It notes that centrifugal compressors were commonly used in early aviation gas turbines and small engines due to their smaller flow capacity compared to axial flow compressors, which are more suitable for large engines requiring increased power. The document then describes the key components and working principles of centrifugal compressors, including how air is accelerated by the impeller into a high-velocity whirl before being decelerated and its pressure increased in the diffuser section. It also discusses factors like slip that affect the efficiency of pressure rise and energy transfer within the compressor.
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Rotary Compressors
Centrifugal Compressors Axial flow Compressors
Used at the time of second world war
British system used centrifugal compressors German system used Axial flow compressors First aviation gas turbine used centrifugal compressor Axial flow compressor came in to play with increased power requirement. Axial flow compressor is more suitable for large engines, whereas small engines suit centrifugal compressors
Centrifugal Compressor- Principle of Operation
The centrifugal compressor consists of a
stationary casing containing a rotating impeller which imparts a high velocity to the air, and a number of fixed diverging passages in which the air is decelerated with a consequent rise in static pressure. The latter process is one of diffusion, and consequently the part of the compressor containing the diverging passages is known as the diffuser. The impeller may be single or double sided, as early aero engines need double sided ones because of smaller flow capacity of centri.compressors
Air is sucked into the impeller eye and
whirled round at high speed by the vanes on the impeller disc. At any point in the flow of air through the impeller, the centripetal acceleration is obtained by a pressure head, so that the static pressure of the air increases from the eye to the tip of the impeller. The remainder of the static pressure rise is obtained in the diffuser, where the very high velocity of the air leaving the impeller tip is reduced to somewhere in the region of the velocity with which the air enters the impeller eye.
The friction in the diffuser will
stagnation pressure.
cause some loss in
The normal practice is to design the compressor so
that about half the pressure rise occurs in the impeller and half in the diffuser. Owing to the action of the vanes in carrying the air around with the impeller, there will be a slightly higher static pressure on the forward face of a vane than on the trailing face. The air will thus tend to flow round the edges of the vanes in the clearance space between the impeller and the casing. This naturally results in a loss of efficiency, and the clearance must be kept as small as possible. The impellers of modern centrifugal compressors
Work done and pressure rise
As no work is done on the air in the diffuser, the energy absorbed by the compressor will be determined by the conditions of the air at the inlet and outlet of the impeller. In the first instance it will be assumed that the air enters the impeller eye in the axial direction, so that the initial angular momentum of the air is zero. The axial portion of the vanes must be curved so that the air can pass smoothly into the eye. The angle which the leading edge of a vane makes with the tangential direction will be given by the direction of the relative
Air leaves impeller with absolute velocity C 2
which is having tangential/ whirl component Cw2 and relatively small radial component Cr2 Under ideal conditions C2 would be such that the whirl component is equal to the impeller tip speed U, as shown by the velocity triangle in the Fig. Due to its inertia, the air trapped between the impeller vanes is reluctant to move round with the impeller, which results in a higher static pressure on the leading face of a vane than on the trailing face.
It also prevents the air from acquiring a
whirl velocity equal to the impeller speed. This effect is known as slip. How far the whirl velocity at the impeller tip falls short of the tip speed depends largely upon the number of vanes on the impeller. The greater the number of vanes, the smaller the slip, i.e. the more nearly C w2 approaches U It is necessary in design to assume a value for the slip factor , where is defined as the ratio Cw2/U
For radial-vaned impellers, the following
expression hold good for the slip factor as,
Where n is the number of vanes.
The theoretical torque which must be applied to the impeller will be equal to the rate of change of angular momentum experienced by the air.
B.H Khan, Non Conventional Energy Resources, Tata Mc-Grawhill Publishing Company Limited, 2006 (2) Mohammad Omar Abdullah, Applied Energy - An Introduction, CRC Press, 2013