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Rotary Compressors: Centrifugal Compressors Axial Flow Compressors

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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81 views12 pages

Rotary Compressors: Centrifugal Compressors Axial Flow Compressors

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.

Uploaded by

venkiteshks
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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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.

Theoretical torque = Cw2 r2


if

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