Turbochargers, nowadays, are becoming increasingly common in the internal combustion engines of automobiles in order to improve fuel economy and meet government emission regulations. A turbocharger must provide a designed increase in pressure under load condition (design point) while generating enough power at the low end (loss mass flow region). Internal combustion engine working characteristics, however, prevent a centrifugal compressor from generating enough boost at the low end when radial turbine rotational speed is low. Continue reading “Free Webinar: Maximizing Turbocharger Boost with Advanced Design Features”
Category: Compressor
Formula 1 Racing is Turbocharged
Yes, the Formula 1 races have begun. The world is three races in with the fourth Grand Prix scheduled for April 20 in China. As the world watches in awe at the versatility and speed (let’s face it, the races are all about the cars, right?), engineers marvel at the aerodynamics, energy recovery systems, turbochargers and internal combustion engines (because we love engineering).
Let’s Talk About Centrifugal Compressors
We all know by now that no machine is perfect. Turbines have carryover losses, pumps experience cavitation phenomena, and compressors certainly have their fair share of pros and cons. We’re on the hunt for some common design problems – perhaps problems that you have experienced yourself, with centrifugal compressors. We scoured through our technical papers and presentations and searched the web for some. Here’s a list of frequent concerns and questions we ran into: Continue reading “Let’s Talk About Centrifugal Compressors”
At a Glance – Turbochargers
With the ongoing movement toward global environmental protection, regulations related to the exhaust emissions and fuel consumption of automobiles are being strengthened. To cope with these requirements, turbochargers are an effective tool to improve fuel consumption and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, by reducing the engine weight and friction loss.
Since a turbocharger supplies compressed air to an engine, it can reduce the engine displacement relative to an atmospheric engine for the same power. Variable geometry turbochargers, which can control the boost pressure according to the engine operating conditions, are becoming increasingly popular, creating a demand for a centrifugal compressor with a wide and stable operational range. Continue reading “At a Glance – Turbochargers”
What Are Some Factors Affecting Gas Turbine Operation?
Let’s face it, we know the operations of our gas turbines can’t all be perfect, and we’ll run through calculations, feasibility studies and more to pinpoint the exact cause. But before all of that is accomplished, you should keep a list in the back of your mind of what might be causing your loss in performance, based on common factors that affect gas turbine efficiency and more.
Here’s the list. Continue reading “What Are Some Factors Affecting Gas Turbine Operation?”