Turbomachinery, in mechanical engineering, describes machines that transfer energy between a rotor and a fluid, including both turbines and compressors. While a turbine transfers energy from a fluid to a rotor, a compressor transfers energy from a rotor to a fluid.
A turbine is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating electrical power when combined with a generator. A turbine is a turbomachine with at least one moving part called a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades so that they move and impart rotational energy to the rotor. Early turbine examples are windmills and waterwheels.
The parameter, which is non-dimensional, is defined as:
change in specific enthalpy over stage hp.s/lb (KW.s/Kg)
peripheral blade speed ft/s (m/s)
Average stage loading has a very similar definition, where the number of stages, n, within the compressor, fan or turbine is used to provide an average value:
In this case the change in enthalpy is across the whole unit, not just a stage. Similarly, the blade speed used is a mean for the whole device.
Enthalpy, a property of a thermodynamic system, is equal to the system's internal energy plus the product of its pressure and volume. In a system enclosed so as to prevent matter transfer, for processes at constant pressure, the heat absorbed or released equals the change in enthalpy.
The above equation shows that if blade speed cannot be increased for, say, mechanical or aerodynamic reasons, the number of stages has to be increased to get the average stage loading back to an acceptable level, to obtain a satisfactory level of efficiency. The ideal average stage loading for a turbine is about 1.8.
Aerodynamics, from Greek ἀήρ aer (air) + δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of motion of air, particularly as interaction with a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It is a sub-field of fluid dynamics and gas dynamics, and many aspects of aerodynamics theory are common to these fields. The term aerodynamics is often used synonymously with gas dynamics, the difference being that "gas dynamics" applies to the study of the motion of all gases, and is not limited to air. The formal study of aerodynamics began in the modern sense in the eighteenth century, although observations of fundamental concepts such as aerodynamic drag were recorded much earlier. Most of the early efforts in aerodynamics were directed toward achieving heavier-than-air flight, which was first demonstrated by Otto Lilienthal in 1891. Since then, the use of aerodynamics through mathematical analysis, empirical approximations, wind tunnel experimentation, and computer simulations has formed a rational basis for the development of heavier-than-air flight and a number of other technologies. Recent work in aerodynamics has focused on issues related to compressible flow, turbulence, and boundary layers and has become increasingly computational in nature.
Related Research Articles
A steam turbine is a device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884.
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the turbo portion refers to a gas turbine engine which achieves mechanical energy from combustion, and the fan, a ducted fan that uses the mechanical energy from the gas turbine to accelerate air rearwards. Thus, whereas all the air taken in by a turbojet passes through the turbine, in a turbofan some of that air bypasses the turbine. A turbofan thus can be thought of as a turbojet being used to drive a ducted fan, with both of these contributing to the thrust.
In single-variable calculus, the difference quotient is usually the name for the expression
Centrifugal compressors, sometimes called radial compressors, are a sub-class of dynamic axisymmetric work-absorbing turbomachinery.
In thermodynamics, an isentropic process is an idealized thermodynamic process that is both adiabatic and reversible. The work transfers of the system are frictionless, and there is no transfer of heat or matter. Such an idealized process is useful in engineering as a model of and basis of comparison for real processes.
A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor.
An axial compressor is a gas compressor that can continuously pressurize gases. It is a rotating, airfoil-based compressor in which the gas or working fluid principally flows parallel to the axis of rotation, or axially. This differs from other rotating compressors such as centrifugal compressor, axi-centrifugal compressors and mixed-flow compressors where the fluid flow will include a "radial component" through the compressor. The energy level of the fluid increases as it flows through the compressor due to the action of the rotor blades which exert a torque on the fluid. The stationary blades slow the fluid, converting the circumferential component of flow into pressure. Compressors are typically driven by an electric motor or a steam or a gas turbine.
In fixed-wing aircraft driven by one or more jet engines, certain aspects of performance such as thrust relate directly to the safe operation of the aircraft whereas other aspects of the engine operation such as noise and engine emissions affect the environment.
Exergy efficiency computes the effectiveness of a system relative to its performance in reversible conditions. It is defined as the ratio of the thermal efficiency of an actual system compared to an idealized or reversible version of the system for heat engines. It can also be described as the ratio of the useful work output of the system to the reversible work output for work-consuming systems. For refrigerators and heat pumps, it is the ratio of the actual COP and reversible COP.
Thermodynamic databases contain information about thermodynamic properties for substances, the most important being enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs free energy. Numerical values of these thermodynamic properties are collected as tables or are calculated from thermodynamic datafiles. Data is expressed as temperature-dependent values for one mole of substance at the standard pressure of 101.325 kPa, or 100 kPa. Unfortunately, both of these definitions for the standard condition for pressure are in use.
A radial turbine is a turbine in which the flow of the working fluid is radial to the shaft. The difference between axial and radial turbines consists in the way the fluid flows through the components. Whereas for an axial turbine the rotor is 'impacted' by the fluid flow, for a radial turbine, the flow is smoothly orientated perpendicular to the rotation axis, and it drives the turbine in the same way water drives a watermill. The result is less mechanical stress which enables a radial turbine to be simpler, more robust, and more efficient when compared to axial turbines. When it comes to high power ranges the radial turbine is no longer competitive and the efficiency becomes similar to that of the axial turbines.
The enthalpy of fusion of a substance, also known as (latent) heat of fusion, is the change in its enthalpy resulting from providing energy, typically heat, to a specific quantity of the substance to change its state from a solid to a liquid, at constant pressure. For example, when melting 1 kg of ice, 333.55 kJ of energy is absorbed with no temperature change. The heat of solidification is equal and opposite.
In an electric power system, automatic generation control (AGC) is a system for adjusting the power output of multiple generators at different power plants, in response to changes in the load. Since a power grid requires that generation and load closely balance moment by moment, frequent adjustments to the output of generators are necessary. The balance can be judged by measuring the system frequency; if it is increasing, more power is being generated than used, which causes all the machines in the system to accelerate. If the system frequency is decreasing, more load is on the system than the instantaneous generation can provide, which causes all generators to slow down.
In turbomachinery, Degree of reaction or reaction ratio (R) is defined as the ratio of the static pressure drop in the rotor to the static pressure drop in the stage or as the ratio of static enthalpy drop in the rotor to the static enthalpy drop in the stage.
Compressor characteristic is the curve to show the behaviour of fluid, like change in pressure, temperature, entropy, flow rate etc. as it passes through a Dynamic compressor at different compressor speeds. The function of a compressor is to increase the pressure of a fluid passing through it, so that the exit pressure is higher than the inlet pressure. Due to this property, compressors are used in a wide range of machines, such as refrigerators, cars, jet engines and industrial processes. These curves are plotted between various parameters and some are as follows
An axial fan is a type of fan that causes gas to flow through it in an axial direction, parallel to the shaft about which the blades rotate. The flow is axial at entry and exit. The fan is designed to produce a pressure difference, and hence force, to cause a flow through the fan. Factors which determine the performance of the fan include the number and shape of the blades. Fans have many applications including in wind tunnels and cooling towers. Design parameters include power, flow rate, pressure rise and efficiency.
Blade solidity is an important design parameter for the axial flow impeller and is defined as the ratio of blade chord length to pitch.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
