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Surge Compressor Stall

Compressor stall or surge occurs when the angle of attack of air flowing through the compressor exceeds a critical value, disrupting the stable flow of air. This can happen if the engine accelerates too fast or if external factors interfere with the airflow. Symptoms include loud noises from the compressor, rising exhaust gas temperatures, and a loss of engine power. Compressor stall stresses engine components and can allow hot sections to overheat, potentially damaging the engine. Modern engines have systems to prevent stall, but it remains a risk, especially during rapid acceleration.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
255 views1 page

Surge Compressor Stall

Compressor stall or surge occurs when the angle of attack of air flowing through the compressor exceeds a critical value, disrupting the stable flow of air. This can happen if the engine accelerates too fast or if external factors interfere with the airflow. Symptoms include loud noises from the compressor, rising exhaust gas temperatures, and a loss of engine power. Compressor stall stresses engine components and can allow hot sections to overheat, potentially damaging the engine. Modern engines have systems to prevent stall, but it remains a risk, especially during rapid acceleration.

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vinay
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Surge/Compressor Stall

No difference for engine manufacturers between the two term

Stall and surge are synonymous, for all practical purposes; GE/CFMI like to use "stall", PW & RR "surge".
Very loud bang, increasing EGT, maybe N1/N2 rollback. May or may not incur severe damage, which would
be indicated by an inability to recover.

The compressor stalls or surges when the local angle of attack exceeds the critical value, and believe it or
not, the conditions look an awful lot like rotor stall on the main rotor.

The easiest way to get stall/surge is to accelerate the engine too fast, so the N1 speeds up faster than the
airflow can adjust. Such acceleration stalls are solved by limiting the N1 acceleration of the engine, and also
by relieving the compressor pressure by dumping the compressor discharge air (bleed valves and belly
bands).

Other ways to get engines to stall is to disrupt the aerodynamics of the blades (erosion, damage, dirt, ice)
or to distort the inflow to the engine (hard to do at helo speeds, but not impossible).

Stalls hurt the engine in several ways: 1) the compressor blades get badly stressed when they see wild
angles of attack, and odd make-breaks of the flow, so fatigue damage or even static blade failure are
possible 2) the engine temperature in the hot section can get sky high since fuel is flowing but air is
stagnating and 3) the cooling air that is passed into the combustor and even the hollow blades is disrupted,
so these areas can get hot spots and perhaps even burn through.

Compressor stall is when the flow of air through the compressor becomes unstable, the
results of which will vary depending on the engine type and the severity of the stall. Typical
symptoms can include a popping noise from the compressor or maybe a roaring noise. This
can be accompanied by rising combustion chamber temperature and reduction in power. In
severe cases, the engine can flame out or overtemp. Most modern engines are fairly reliable
and will have devices fitted to minimise the chance of compressor stall. The typical
helicopter engine consists of a multi stage axial compressor pumping air into a centrifugal
compressor prior to the combustion chamber. This configuration does have problems as
usually the axial compressor produces too much air for the centrifugal compressor at the
lower rpm ranges. Manufacturers will usually fit a bleed valve between the two
compressors which will be open at lower rpms to dump excess air. As the engine
rpm increases, the valve will close allowing the total air flow into the centrifugal
compressor.

Centrifugal and axial compressors will surge when forward flow through the compressor can no
longer be maintained, due to an increase in pressure across the compressor, and a momentary flow
reversal occurs. Once surge occurs, the reversal of flow reduces the discharge pressure or
increases the suction pressure, thus allowing forward flow to resume again until the pressure rise
again reaches the surge point. This surge cycle will continue until some change is made in the
process or compressor conditions.

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