ME 416

Computer Assisted Design of

Thermal Systems

Actual Compressor Calculations

1. Use guidelines for ideal gas turbomachinery to calculate ideal specific work and
power.
2. Calculate volume flow rate in cubic feet per minute at the compressor inlet
3. Use the Brake Horsepower for a Generic Centrifugal Compressor graph to
determine the basic brake horsepower.
4. Calculate the actual power by multiplying the basic brake horsepower by the ratio
of the inlet pressure (in psig) to 14.5. This will give actual power in units of
horsepower. You may wish to convert it to watts.
5. Calculate the actual specific work by dividing the actual power (in W) by the mass
flow rate (in kg).
6. Calculate the actual adiabatic efficiency from

w ideal Wideal
ηs = or
w act Wact

7. Determine the actual exit conditions by first calculating the actual exit enthalpy
from

h out,act = h in + w act

and then using property evaluation to determine the actual exit entropy and
temperature.
8. Calculate any second law parameters (such as irreversibility or reversible work)
that are needed.

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ME 416 CAD of Thermal Systems

Figure 1. Brake Horsepower for a Generic Centrifugal Compressor

8.0 6.0 4.0 Pressure Ratio

7.0 5.0 3.5 3.0
10000
2.5
2.0
Basic Brake Horsepower (hp)

1.5

1000

100
1 10 100
Intake Volume Flow Rate (1000 CFM)

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ME 416 CAD of Thermal Systems

Example 1: Single Stage Compressor

Air at 105 kPa and 278 K enters a single stage compressor at 5 kg/s and receives a
pressure boost of 250 kPa. Determine the power required, adiabatic efficiency, and
exit temperature for

a. Ideal Compressor
b. Adiabatic Compressor with efficiency 79%
c. Actual Generic Centrifugal Compressor
It is useful to set up the following table to assist us.

Inlet Conditions Exit Conditions

(State 1) (State 2)
T1=278 K T2,ideal=393.8 K
P1=105 kPa T2,act=4244 K pt (b)
=444 K pt (c)
v1=0.76 m3/kg P2=355 kPa
m1 =5 kg/s
V1 =3.8 m3/s
Italicized values are obtained from air tables or ideal gas relations
Bold values are calculated

Using the ideal gas law we find

RT1 (0.287)(278)
v1 = = = 0.76 m 3 / kg
P1 105

and the volume flow rate is calculated from

V1 = v1 ⋅ m = (0.76)(5) = 3.8 m 3 / s

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ME 416 CAD of Thermal Systems

The exit pressure is calculated from

P2 = P1 + ∆P = 105 + 250 = 355 kPa

(a) We begin the ideal calculation by noting

k -1
P2 k
T2s = T1
P1

where k should be evaluated at the average temperature between the inlet and the
outlet, but since we only know the inlet temperature , we will take k at that
temperature or

k = k(@278) = 1.4004

Then

1.4004-1
355 1.4004
T2s = (278) = 393.8 K
105

which means we really should have evaluated k at 336 K or a value of 1.3986. Using
this value gives 393.4 K which is barely a change, but is what we will take as the true
value. Now calculating the ideal work from

wideal = cP,avg(T2s-T1) = (1.0071)(393.4-278) = 116.22 kJ/kg

and a power of

W = m ⋅ w ideal = (5)(116.22) = 581 kW

For an ideal compressor

η s = 100%

(b) For an adiabatic compressor with an efficiency of 79%, we have

Wideal 581
Wb = = = 736 kW
ηs 0.79

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ME 416 CAD of Thermal Systems

The actual exit temperature is then calculated from the 1st Law or

Wb 736
T2,act,b = T1 + = 278 + = 424 K
mc P,avg 5(1.007)

(c) For an actual generic centrifugal compressor we begin by converting the volume
flow rate to CFM.

Vin = 3.8 (3.2808) 3 (60) = 8.051 x 10 3 ft 3 / min

Next we calculate the pressure ratio

P2 355
rP = = = 3.38
P1 105

Going to Figure 1 we find

Basic BHP = 1100 hp (or from my curve fit 1069 hp)

Correcting for the intake pressure

Corrected Basic BHP = (P1 ⋅ 0.14504) / 14.5 ⋅ Basic BHP

(105)(0.14504)
= (1069) = 1122.8 hp
14.5

and converting to kW

Wc = (1122.8)(0.7457) = 837.3 kW

The adiabatic efficiency is then

Wideal 581
ηs = = = 69.4%
Wc 837.3

The actual exit temperature is then calculated from the 1st Law or

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ME 416 CAD of Thermal Systems

Wb 837.3
T2,act,b = T1 + = 278 + = 444 K
mc P,avg 5(1.007)