COMPRESSOR SECTION

CENTRIFUGAL FLOW COMPRESSORS

● The centrifugal compressor, sometimes called a radial outflow
compressor, is one of the earliest compressor designs and is
still used today in some smaller engines and auxiliary power
units (APU’s).
● Centrifugal compressors consist of an impeller, a diffuser, and a
manifold.
CENTRIFUGAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
● The impeller, or rotor, consists of a forged disk with integral
blades, fastened by a splined coupling to a common power shaft.
● The impeller's function is to take air in and accelerate it outward by
centrifugal force.
● Centrifugal compressors can have one or two impellers.
● Compressors having only one impeller are referred to as
single-stage compressors while compressors having two impellers
are referred to as double-stage compressors.
CENTRIFUGAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
CENTRIFUGAL FLOW COMPRESSORS

● Although a two-stage impeller compresses the air more than a

single-stage impeller, the use of more than two stages in a com
pressor is typically considered impractical.
● The benefits of additional stages are negated by the energy lost
when the airflow slows down as it passes from one impeller to the
next.
● In addition, the added weight from each additional impeller requires
more energy from the engine to drive the compressor.
CENTRIFUGAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
CENTRIFUGAL FLOW COMPRESSORS

● When two impellers are mounted back-to-back a double-sided

or double-entry impeller is created.
● A single-stage, double-sided impeller allows a higher mass
airflow than that of a similar sized single-stage, single-sided
impeller.
● Therefore, engines "with double-sided impellers typically have a
smaller overall diameter.
CENTRIFUGAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
CENTRIFUGAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
● Once through the impeller, the air is expelled into a divergent
duct called a diffuser, where it loses velocity and increases in
pressure.
● The diffuser acts as a divergent duct where the air spreads out,
slows down, and increases in static pressure.
CENTRIFUGAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
● The compressor manifold distributes the air in a smooth flow
to the combustion section.
● The manifold has one outlet port for each combustion chamber
so that the air is evenly divided.
● A compressor outlet elbow is bolted to each of the outlet ports.
● The elbows act as air ducts and are often referred to as outlet
ducts, outlet elbows, or combustion chamber inlet ducts.
CENTRIFUGAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
● These outlet ducts change the radial direction of the airflow to
an axial direction.
● To help the elbows perform this function in an efficient manner,
turning vanes or cascade vanes are sometimes fitted inside
the elbows.
● These vanes reduce air pressure losses by presenting a smooth,
turning surface.
CENTRIFUGAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
CENTRIFUGAL FLOW COMPRESSORS

● Centrifugal flow compressors offer several advantages including

● simplicity of manufacture,
● relatively low cost, low weight,
● low starting power requirements
● operating efficiency over a wide range of rotational speeds.
CENTRIFUGAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
● A typical centrifugal compressor has a few disadvantages that
make it unsuitable for use in some engines.
● For example, the large frontal area required for a given airflow
increases aerodynamic drag.
● Also, practical limits on the number of stages restrict its
usefulness when designing larger and more powerful engines.
 AXIAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
● An axial flow compressor has two main elements, a rotor and a stator.
● The rotor consists of rows of blades fixed on a rotating spindle.
● The angle and airfoil contour of the blades forces air rearward in the same
manner as a propeller.
● The stator vanes, on the other hand, are arranged in fixed rows between
the rows of rotor blades and act as diffusers at each stage, decreasing air
velocity and raising pressure.
● Each consecutive row of rotor blades and stator vanes constitutes a
pressure stage. The number of stages is determined by the amount of air
and total pressure rise required
AXIAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
 AXIAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
● Unlike a centrifugal compressor, which is capable of compressor
pressure ratios of 15:1, a single stage in an axial flow
compressor is capable of producing a compressor pressure
ratio of only 1.25:1.
● Therefore, high compressor pressure ratios are obtained by
adding more compressor stages.
 AXIAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
● The task of an axial compressor is to raise air pressure rather than air velocity.
● Therefore, each compressor stage raises the pressure of the incoming air while
the air's velocity is alternately increased then decreased as airflow proceeds
through the compressor.
● The rotor blades slightly accelerate the airflow, then the stator vanes diffuse the
air, slowing it and increasing the pressure.
● The overall result is increased air pressure and relatively constant air velocity
from compressor inlet to outlet.
AXIAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
 AXIAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
● As air passes from the front of an axial flow compressor to the
rear, the space between the rotor shaft and the stator casing
gradually decreases.
● This shape is necessary to maintain a constant air velocity as air
density increases with each stage of compression.
● To accomplish the convergent shape, each stage of blades and
vanes is smaller than the one preceding it
AXIAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
 AXIAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
● The case on most axial flow compressors is horizontally divided into
two halves, allowing the removal of one of the halves for inspection
or maintenance of both rotor blades and stator vanes.

● The compressor case also provides a means of extracting bleed air

for ancillary functions.
 AXIAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
● Some disadvantages of axial flow compressors are relatively
high weight and high starting power requirements.
● Also, the low pressure rise per stage of 1.25:1 requires many
stages to achieve high compressor pressure ratios.
● Furthermore, axial flow compressors are expensive and difficult
to manufacture
 AXIAL FLOW COMPRESSORS
● In spite of the disadvantages just mentioned, axial flow
compressors outperform centrifugal flow compressors in
several areas.
● High ram efficiency is obtained because of their
straight-through design, which takes full advantage of any
ram effect.
● Another advantage of axial flow compressors is their ability
to obtain higher compressor pressure ratios by adding
additional stages.
● In addition, the small frontal area of an axial flow
compressor helps to reduce aerodynamic drag.
 Compressor Rotor Blades
● The rotor blades used in an axial flow compressor have an
airfoil cross-section with a varying angle of incidence, or twist.
● This twist compensates for the blade velocity variation caused
by its radius.
● In other words, the further from the axis of rotation a blade
section is, the faster it travels
 Compressor Rotor Blades

● Compressor rotor blades are

twisted to compensate for
blade velocity variations along
the length of the blade
 Compressor Rotor Blades
● Axial flow compressors typically have 10 to 18 compression stages,
and in the turbofan engine, the fan is considered to be the first
stage rotor.
● The base, or root of a rotor blade often fits loosely into the rotor
disk. This loose fit allows for easy assembly and vibration damping.
● As the compressor rotor rotates, centrifugal force keeps the blades
in their correct position, and the airstream over each blade
provides a shock absorbing or cushioning effect.
● Rotor blade roots are designed with a number of different shapes
such as a bulb, fir tree, or dovetail.
● To prevent a blade from backing out of its slot, most methods of
blade attachment use a pin and a lock tab or locker to secure the
coupling.
 Compressor Rotor Blades

● A dovetail on the base of

this compressor blade fits
loosely into a dovetail slot
in the compressor wheel.
A small locking device such
as a pin, key, or plate
prevents the blade from
backing out.
 Compressor Rotor Blades
● Some long fan blades have a mid-span shroud that helps support the blades,
making them more resistant to the bending forces created by the airstream.
● The shrouds, however, do block some of the airflow and create additional
aerodynamic drag that reduces fan efficiency.
● In addition, when the mating surfaces on a mid-span shroud become excessively
worn, the shrouds can overlap.
● This is known as shingling and can cause fan vibration and engine damage.
 Compressor Rotor Blades
● Some blades are cut off square at the tip and are referred to as flat machine
tips.
● Other blades have a reduced thickness at the tips and are called profile tips.
● All rotating machinery has a tendency to vibrate, and profiling a compressor
blade increases its natural vibration frequency.
● By increasing the blade's natural frequency above the frequency of rotation, a
blades's vibration tendency is reduced.
● In addition, the thin trailing edge of profile tipped blades causes a vortex which
increases air velocity and helps prevent air from spilling back over the blade tips.
 Compressor Rotor Blades
● Another blade design that increases compressor efficiency
utilizes a localized increase in blade camber, both at the blade
tip and blade root.
● The purpose of this design is to compensate for the friction
caused by the boundary layer of air near the compressor case.
● The increased blade camber helps overcome the friction and
makes the blade extremities appear as if they were bent over at
each corner, hence the term end bend.
Compressor Rotor Blades
 Compressor Stator Vanes
● Stator vanes are the stationary blades located between each row of rotating
blades in an axial flow compressor.
● the stator vanes act as diffusers for the air coming off the rotor, decreasing its
velocity and raising its pressure.
● In addition, the stators help prevent swirling and direct the flow of air coming off
each stage to the next stage at the appropriate angle.
● Like rotor blades, stator vanes have an airfoil shape. In addition, the angle of
attack of stator vanes can be fixed or variable.
● Stator vanes are normally constructed out of steel or nickel because those metals
have high fatigue strength.
● However, titanium may also be used for stator vanes in the low pressure and tem
perature stages.
Compressor Stator Vanes
 Compressor Stator Vanes
● Stator vanes may be secured directly to the compressor casing
or to a stator vane retaining ring, which is secured to the
compressor case.
● Most stator vanes are attached in rows with a dovetail
arrangement and project radially toward the rotor axis.
● Stator vanes are often shrouded at their tips to minimize
vibration tendencies.
 Compressor Stator Vanes
● . Compressor stator vanes may be
attached directly to the compressor
case (A) or to a retaining ring that is
attached to the case by a retaining
screw (B). In addition, stator vanes
are sometimes equipped with
shrouds to minimize the effects of
vibration.IGV—direct flow to the 1st
stage rotor at best angle
 Compressor Stator Vanes
● The set of stator vanes immediately in front of the first stage rotor blades are called inlet
guide vanes.

● These vanes direct the airflow into the first stage rotor blades at the best angle while
imparting a swirling motion in the direction of engine rotation.

● This action improves the aerodynamics of the compressor by reducing the drag on the first
stage rotor blades.

● Some axial compressors with high compressor pressure ratios utilize variable inlet guide
vanes plus several stages of variable stator vanes.

● These variable inlet guide vanes and stators automatically reposition themselves to maintain
proper airflow through the engine under varying operating conditions.
Compressor Stator Vanes
 Compressor Stator Vanes
● The last set of vanes the compressor air passes through is the
outlet vane assembly.
● These vanes straighten the airflow and eliminate any swirling
motion or turbulence.
● The straightened airflow then proceeds to the diffuser to
prepare the air mass for combustion.
 MULTIPLE-SPOOL COMPRESSORS
● In a basic axial flow compressor, the compressor and turbine are connected by a single shaft
and rotate as a single unit.
● Since there is only one compressor unit, the compressor is commonly referred to as a
single-spool compressor.
● While single-spool compressors are relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, they do
have a few drawbacks.
● For example, in a long axial compressor the rear stages operate at a fraction of their capacity,
while the forward stages are typically overloaded.
● Furthermore, the large mass of a single-spool compressor does not respond quickly to abrupt
control input changes.
 MULTIPLE-SPOOL COMPRESSORS

● In a single-spool compressor, there is only one compressor unit that is connected by a

shaft to the turbine section.
● Rear stages operate at a fraction of capacity while FWD stage overload…..Not respond
quickly to abrupt control input change
 MULTIPLE-SPOOL COMPRESSORS
● Engine designers devised a way to overcome the limitations of single-spool
compressors by splitting the compressor into two or three sections.
● Each section is connected to a portion of the turbine section by shafts that
run coaxially, one within the other.
● For example, split-compressor engines with two compressor sections are
identified as dual-spool or twin-spool compressors.
● The front section of a dual-spool compressor is called the low pressure,
low speed, or N1 compressor.
● This low pressure compressor is typically driven by a two-stage turbine at
the rear of the turbine section.
 MULTIPLE-SPOOL COMPRESSORS
● The second compressor section of a twin-spool compressor is called
the high pressure, high speed, or N2 compressor and is typically
driven by a single stage high-pressure turbine at the front of the
turbine section.
● The shaft connecting the low pressure compressor and turbine
typically rotates inside the shaft connecting the high pressure
compressor and turbine. On some turbofan engines, the forward fan
is attached to the low pressure compressor, and they both turn at the
same speed.
MULTIPLE-SPOOL COMPRESSORS
MULTIPLE-SPOOL COMPRESSORS
MULTIPLE-SPOOL COMPRESSORS
 COMPRESSOR STALL
● A compressor stall can be described as an imbalance between the two
vector quantities, inlet velocity, and compressor rotational speed.
● Compressor stalls occur when the compressor blades' angle of attack
exceeds the critical angle of attack.
● At this point, smooth airflow is interrupted and turbulence is created with
pressure fluctuations.
● Compressor stalls cause air flowing in the compressor to slow down and
stagnate, sometimes reversing direction.
● A compressor stall can usually be heard as a pulsating or fluttering sound in
its mildest form to a loud explosion in its most developed state.
COMPRESSOR STALL
 COMPRESSOR STALL
● Quite often the cockpit gauges will not show a mild or transient stall
but will indicate a developed stall.
● Typical instrument indications include fluctuations in rpm and an
increase in exhaust gas temperature.
● Most transient stalls are not harmful to the engine and often correct
themselves after one or two pulsations.
● However, severe stalls, or hung stalls, can significantly impair engine
performance, cause loss of power, and can damage the engine.
 COMBINATION COMPRESSORS

● Hybrid axial flow-centrifugal flow compressors were developed

to combine the best features of centrifugal and axial
compressors and eliminate some of their disadvantages. This
design is currently being used in some smaller engines installed
on business jets and helicopters.
COMBINATION COMPRESSORS
 COMPRESSOR AIR BLEEDS

● In addition to supplying air for combustion, the compressor

supplies high pressure, high temperature air for various
secondary functions such as cabin pressurization, heating, and
cooling. Also, compressor air is used for deicing, anti-icing, and
for pneumatic engine starting. This air is referred to as bleed
air, or customer bleed air and is tapped from the compressor
through bleed ports at various stages.
COMPRESSOR AIR BLEEDS
 COMPRESSOR AIR BLEEDS
● A bleed port is a small opening adjacent to the compressor
stage selected for bleed air supply. The choice of which
compressor stage to bleed air from depends on the air pressure
or temperature required for a particular function. Air bled from
the final or highest pressure stage often requires cooling, since
compression can heat the air to temperatures in excess of 650
degrees Fahrenheit.
 DIFFUSER
● As air leaves an axial flow compressor and moves toward the
combustion section, it is traveling at speeds up to 500 feet per
second.
● This is far too fast to support combustion, therefore the air velocity
must be slowed significantly before it enters the combustion section.
● The divergent shape of a diffuser slows compressor discharge while,
at the same time, increasing air pressure to its highest value in the
engine.
● The diffuser is usually a separate section bolted to the rear of the
compressor case and ahead of the combustion section