Turbo Machinery

Chapter 2
Centrifugal Compressor

10/07/2023 1
 INTRODUCTION
• This chapter is concerned with the elementary flow
analysis and preliminary design of work absorbing
turbo machines used to handle compressible fluids
 Fans
 Blowers and
 Compressors
• A fan causes only a small rise in stagnation pressure
of the flowing fluid.
• Energy is transmitted to the air by the power-driven
wheel and a pressure difference is created,
providing airflow.
10/07/2023 2
• In blowers, air is compressed in a series of
successive stages and is often led through a
diffuser located near the exit.
• The overall pressure rise may range from 1.5 to
2.5 atm. with shaft speeds up to 30,000 rpm or
more.

10/07/2023 3
• Centrifugal compressors were the choice for
refrigerating plants and compression-type heat pumps
used in district heating schemes.
• These compressors with capacities ranging from below
1 MW up to nearly 30 MW were preferred because of
their good economy, low maintenance, and absolute
reliability.

10/07/2023 4
 Figure 1 Figure 2
10/07/2023 5
Classifications of impellors Shrouded
Shrouded

Unshrouded

UNSHROUDED
No cover = higher rotational speed.
Pressure ratio is proportional to (operating
speed)^2
Unshrouded pressure ratio = 10:1.
Shrouded pressure ratio = 3:1.
Capable of generating higher pressures than
shrouded impellers.
Lower efficiency due tip leakage (i.e. flow leaks
over the rotating blades), which is not seen in
10/07/2023 shrouded impeller. 6
 Between-bearing Configuration

Impellers mounted on a single shaft. A driver (either an electric

motor, steam turbine, or gas turbine) rotates the shaft and
impellers at a common speed.
10/07/2023 7
10/07/2023 8
 Cont…
• Figure below shows part of a centrifugal compressor.
• It consists of a stationary casing containing an impeller,
which rotates and imparts kinetic energy to the air and a
number of diverging passages in which the air
decelerates.
• The deceleration converts kinetic energy into static
pressure.
• This process is known as diffusion, and the part of the
centrifugal compressor containing the diverging passages
is known as the diffuser.
• Centrifugal compressors can be built with a double entry
or a single entry impeller.
10/07/2023 9
 Figure: Typical centrifugal compressor.

10/07/2023 10
 Principle of Operation
• Air enters the impeller eye and is whirled around at high speed
by the vanes on the impeller disc.
• After leaving the impeller, the air passes through a diffuser in
which kinetic energy is exchanged with pressure.
• Energy is imparted to the air by the rotating blades, thereby
increasing the static pressure as it moves from eye radius r 1 to tip
radius r2.
• The remainder of the static pressure rise is achieved in the
diffuser.
• The normal practice is to design the compressor so that about
half the pressure rise occurs in the impeller and half in the
diffuser.
• The air leaving the diffuser is collected and delivered to the
outlet.
10/07/2023 11
 The Effect of Blade Shape on Performance
• There are three types of vanes used in impellers.
• They are:
 forward-curved,
 backward-curved, and
 radial vanes

Figure: Shapes of centrifugal impeller blades: (a) backward-curved

blades, (b) radial blades, and (c) forward-curved blades.
10/07/2023 12
Figure: Pressure ratio or head versus mass flow or volume flow, for
the three blade shapes.

It is clear that increased mass flow decreases the pressure on the

backward blade, exerts the same pressure on the radial blade, and
increases the pressure on the forward blade.

10/07/2023 13
 VELOCITY DIAGRAMS
• Figure below (a) represents the velocity triangle when the air
enters the impeller in the axial direction. In this case, absolute
velocity at the inlet, C1 = Ca1.
• Figure below (b) represents the velocity triangle at the inlet to
the impeller eye and air enters through the inlet guide vanes.
• Angle is made by C1 and Ca1 and this angle is known as the
angle of pre whirl.
• The absolute velocity C1 has a whirl component Cw1.
• In the ideal case, air comes out from the impeller tip after
making an angle of 900 (i.e., in the radial direction), so Cw2 = U2.
• That is, the whirl component is exactly equal to the impeller tip
velocity.
10/07/2023 14
• Figure below (c) shows the ideal velocity triangle.
• But there is some slip between the impeller and
the fluid, and actual values of C w1 are somewhat
less than U2.
• As we have already noted in the centrifugal pump,
this results in a higher static pressure on the
leading face of a vane than on the trailing face.
Hence, the air is prevented from acquiring a whirl
velocity equal to the impeller tip speed.
• Figure below (d) represents the actual velocity
triangle.
10/07/2023 15
10/07/2023 17
 SLIP FACTOR
• From the above discussion, it may be seen that there is no
assurance that the actual fluid will follow the blade shape
and leave the compressor in a radial direction. Thus, it is
convenient to define a slip factor s as:

• Figure below shows the phenomenon of fluid slip with

respect to a radial blade.
• In this case, Cw2 is not equal to U2; consequently, by the
above definition, the slip factor is less than unity.
• If radial exit velocities are to be achieved by the actual
fluid, the exit blade angle must be curved forward about
10–14 degrees.
10/07/2023 18
Figure : Centrifugal compressor impeller with radial vanes.

10/07/2023 19
 Cont…
• The slip factor is nearly constant for any machine and is
related to the number of vanes on the impeller.
• Various theoretical and empirical studies of the flow in an
impeller channel have led to formulas for slip factors: For
radial vanned impellers, the formula for s is given by Stanitz as
follows:

• where n is the number of vanes. The velocity diagram indicates

that Cw2 approaches U2 as the slip factor is increased.
• Increasing the number of vanes may increase the slip factor but
this will decrease the flow area at the inlet.
• A slip factor of about 0.9 is typical for a compressor with 19–
21 vanes.
10/07/2023 20
 Work done
• The theoretical torque will be equal to the rate of change of
angular momentum experienced by the air. Considering a unit
mass of air, this torque is given by theoretical torque,

• where, Cw2 is whirl component of C2 and r2 is impeller tip radius.

• Let ɷ = angular velocity. Then the theoretical work done on the
air may be written as:
• Theoretical work done Wc = Cw2r2ɷ = Cw2U2. Using the slip
factor, we have theoretical Wc = (treating work done on the air as
positive)
• In a real fluid, some of the power supplied by the impeller is used
in overcoming losses that have a braking effect on the air carried
round by the vanes.
10/07/2023 21
• These include windage, disk friction, and casing
friction. To take account of these losses, a power
input factor can be introduced.
• This factor typically takes values between 1.035
and 1.04. Thus the actual work done on the air
becomes:

10/07/2023 22
• Eddy formation during air deceleration causes loss
by reducing the maximum pressure rise.
• Therefore, the maximum permissible included
angle of the vane diffuser passage is about 11 0 Any
increase in this angle leads to a loss of efficiency
due to boundary layer separation on the passage
walls.

10/07/2023 24
 Choking
• When the velocity of fluid in a passage reaches the speed of
sound at any cross section, the flow becomes choked (air ceases
to flow). In the case of inlet flow passages, mass flow is
constant.
• The choking behavior of rotating passages differs from that of
the stationary passages, and therefore it is necessary to make
separate analysis for impeller and diffuser, assuming one
dimensional, adiabatic flow, and that the fluid is a perfect gas.
Surging
• Surging is marked by a complete breakdown of the continuous
steady flow throughout the whole compressor, resulting in large
fluctuations of flow with time and also in subsequent mechanical
damage to the compressor.
• The phenomenon of surging should not be confused with the
stalling of a compressor stage.
10/07/2023 25
 Stall
• Stalling of a stage will be defined as the
aerodynamic stall, or the breakaway of the flow
from the suction side of the blade airfoil.
• A multistage compressor may operate stably in
the un surged region with one or more of the
stages stalled, and the rest of the stages unstalled.
• Stall, in general, is characterized by reverse flow
near the blade tip, which disrupts the velocity
distribution and hence adversely affects the
performance of the succeeding stages.

10/07/2023 26
 AXIAL COMPRESSOR
• The maximum pressure ratio achieved in centrifugal compressors is about 4:1
for simple machines (unless multi-staging is used) at an efficiency of about
70–80%.
• The axial flow compressor, however, can achieve higher pressures at a higher
level of efficiency.
• There are two important characteristics of the axial flow compressor, high-
pressure ratios at good efficiency and thrust per unit frontal area.
• Although in overall appearance, axial turbines are very similar, examination
of the blade cross-section will indicate a big difference.
• In the turbine, inlet passage area is greater than the outlet. The opposite occurs
in the compressor, as shown in figure below.

10/07/2023 27
• Thus, the process in turbine blades can be described as an accelerating
flow, the increase in velocity being achieved by the nozzle.
• However, in the axial flow compressor, the flow is decelerating or
diffusing and the pressure rise occurs when the fluid passes through the
blades.

Figure:- Cutaway sketch of a typical axial compressor assembly

10/07/2023 28
 Figure 2: design aspects of axial compressors

10/07/2023 29
 General Description
• The rotating blades impart kinetic energy to the air while
increasing air pressure and the stationary row of blades
redirect the air in the proper direction and convert a part of
the kinetic energy into pressure.
• The flow of air through the compressor is in the direction
of the axis of the compressor and, therefore, it is called an
axial flow compressor.
• The height of the blades is seen to decrease as the fluid
moves through the compressor.
• As the pressure increases in the direction of flow, the
volume of air decreases. To keep the air velocity the same
for each stage, the blade height is decreased along the axis
of the compressor.
10/07/2023 30
• An extra row of fixed blades, called the inlet
guide vanes, is fitted to the compressor inlet.
• These are provided to guide the air at the
correct angle onto the first row of moving
blades.

10/07/2023 31
Figure:- Schematic of an axial compressor section.

10/07/2023 32
 Velocity Diagram

• The basic principle of axial compressor operation is that kinetic

energy is imparted to the air in the rotating blade row, and then
diffused through passages of both rotating and stationary blades.
• The process is carried out over multiple numbers of stages.
• As mentioned earlier, diffusion is a deceleration process.
• It is efficient only when the pressure rise per stage is very small.
• The blading diagram and the velocity triangle for an axial flow
compressor stage are shown in Fig 4.

10/07/2023 33
• Air enters the rotor blade with absolute velocity at an angle measured
from the axial direction.
• Air leaves the rotor blade with absolute velocityat an angle .
• Air passes through the diverging passages formed between the rotor
blades. As work is done on the air in the rotor blades, is larger than .
• The rotor row has tangential velocity U. Combining the two velocity
vectors gives the relative velocity at inlet at an angle .
• is the relative velocity at the rotor outlet. It is less than

10/07/2023 34
 Figure4: Velocity diagrams for axial compressor stage.

10/07/2023 35
• Euler’s equation provides the work done on the air:
)
• Using the velocity triangles, the following basic equations can be
written:

+
= tan+𝑡𝑎𝑛

• If =is the axial velocity, assumed constant through the stage.

• The work done may be written in terms of air angles:

10/07/2023 36
• The whole of this input energy will be absorbed usefully in raising the
pressure and velocity of the air and for overcoming various frictional
losses.

Degree of Reaction
• The degree of reaction, R, is defined as:

• The degree of reaction indicates the distribution of the total pressure rise into
the two types of blades. The choice of a particular degree of reaction is
important in that it affects the velocity triangles, the fluid friction and other
losses.

10/07/2023 37
10/07/2023 38
 End !!

10/07/2023 39