Compressor Primer #1: Principles of Impeller Sizing Gos out ‘The definition of centrifugal given area, and it will not Therefore, to ensure (a word, by the way, coined swallow any more.) The flow that your compressor meets, by Newton) is moving, or is ealeulated by the formula: all the desired operating tending to move, avway from s, always specify the center. Gas moves into the {i Weigh Flow x TR inlet temperu- wheel through the inducer, AE" SSSiiogrisRE) — ture, maximum pres- the function of which is to sure ratio, and lowest provide a smooth (efficient) The second factor is the molecular weight transition into the “impeller” head requirement. ‘The head Feel free to section of the wheel. The is primarily determined by ask your Atlas gas enters the “impeller” the pressure ratio, molecular Copco represen- section and is moved away weight of the gas and inlet tative any more from the center, and at the temperature. The formula is: questions you same time velocity is impart= may have ced to the gas. The gas exits Head ~Prx Rx on impeller the impeller and enters the siti diffusion area, which can ‘Therefore the compressor he vaned or vaneless, and must be designed for the continues into the volute highest inlet temperature In the volute, the gas and the lowest molecular velocity decreases (due to. weight. This will ensure that Gosin the increasing area) causing all operating points will be an inerease in static pres- obtained. The head ean then sure. A compressor wheel he converted to tip speed by then has two sections: the the formula: inducer and the impeller 7 Wheel tix There are two factors aim] Head xk ip that will affect impeller size ° First is the volume flow, or actual cubic feet per minute The wheel diameter (02) (actin), or normal eubic can then be calculated by: meters per hour (Nm'/h). Centrifugal compressors are Dione Tose volumetric devices, and the Pinion Speed compressor must he sized for the maximum volume. where This value affects the indue- — Pr= Pressure Ratio cer section of the wheel. The R= Universal Gas inducer must be sized for siant (1545/MW) Temperature Molecular Weight Head Coefficient stuff too much flow in the K= Constant the correct diameter (01) or the wheel will choke (Choke is when you try toTECH BRIEFS Compressor Primer #2: Effects of Varying Temperature or Molecular Weight As people always say, things change. And nowhere is this more true than in tempera- tur rate and mol- cular weight As we already saw in Primer #1, the temperature and molecular affect the sizing of the impeller. How- ever, they also affect perfor- mance after the compressor is ine stalled. This may sound odd, ecause once an impeller has been manufactured, the head is fixed — the diameter determined by the specified temperature, molecular weight and pres sure ratio. But, as we said, things change. Especially in the world of air compressors, where the inlet temperature varies from not only morn ing to night, but from winter to summer. In some loca~ tions the ambient tempera ture can vary from 0°F (18°C) to 100°F (87°C). As we saw in Compressor Primer #1, the impeller must be sized for 100°F (37°C). oO But what happens when the temperature falls to 0°F 18°C)? What happens is that the discharge pressure and power both increase Remembering the Head ‘equation: Hood ~ Pex RxT Since metal has been cut, the had is now fixed. Assuming the molecular weight is constant, the temperature decreases and then the pressure ratio has @ Decreasing Temparcire ct Fixed Heod ~ Prt xT The same principle applies to gas streams, which have varying molecular we Assuming the inlet tem- perature remains constant the pressure ratio has to Fixed Heod ~ Prt x RL Note that R=1545/MW, so increasing the molecular weight has the inverse effect ‘The decreasing temper- ature and increas- ing molecular weight both have the effect of inereasing power The equation is: _ PxOxB. sak where: PT = inlet pressure Q nlet volume efficiency onstant plev Hy ™], od Assuming Pl, Q, and 1 are con- stant, the equation simplifies to: Power ~B Therefore, as the pres- sure ratio increases so does the power. Also, keep in mind that power is directly proportional to inlet pres- sure. This is why inlet throt- tling is an effective way to decrease power consumption. IF you have any «questions regarding your impeller sizing, contact your Atlas Copeo represen-Compressor Primer #3: @ The Truth About Radial and Backward Leaning Impellers In truth, compressor perfor- tions. The tumdown (the mance is directly affected by impeller geometry. And there are basically two range of flow before the com- pressor surges) is relatively small compared to that of a radial types of impellers: backward leaning impeller. and backward leani However, radial impellers Radial designs are the certainly have an advantage simplest because the blades in the right application, for extend radially from the example when gases with center of the wheel. This low molecular weight have to results in low stress in the be compressed and the tip blade, and the impeller can speed limits the pressure be of welded construction. ratio per stage Also because of the aerody~ ‘The backward leaning namics, the radial impeller impeller is so named ccan provide the same pres- because the blades actually sure ratio as the backward bend away from the radial leaning impeller, but ata direction. This bending lower tip speed and thus causes stress in the im- a lower wheel diameter peller because the blade, aff gal force, which This is a considera- 3 it rotates, is tion in fabricated wheels, ed by centrifu- where low tip speeds are required due to is trying to“un- mechanical limita- ° bend” the blade. ‘These im- pellers are either cast or machined from a high strength stainless steel. The backward lean- ing impeller has higher efficiency and is ideal for processes which require a use it range of flows, be irovida bial provides a greater turndown —the more the backward impeller diameter) required lean, the more the tumdown. to achieve the same head. ‘The disadvantage to this, Which type of impeller impeller is that the greater is suitable is dictated by the backward lean, the the application. Other fac- higher the tors, such as Mach number, tip speed must also be considered. (and the Each design has its own greater the advantages, and often they ‘ean both be used on a impellers multistage combined ser- provide ai z ompressor, where the haghar strengths of each design but lowe turndown, ‘ean be fully utilizeCompressor Primer #4: Playing Out the Fan Laws Fan Laws allow us to pre~ dict compressor and expan- sion turbine performance as ne ing the speed of an impeller their speed changes. C Design Pont effects the pressure ratio (Head) and the flow, which in tum effects the horse power. Speed change is the most efficient way to oper- ate at off-design points. By observing the Fan Laws we can pick the correet speed to match an off-design s particularly important when you have a variable speed driver, such as a steam turbine Fan Laws state that the flow is directly proportional to the speed. Therefore if the speed decreases to 90% of design speed, the com- pressor will operate at 90% of design flow Speed Change —» Flow Change The head of the compressor is proportional to the speed? or the square root of the speed. This will yield the head change. Therefore ifthe speed decreases to The power of the compres- — speed, the compressor will head and power to speed. 90% of design speed, the sor is proportional to the operate at 73% power Once again, by under compressor will operate at speed? or the cube root of standing this equation, you 81% head the speed. This again will 1 Speed Change + Pover Change are able to set your com- yield the power change. pressor at the right speed to 1 Speed Change —> Head Change Therefore if the speed The diagram above reflects provide the most efficient decreases to 90% of design the relationship of flow. operating condition. ICompressor Primer #5: The Specifics About Specific Speed Figure 1 Figure 3 What is specific speed and what doe mean to you? Specific speed is a non-dimensional number that relates volume flow rate and pressure or head rise to wheel geometry. Generally, a wheel is designed for a specific customer design point. An applic DESIGN SPECIFIC SPEED ion best-suited for high specific speed the specific speed. The ab- Figure 3 (above) designs (such as for a solute number is dependent reflects the effect of specif- waste water treatment upon the speed selected ic speed on effi plant) requires low head (flow and head rise are spe- Always keep in mind that and high flow wheels cified by the customer), but proper wheel speed selee- High specific speed in general, the formula is: tion is essential to maint wheels have large induc- ing peak wheel efficiency. ll cers and comparatively Ms Ho Speed small tip diameters (see Figure 1). Conversely, Volute Caller To wpoclispodd designs — Figure 2 are for applications that Tiaharge f require high head and low flow —yielding wheel designs with large tip diameters and relatively small inducers (See Figure 2). A typical ‘example would be low molecular weight gases. Choosing the proper wheel design ensures the highest Another factor to eon= sider with specific speed PRIME APOLOGY! Ie took a lever engineer tocateh us! #4 Primer, ‘The ight formulas are: Hao Change > Sed? Pome Change —» Speed? is that once you've seleet- ed a wheel design, the efficiency of that wheel wv is also dependent uponInet ECW BRIEFS Primer #6: Controlling Interes-—Part One Flow DE + discharge How you control your compressor can make a significant difference in your power costs. If you operate the compressor at its design point, it will operate most efficiently However, most systems operate at conditions that are different than the de- sign point. Therefore, the type of control you do use is important to acquiring power savings. ‘The first method of control ean be via the dis- Flow charge throttle valve. (See Figure 1.) However, this, method does not provide you with any power sav- ngs. To impact the c pressor power, you must have the control device in front of the unit. ‘The second method is, the least effective, but the simplest: using an inlet control valve. (See Figure 2.) By placing the control valve in front of the compressor, there are power sav- ings at off design points. This should only be used in low power ‘compressors and where efficiency is not impor- tant The third way is to use Inlet Figure 3.) Inlet guide s can save approxi- mately 54% additional power over the inlet throt- tle valve. Neither inlet guide vanes nor the throttle valve will have an effect on the turndown, This is recommended for applications that require substantial changes in inlet guide vanes. (See I6v demand pressure as a funetion of flow. Inlet guide vanes are the opti- mal choice for power savings and can be used first stage or all Next issue: Diffuser guide vanes and speed control. Figure > Dischargea Primer #7: Controlling Interest—Part Two Diffuser Guide Vanes An effective method for increasing the range of a centrifugal compressor stage is to make the dif- fuser guide vanes vari- able. The diffuser guide vane system is designed to allow AN APOLOGY! Robert Mall the allowing isi | af tone & Wetter picked UP ans Pie Te each vane to rotate about a given pivot point. Rotating the guide vanes closed reduces the throat area hetween adja~ cent diffuser vanes and reduces the blade inlet angle (measured from circumferential direction) thus moving the stall point of the dif- fuser vanes to sec hd be ether — verte a kobe en a aes a tndve. We ple Fo Performance with IGVs and DGVs the diffuser vanes, the compressor can operate down to 25 to 30% of design flow at the design pressure ratio and with adequate surge margin. This range is significant- ly larger than the range possible with inlet guide vanes or an inlet throttle valve. Adding inlet guide vanes to a machine with variable diffuser vanes reduces the power at RELATIVE ‘most points in the operat- ing envelope. The excep- tions are operating points near the design flow and at low flow and pressure ratio points. A typical performance map for a machine with variable diffuser vanes and IGVs is below. Next issue: Controlling interest continued with focus on speed control. VOLUME FLOW ¥,/¥,Primer #8: @ Thoughts of Interest on Controlling Interest-Part Three Speed Control compressor? By using a | drive. As you reduce the How can you control and variable frequency elee- speed, the flow decreas- vary the speed on your tric motor ora turbine __es proportionally to the ‘Aero Hp Vs. Flow HP/HP DESIGN 05 06 a7 08 ag 10 u 0/0 DESIGN ome Prediced come Fon Lows Adiabatic Head Rise Vs. Flow 0s 06 a7 08 ag 10 u Q/0 DESIGN speed, and the head rise decreases proportionally to the speed squared. In addition, the aerodynam- ie power consumption lly to the speed cubed. These 's proportio relationships become more approximate as the speed deviates from the design speed, due to compressibility effects, A predicted performance curve (in non-dimen- sional form) at different speeds—along with the calculated performance using the fan laws— ilh hensibility” effect. trates the “compre- Except for a very row speed range (approx- imately 5 to 10%), speed control should not be used for multi-stage com- pressors. This is because the latter stages of a multi-stage compressor become mismatched as you deviate from the design speed. If you need more information on speed control, contaet your nearest sales represen- tative. ll