CHAPTER 4

Theory Of Turbo Machines

Part I

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 Contents:
4. THEORY OF TURBO MACHINES
4.1 Velocity triangles
4.2 The specific work of the blade
4.3 The capacity
4.4 The vane congruent flow
4.5 Deviation of actual flow from vane congruent flow
4.6 Head losses and efficiencies in centrifugal machines
4.7 Effect of geometry of the impeller on its performance
4.8 Performance characteristics of centrifugal machines
4.9 Additional points about turbo compressors
4.10 Limitations of turbo machines

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 Theory Of Turbo machines
 Centrifugal and axial flow machines: the most frequently
used in the CPI. Commonly knows as turbo machines.

 The theory of turbo machines relates the geometry to

their performance.

 Hence it helps the engineer to rationally and analytically

decide on issues related to selection, installation,
operation and maintenance of these machines.

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  A turbo machine is a machine in w/c a moving fluid

interacts with a rotor w/c rotates about an axis in w/c

either fluid gives its energy to rotor or rotor gives
energy to fluid
 In case energy of fluid is supplied to rotor, it is called as

turbine
 In case rotor provides energy to fluid it is either a

compressor or pump or blower, fan etc.

 Euler’s Energy Equation is very general way to express

the energy to turbo machine interaction

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 Euler’s Energy Equation is valid for all sorts of turbo
 The forces are developed in turbo machine

is by Newton’s II laws of motion or

combined effect of Newton’s II & III laws of
motion
 Newton’s II laws of motion :

Newton’s III laws of motion:

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 4.1 Velocity Triangles

 The calculation of specific work, capacity and

other performance characteristics =f(the velocity
of the flow medium).
 The flow medium inside the impeller rotates in
radial direction[centrifugal machines] and in axial
direction [axial flow machines].
 The absolute velocity of the flow medium at any
point, k, inside the impeller is the vector sum of
the velocity of the moving frame (impeller) and
the relative velocity of the fluid with the impeller.

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  The velocity of a fluid element relative to a stationary
frame (the casing) is called absolute velocity (c).
 The velocity of the fluid element relative to the rotating
impeller is known as the relative velocity (w).
 The velocity of a given point on the impeller is called
tangential velocity or peripheral velocity(u).

 The absolute velocity :

ck  u k  wk

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  The magnitude and direction of tangential velocity of the
impeller at any point can be obtained if the speed of
rotation of the impeller and the distance of the point
from the center of the impeller is known.

k
uk

uk  πD k
n
where :- D k is the diameter of the circle passing
through point k

Figure 4.1 Tangential velocity at point k

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  If the magnitude and direction of the velocity of the flow
medium relative to the rotating impeller is known the
absolute velocity will be obtained by vector addition of
the two. The resulting triangle is known as the velocity
triangle of the flow medium at point k.

Figure 4.2 The velocity triangle at point k

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  In centrifugal impeller calculations the most important
points at which we have to calculate the velocities are
just before the fluid enters the blade channel (point 0)
and just after it leaves the blade channel (point 3).
 The velocities and flow angles at the inlet and outlet of
the blade channels are assigned the subscript 0 and 3.

 Dimensions related to the geometry of the blade and

tangential velocities at the inlet and outlet are given
subscripts 1 and 2 respectively.
2
1
0

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Various dimensions of the impeller :-

Figure 4.5 Main dimensions of the

blade

D1 and D2 – Diameters of circles passing through the edges of the blades at the inlet and
exit respectively.
b1 and b2 – Width of the blades at the inlet and exit.
1 and 2 – The blade angles measured at the inlet and exit respectively

Note that the blade angle is measured by drawing two tangent lines:-

 One tangent to the blade profile and another tangent the circle at the tip of the
blade. The line which is tangent to the circle should be extended backwards and
the angle is measured from this line in the direction of rotation.
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 Therefore the velocity triangle of the flow medium at the inlet of the
blade channel represented as shown :-

Figure 4.3 The velocity triangle at the inlet of the blade channel

 The velocity triangle at the exit of the blade channel represented

as:-

Figure 4.4 The velocity triangle at the exit of the blade

13 channel
 4.2 The Specific Work Of The Blade -Yblade

 The active elements that transfer mechanical energy to

the fluid are the blades.
 They do so by transferring torque from the shaft to the
fluid inside the blade channel.
 Net Torque of the blade   Torque just before   Torque just after 
       
 on the flow medium   enter blade channale at 0   it leaves the blade channale at 3 

 The total power transferred by the blade:

N blade  T blade 

 The specific work of the blade (Yblade) :

N blade

 Y
m blade

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 Euler’s Equation of Turbo machines
i. Centrifugal Impellers

15 Figure 4.6 The velocity triangles at point 0 and point 3

  Net Torque of the blade   Rate of change of   Rate of change of 
    l 2   l 1
 on the flow medium   momentum at 3   Momentum at 0 

 d ( m c 3)   d ( m c0) 
T blade  
 l 2  dt  l 1
 dt   
 dm   dm 
 c 3  l 2  c 0  l 1
 dt   dt 

T blade  m ( c 3 l 2  c 0 l 1)
But l2= R2 cos 3 and l1= R1 cos 0

Where c0u and c3u are the tangential components of the absolute velocity
at the inlet and exit respectively. The power delivered by the blade to the
flow medium is:-
N blade  T blade   m Y blade
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  The power delivered to a flow medium is the product of the
specific work and the mass flow rate.

P  m Y blade  m ( c 3U u2  c 0U u 1)

Therefore
Y blade  u 2 c3u  u 1 c 0 u

or u 2 c3u  u1 c0u
H blade 
g

 Fundamental Equation of Turbo-machinery or Euler's Equation of Turbo-

machinery.

Euler’s equation is true for both axial and centrifugal machines.

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 ii. Axial Flow Impellers

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 Figure 4.7a Axial flow impeller

 Vanes appear as a cascade equally spaced at distance t= D/z referred to

as pitch

 where: z is the number of blades and

D is the diameter of the cylindrical section.
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 Figure 4.8 Diameters of an axial flow impeller

For design and analysis of axial flow impellers:-

 The tip diameter Do

 The mean effective diameter Dm

 The hub diameter Dh

1  v 
2

D m
D0
2
v=Hub diameter to tip diameter ratio
21  The head and flow rate can be directly calculated using this diameter
 Figure 4.9 Velocity triangles of an axial flow impeller

The velocity triangles of an axial flow impeller are different from the corresponding
velocity triangles of a centrifugal impeller. B/c
1. The flow area does not change axially

2. The flow velocities com and c3m, of axial flow impellers is the same at the inlet
and exit of axial flow impellers (continuity equation), .i.e., cm1=cm2=cm
3. The same is true for the tangential velocity. Therefore u1=u2=u.

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 Figure 4.10 Inlet and exit velocity triangles drawn
together

 It is common to draw the velocity triangles at the inlet and exit together

 B/c it clearly shows the fact that the tangential and flow velocities are equal at
the inlet and exit of the machine.

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  The Euler’s equation for axial flow impellers

F blade  m ( c 3 u  c 0 u )

The power transferred by the blade to the flow medium:-

N blade  T blde   m ( c 3 u  c 0 u )  r  

N blade  m ( c 3 u  c 0 u ) u

N blade  m Y blade

Y blade  u ( c 3u  c 0 u )

u ( c 3u  c0u )
H blade

g

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 4.3. The Capacity –Q’

 Capacity = flow area * meridian component of the absolute velocity(the

velocity normal to the flow area).

For Centrifugal Impellers:-

 For any given point k in the blade channel the volume flow rate can be
calculated by :-

Q '   D k b k c km

 At the entrance of the blade channels (just outside the channels)

Q '   D 1 b1 c 0 m
 At the exit of the blade channels (just outside the channel)

Q ' D b c
2 2 3m

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 For Axial Flow Impellers:-


Q ' D  D 2h c m
2
0
4


Q ' D 0 1  v  c m
2 2

Where :-
v= Hub diameter to tip diameter ratio
D0= Tip diameter

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 Example 1
 The internal and external diameters of the Impeller of
a centrifugal pump are 200mm and 400mm
respectively. The pump is running at 1200rpm. The
blade angles of the impeller at inlet and outlet are 20
and 30 respectively. The water enters the impeller
radially and equal to the outlet radial velocity.
Determine the specific work of the blade.

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 4.4. The Vane Congruent Flow

 We developed equations for calculating the head

(specific energy) and capacity of centrifugal and axial
flow impellers. However, these equations cannot be used
directly to calculate the mentioned quantities because
the velocities involved c0m, c3m, c0U, c3U cannot be
determined easily.
 This problem can be solved by first assuming that the
blades perfectly guide the fluid so that the direction of
the relative velocity is the same as the direction of the
blades and then considering the deviation from this
assumed flow separately.
 This ideal flow, which assumes perfect guiding of the
fluid by the blades, is known as vane congruent flow.
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 Vane Congruent Flow Assumption:

1. The relative path of a fluid element of the flow

medium is congruent to the blade course.
2. The impeller passages are completely filled with
actively flowing fluid at all times (no dead zone).
3. The velocities of the fluid elements at similar points
along the flow lines are the same.

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  By assuming vane congruent flow we analyze the velocity
only inside the vane channel, since the blades will guide the
fluid only if it is inside the channel. Therefore we replace
the velocities just outside the blade channel ( 0 and 3) by
the velocities just inside the blade channel (1 and 2) in
vane congruent flow.
2
1
0

Figure 4.11 Entrance and Exit of Blade Channels

Nomenclature
0: Point just outside, at the inlet of the blade channel
1: Point just inside, at the inlet of the blade channel
2: Point just inside, at the exit of the blade cannel
3: Point just outside, at the exit of the blade channel
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 Figure 4.12 Velocity triangle at the inlet of the vane channel (Vane congruent flow)

Figure4.13 Velocity triangle at the exit of the vane channel (Vane Congruent)

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 4.4.1 Yblade, and Q’ when the Geometry and Speed of the
Impeller are Given

Centrifugal Impellers
 Yblade, = The specific energy of the blades for vane
congruent flow assumption.
 Q’= The flow rate for vane congruent flow assumption.

Inlet of Blade Channel

 The tangential velocity at the inlet of the blade channel,

u1  D 1 n

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  In most common cases the fluid is assumed to enter the
blade channel without pre-rotation, hence c0u=c1u=0.
 However, it should be noted that as the fluid approaches
the blade channel it comes in contact with the shaft and
this tends to rotate the fluid with the wheel a little.
Therefore the above assumption is not exactly true, but
makes the calculation far much simpler without much
loss in accuracy.
 In some special designs, a device is placed before the
blade channel to give the flow medium a certain pre-
rotation before it enters the blade channel.

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  When a certain pre-rotation is assumed it is given in a
form known as pre-rotation factor r,
c0u
 1
r
u1

In such cases
c ou  (1   r ) u 1

For vane congruent flow:-

c1 u  (1   r ) u 1

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 Figure 4.14 Velocity triangle at the inlet of the blade channel (Vane
Congruent)
c m  ( u  c u ) tan 
1 1 1 1

c1 m   r u 1 tan 1

Note that when there is no pre rotation r=1

Q '  D 1 b 1 c 1 m

D1, b1, 1 are obtained from the geometry of the impeller

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  Exit of Blade Channel

Figure 4.15 Velocity triangle at the exit of the blade channel (Vane Congruent)

u2  D 2
n

Q'
c2m 
D 2
b2

c2u  u 2  c 2 m cot  2

Y blade ,  u 2 c 2 u  u 1 c1u
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 Example
 A centrifugal pump having outer diameter equal to
two times the inner diameter and running at 1000rpm.
The velocity of flow through the impeller is constant
and equal to 2.5m/s. The vanes are set back an angle
of 40 at outlet and the water enters the impeller
radially. If the outer diameter of the impeller is
500mm and width at outlet is 50mm, determine vane
angle at the inlet and work done by the impeller on
water per second

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 Example:
• The impeller of an axial flow fan has a speed of
speed of 1000 rpm. The dimensions of the impeller
are as given below. Determine the flow rate and head
of the impeller for vane congruent flow. Draw the
velocity triangles at the inlet and discharge ends and
the head for vane congruent flow. Dimensions :
Dh=160mm, D2=350mm, b1=180, b2=250. Assume no
pre-rotation at the inlet.

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