TURBOCHARGER

AND
SUPERCHARGER

INTRODUCTION

The power out put of an engine depends

upon the amount of air inducted per unit
time and the degree of utilization of this air
, and the thermal efficiency of the engine.

Indicated engine Power

IP=P*L*A*n*K/60000 ..(1)
Where, IP= indicated power (kW)
P=indicated mean effective pressure(N/m 2)
L=length of stroke
A= area of piston
n= no of power stroke, for 2-s engine-N and for 4-s engine N/2, N=
rpm
K= No of cylinders

Three possible methods utilized to increase the

air consumption of an engine are as follows :
Increasing the piston displacement: This
increases the size and weight of the engine,
and introduces additional cooling problems.
Running the engine at higher speeds: This
results in increased mechanical friction losses
and imposes greater inertia stresses on engine
parts.
Increasing the density of the charge: This
allows a greater mass of the charge to be
inducted into the same volume.

Definition
The most efficient method of increasing the
power of an engine is by supercharging,
i.e. increasing the flow of air into the
engine to enable more fuel to be burnt.
A Supercharger is run by the mechanical
drive, powered by engine power .
A turbocharger uses the otherwise
unused energy in the exhaust gases to
drive a turbine directly connected by a coaxial shaft to a rotary compressor in the
air intake system.

COMPRESSED
AIR

Air
inlet

Fig.1 Supercharger

Types

Fig. 2 Turbocharger

Need of turbocharger and super

charger
For ground installations, it is used to
produce a gain in the power out put of
the engine.
For aircraft installations, in addition to
produce a gain in the power out put at
sea-level, it also enables the engine to
maintain a higher power out put as
altitude is increased.

Working principle of a
turbocharger:
A turbocharger is a small radial fan pump driven by
the energy of the exhaust gases of an engine.
A turbocharger consists of a turbine and a
compressor on a shared shaft.
The turbine converts exhaust to rotational force,
which is in turn used to drive the compressor.
The compressor draws in ambient air and pumps it
in to the intake manifold at increased pressure,
resulting in a greater mass of air entering the
cylinders on each intake stroke.

Types of super charger:

Based on the use of

compressor

Centrifugal type
Roots type
Vane type

Components of turbocharger

Air compressor
Turbine
Intercooler

Where the turbocharger is

located in the car

FIG. 5

Thermodynamic analysis of turbocharged engine cycle

3
2

4
0

FIG. 6 Four-stroke cycle of an SI engine equipped with a supercharger

turbocharger, plotted on p-v coordinates.

Net work output Wnet= work done by piston + Gas exchange

work
= area A + area
Area A=

.......................(2)

Area B= work done by turbocharger=

Wnet = Work done per unit of air mass.
Where, p0 = atmospheric pressure,
p1= pressure after compression,
T0= atmospheric air temperature,
V1= volume of boosted air,
rp =pressure ratio,
r = compression ratio, cp=Specific heat of air
and = turbocharger efficiency,

..............(3)

Selection process of
turbocharger
The concept of turbocharger is illustrated in
Figure 7.
Compressor air
inlet,Point1- p1, T1
Compressor air out let,
point2-p2, T2
Turbine exhaust gas inlet,
point 3-p3,T3
Turbine exhaust gas
outletP4, T4
Figure7. Illustration of the concept of a turbocharger.

Terms essential for turbocharger selection

Air Consumption and Air-Delivery Ratio:

.(4)
Where
mat = theoretical air consumption rate, kg/h atm &
De = engine displacement, L
Ne = engine speed, rpm
a = density of air entering compressor, kg/m3

The air-delivery ratio is the ratio of the measured over the theoretical air
consumption of an engine:

..(5)
where
ev = air-delivery ratio
mat= theoretical air consumption of the engine,
kg/h

ma= actual air consumption of the engine, kg/h

A turbocharger air delivery ratio.

(5)

The turbine pressure ratio is defined as , pt = p3 / p4

.(6)
Pressure ratio across the compressor, pc, as
.(7)
The temperature ratio across the compressor
..(8)
Where ec = compressor efficiency, decimal.

 The compressor efficiency = ( theoretical temperature rise

across the compressor)/(the actual temperature rise). e c is
always less than 1.0.

The turbine efficiency = ( the actual temperature drop across

the turbine )/(the theoretical temperature drop). The turbine
efficiency is also always less than 1.0.

 The following procedure may be used in selecting a turbocharger

for an engine.
1. Select the desired, achievable power output, P b; verify that the
chosen power level does not require an excessive p bme. Realistically,
pbme 1250 kPa is achievable.
2. Calculate mf = Pb BSFC, using an achievable value for BSFC.
Typically, for a well-designed engine, it is possible to achieve , 0.2
< BSFC < 0.25 kg/kW h.
3. Calculate ma = mf (A/F), using the desired A/F ratio of the
turbocharged engine. For a CI engine running on diesel fuel,
typically 25 < (A/F) < 32.
4. Select the compressor and the point on the compressor map (see
Figure 8 for an example map) at which the compressor will operate
at rated load and speed of the engine. Equations 3 through 4 can
be reworked into

Performance curve

5. Select the turbine and the operating point on the turbine map. The
turbine and compressor must rotate at the same speed, the turbine flow
must equal the compressor flow times (1 + FA), and the turbine must
supply enough power to drive the compressor while overcoming bearing
friction.
The mechanical efficiency of the turbocharger

..(9)

Equation 10 can be reworked into characteristic-value equations that incorporate the

speed, flow and power constraints:

.(10)

.(11)
where
avaiablel = characteristic value available
required = characteristic value required
u = (k 1)/k
et = turbine efficiency, decimal
em = turbocharger mechanical efficiency, decimal
Cpc = constant-pressure specific heat of ambient air, kJ/kgK
Cpt = constant-pressure specific heat of heated air, kJ/kgK
The available characteristic value depends upon the FA ratio, the
turbocharger efficiencies, and the temperature ratio across the engine.

Advantages of
supercharger and
turbocharger
The more increase the pressure of the intake air above the
local atmospheric pressure (boost), the more power the
engine produces. Automotive superchargers for street use
typically produce a maximum boost pressure between 0.33
to 1.0 bar , providing a proportionate increase in power.

Engines burn air and fuel at an ideal (stoichiometric) ratio of

about 14.7:1, which means that if you burn more air, you
must also burn more fuel.

This is particularly useful at high altitudes: thinner air has

less oxygen, reducing power by around 3% per 1,000 feet
above sea level, but a supercharger can compensate for that
loss, pressurizing the intake charge to something close to
sea level pressure.

Disadvantages of
turbocharger and
supercharger

Cost and complexity

Detonation
Parasitic losses
Space
Turbo lag

Performance evaluation of the Turbo

charged Agricultural Tractor Engine
Place: Agricultural
Machinery Research
Centre, Massey
University, Palmerston
North, New Zealand in
1990.
Tractor- John Deere 3140
No of cylinder-6
Compression ratio- 16.8:
1
Fuel 10% tallow ester +
90% diesel

Experimental Setup
Monitor exhaust temperature with (Fe/ Cn
thermocouple and oil sump temperature with (Cu/Cn
thermocouple).
Before each run the engine was worked under load
for 10-15 min to achieve normal operating conditions.
Using a calibrated A W Nebraska 200 p.t.o.
dynamometer, a series of steady state measurements
of p.t.o. speed, torque and hence power was taken
Settings an injection pressure of 210 bar and fuel
pump calibration to provide 51 mm3 of fuel at rated
speed and full load.
A Campbell 21X data logger

Experimental Conditions
1. Naturally aspirated engine
2. Naturally aspirated + servicing and
3. Turbocharged engine.
In the experiment the following parameters
were measured.
1. Torque
2. Power
3. Exhaust gas temperature
4. Turbocharger Oil Temperature.

11

12

11

13

14

15

Type of Compressor.

1.Centrifugal
type

2. Vane type

3. Roots type

FIG.3

Results and discussion:

Torque:

Torque-rise percentage (from torque at maximum

power at approximately 570 rev/min at the p.t.o. to maximum
torque, which represents the torque back-up, or lugging
ability of the tractor), was 18.9% for the original naturally
aspirated mode, rose to 21.6% after servicing, and reached
33% after turbocharging.

Power: Due to the increased torque after servicing,

maximum power increased from 63.1 kW to 65.9 kW at 570
rev/min and remained higher throughout the working speed
range. The turbocharged version produced a maximum power
of 77.1 kW

Exhaust gas temperature:

Oil temperatures

Conclusions:
Due to low speed of operation and less power in
agricultural tractor, turbocharger is used not
supercharger for more power generation and to
operate it higher altitude.
Turbo-charging a tractor engine is an acceptable
method of increasing its performance if carried
out within manufacturers specifications.
Lower engine operating temperatures result which
can be beneficial.
Since the engine lubricating oil is subjected to
high temperatures as it passes through the
turbocharger the correct oil must be used as
specified for turbocharged engines.