Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chapter 14
TURBOMACHINERY
Lecture slides by
Mehmet Kanoglu
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
The jet engines on
modern
commercial
airplanes are
highly complex
turbomachines that
include both pump
(compressor) and
turbine sections.
2
Objectives
• Identify various types of pumps and turbines, and
understand how they work
• Apply dimensional analysis to design new pumps
or turbines that are geometrically similar to
existing pumps or turbines
• Perform basic vector analysis of the flow into and
out of pumps and turbines
• Use specific speed for preliminary design and
selection of pumps and turbines
3
14–1 ■ CLASSIFICATIONS AND TERMINOLOGY
Pumps: Energy absorbing devices
since energy is supplied to them,
and they transfer most of that
energy to the fluid, usually via a
rotating shaft. The increase in fluid
energy is usually felt as an
increase in the pressure of the
fluid.
Turbines: Energy producing devices
they extract energy from the fluid
and transfer most of that energy to
some form of mechanical energy
output, typically in the form of a
rotating shaft. The fluid at the outlet
of a turbine suffers an energy loss,
typically in the form of a loss of
pressure. (a) A pump supplies energy to a fluid,
while (b) a turbine extracts energy
from a fluid.
4
The purpose of a pump is to add
energy to a fluid, resulting in an
increase in fluid pressure, not
necessarily an increase of fluid
speed across the pump.
The purpose of a turbine is to
extract energy from a fluid,
resulting in a decrease of fluid
pressure, not necessarily a
For the case of steady flow,
decrease of fluid speed across
conservation of mass requires that the
the turbine.
mass flow rate out of a pump must
equal the mass flow rate into the pump;
for incompressible flow with equal inlet
and outlet cross-sectional areas (Dout =
Din), we conclude that Vout = Vin, but
Pout > Pin.
5
Pump: Fluid machines that move liquids.
Fan: A gas pump with relatively low
pressure rise and high flow rate.
Examples include ceiling fans, house
fans, and propellers. When used with gases, pumps are
Blower: A gas pump with relatively called fans, blowers, or compressors,
moderate to high pressure rise and depending on the relative values of
moderate to high flow rate. Examples pressure rise and volume flow rate.
include centrifugal blowers and squirrel
cage blowers in automobile ventilation
systems, furnaces, and leaf blowers.
Compressor: A gas pump designed to
deliver a very high pressure rise,
typically at low to moderate flow rates.
Examples include air compressors that
run pneumatic tools and inflate tires at
automobile service stations, and
refrigerant compressors used in heat
pumps, refrigerators, and air
conditioners.
6
Turbomachines: Pumps and
turbines in which energy is supplied
or extracted by a rotating shaft.
The words turbomachine and
turbomachinery are often used in the
literature to refer to all types of pumps
and turbines regardless of whether
they utilize a rotating shaft or not.
10
For the case in which a liquid is being pumped,
the Bernoulli head at the inlet is equivalent to
the energy grade line at the inlet.
The net head of a pump, H, is defined as the change in Bernoulli head from
inlet to outlet; for a liquid, this is equivalent to the change in the energy
grade line, H = EGLout - EGLin, relative to some arbitrary datum plane; bhp
is the brake horsepower, the external power supplied to the pump.
Pump Performance Curves and Matching
a Pump to a Piping System
Free delivery: The maximum volume flow rate through a pump occurs when
its net head is zero, H = 0; this flow rate is called the pump’s free delivery.
Shutoff head: The net head that occurs when the volume flow rate is zero,
and is achieved when the outlet port of the pump is blocked off. Under these
conditions, H is large but V is zero; the pump’s efficiency is again zero,
because the pump is doing no useful work.
Best Efficiency Point (BEP): The pump’s efficiency reaches its maximum
value somewhere between the shutoff condition and the free delivery
condition. It is notated by an asterisk (H*, bhp*, etc.).
Pump Performance Curves: Curves of H, pump, and bhp as functions of
volume flow rate are called pump performance curves (or characteristic
curves).
Operating point or duty point of the system: In a typical application,
Hrequired and Havailable match at one unique value of flow rate—this is the
operating point or duty point of the system. For steady conditions, a pump
can operate only along its performance curve.
12
13
The useful pump
head delivered to the
fluid does four things
18
Example of a manufacturer’s performance plot for a family of centrifugal
pumps. Each pump has the same casing, but a different impeller diameter.
Pump Cavitation and Net Positive Suction Head
When pumping liquids, it is possible
for the local pressure inside the
pump to fall below the vapor
pressure of the liquid, Pv.
When P < Pv, vapor-filled bubbles
called cavitation bubbles appear.
The liquid boils locally, typically on
the suction side of the rotating
impeller blades where the pressure
is lowest.
22
Required net positive suction head (NPSHrequired): The minimum NPSH
necessary to avoid cavitation in the pump.
23
24
25
26
Pumps in Series and Parallel
When faced with the need to increase volume flow rate or
pressure rise by a small amount, you might consider adding
an additional smaller pump in series or in parallel with the
original pump.
30
Positive-Displacement
Pumps
Fluid is sucked into an
expanding volume and then
pushed along as that volume
contracts, but the mechanism
that causes this change in
volume differs greatly among
the various designs.
Positive-displacement pumps
are ideal for high-pressure
applications like pumping
viscous liquids or thick slurries,
and for applications where
precise amounts of liquid are
to be dispensed or metered, as
in medical applications.
Examples of positive-displacement pumps:
(a) flexible-tube peristaltic pump, (b) three-
lobe rotary pump, (c) gear pump, and (d)
double screw pump.
31
Four phases (one-eighth of a turn apart) in the operation
of a two-lobe rotary pump, a type of positive-
displacement pump. The light blue region represents a
chunk of fluid pushed through the top rotor, while the
dark blue region represents a chunk of fluid pushed
through the bottom rotor, which rotates in the opposite
direction. Flow is from left to right.
32
Positive-displacement pumps
have many advantages over
dynamic pumps.
For example, a positive-
displacement pump is better able
to handle shear sensitive liquids
since the induced shear is much
less than that of a dynamic pump
operating at similar pressure and
flow rate. A pump that can lift a liquid even when
Blood is a shear sensitive liquid, the pump itself is “empty” is called a self-
and this is one reason why priming pump.
positive-displacement pumps are
used for artificial hearts.
33
34
Dynamic Pumps
There are three main types of dynamic
pumps that involve rotating blades
called impeller blades or rotor blades,
which impart momentum to the fluid.
They are sometimes called
rotodynamic pumps or simply rotary
pumps.
Rotary pumps are classified by the
manner in which flow exits the pump:
centrifugal flow, axial flow, and mixed
flow
The impeller
(rotating portion) of
the three main
categories of
dynamic pumps:
(a) centrifugal flow,
(b) mixed flow, and
35
(c) axial flow.
Centrifugal-flow Pump: Fluid enters axially (in the same
direction as the axis of the rotating shaft) in the center of the
pump, but is discharged radially (or tangentially) along the
outer radius of the pump casing.
For this reason centrifugal pumps are also called radial-flow
pumps.
Axial-flow Pump: Fluid enters and leaves axially, typically
along the outer portion of the pump because of blockage by the
shaft, motor, hub, etc.
Mixed-flow Pump: Intermediate between centrifugal and axial,
with the flow entering axially, not necessarily in the center, but
leaving at some angle between radially and axially.
36
Centrifugal Pumps
Centrifugal pumps and blowers can be
easily identified by their snail-shaped
casing, called the scroll.
They are found all around your home;
in dishwashers, hot tubs, clothes
washers and dryers, hairdryers,
vacuum cleaners, kitchen exhaust
hoods, bathroom exhaust fans, leaf
blowers, furnaces, etc.
They are used in cars; the water pump
in the engine, the air blower in the
heater/air conditioner unit, etc.
Centrifugal pumps are ubiquitous in
industry as well; they are used in
building ventilation systems, washing
operations, cooling ponds and cooling A typical centrifugal blower with its
towers. characteristic snail-shaped scroll.
37
Impeller or Rotor: In pump terminology, the rotating assembly that consists
of the shaft, the hub, the impeller blades, and the impeller shroud.
A shroud often surrounds the impeller blades to increase blade stiffness.
Side view and frontal view of a typical centrifugal pump. Fluid enters axially in
the middle of the pump (the eye), is flung around to the outside by the rotating
blade assembly (impeller), is diffused in the expanding diffuser (scroll), and is
discharged out the side of the pump. We define r1 and r2 as the radial locations
of the impeller blade inlet and outlet, respectively; b1 and b2 are the axial blade
38
widths at the impeller blade inlet and outlet, respectively.
There are three types of centrifugal pump based on impeller
blade geometry: Backward-inclined blades, radial blades,
and forward-inclined blades.
Centrifugal pumps with backward-inclined blades are the
most common. These yield the highest efficiency of the
three because fluid flows into and out of the blade
passages with the least amount of turning.
Centrifugal pumps with radial blades (also called straight
blades) have the simplest geometry and produce the
largest pressure rise of the three.
Centrifugal pumps with forward-inclined blades produce a
pressure rise that is nearly constant.
Euler turbomachine
equation:
Net head:
Control volume (shaded) used for
angular momentum analysis of a
centrifugal pump; absolute
tangential velocity components V1, t
41
and V2, t are labeled.
42
43
Bernoulli equation in a
rotating reference frame:
A multistage axial-
flow pump consists
of two or more
61
rotor–stator pairs.
Pratt & Whitney PW4000 turbofan engine; an
example of a multistage axial-flow turbomachine.
62
63
64
65
14–3 ■ PUMP SCALING LAWS
Dimensional Analysis
66
When plotted in terms of dimensionless
Dimensional analysis is useful for pump parameters, the performance curves
scaling two geometrically similar of all pumps in a family of geometrically
pumps. If all the dimensionless similar pumps collapse onto one set of
pump parameters of pump A are nondimensional pump performance curves.
equivalent to those of pump B, the Values at the best efficiency point are
two pumps are dynamically similar. indicated by asterisks.
When a small-scale model is
tested to predict the performance
of a full-scale prototype pump,
the measured efficiency of the
model is typically somewhat
lower than that of the prototype.
Empirical correction equations
such as Eq. 14–34 have been
developed to account for the
improvement of pump efficiency
with pump size.
68
Pump Specific Speed
72
73
74
75
76
77
14–4 ■ TURBINES
Turbines have been used for centuries to convert
freely available mechanical energy from rivers
and wind into useful mechanical work, usually
through a rotating shaft.
The rotating part of a hydroturbine is called the
runner.
When the working fluid is water, the
turbomachines are called hydraulic turbines or
hydroturbines.
When the working fluid is air, and energy is
extracted from the wind, the machine is called a
wind turbine.
Most people use the word windmill to describe
any wind turbine, whether used to grind grain,
pump water, or generate electricity.
The turbomachines that convert energy from the
steam into mechanical energy of a rotating shaft
are called steam turbines.
Turbines that employ a compressible gas as the
working fluid is gas turbine. 78
In general, energy-producing turbines have somewhat higher overall
efficiencies than do energy-absorbing pumps.
Large hydroturbines achieve overall efficiencies above 95 percent, while the
best efficiency of large pumps is a little more than 90 percent.
There are several reasons for this:
First, pumps normally operate at higher rotational speeds than do turbines;
therefore, shear stresses and frictional losses are higher.
Second, conversion of kinetic energy into flow energy (pumps) has
inherently higher losses than does the reverse (turbines).
Third, turbines (especially hydroturbines) are often much larger than pumps,
and viscous losses become less important as size increases.
Finally, while pumps often operate over a wide range of flow rates, most
electricity-generating turbines run within a narrower operating range and at a
controlled constant speed; they can therefore be designed to operate most
efficiently at those conditions.
As with pumps, we classify turbines into two broad categories,
positive displacement and dynamic.
Positive-displacement turbines are small devices used for volume flow rate
measurement, while dynamic turbines range from tiny to huge and are used
for both flow measurement and power production. 79
Positive-Displacement Turbines
A positive-displacement turbine may be
thought of as a positive-displacement pump
running backward—as fluid pushes into a closed
volume, it turns a shaft or displaces a
reciprocating rod. The closed volume of fluid is
then pushed out as more fluid enters the device.
There is a net head loss through the positive-
displacement turbine; energy is extracted from
the flowing fluid and is turned into mechanical
energy.
However, positive-displacement turbines are
generally not used for power production, but
rather for flow rate or flow volume measurement.
92
Relative and absolute velocity Relative and absolute velocity vectors
vectors and geometry for the and geometry for the inner radius of
outer radius of the runner of a the runner of a Francis turbine.
Francis turbine. Absolute velocity Absolute velocity vectors are bold.
vectors are bold.
93
In some Francis mixed-flow
turbines, high-power, high-
volume flow rate conditions
sometimes lead to reverse
swirl, in which the flow exiting
the runner swirls in the
direction opposite to that of the
runner itself, as sketched here.
94
95
96
97
98
Gas and Steam Turbines
In a coal or nuclear power plant,
high-pressure steam is
produced by a boiler and then
sent to a steam turbine to
produce electricity.
Because of reheat,
regeneration, and other efforts
to increase overall efficiency,
these steam turbines typically
have two stages (high pressure
and low pressure).
Most power plant steam turbines
are multistage axial-flow
devices.
There are also stator vanes
(called nozzles) that direct the The turbine blades (called buckets) of a typical
flow between each set of turbine two-stage steam turbine used in a coal or
blades (called buckets). nuclear power plant. The flow is from left to
right, with the high-pressure stage on the left
and the low-pressure stage on the right. 99
A gas turbine generator is similar to a jet engine except that instead of providing
thrust, the turbomachine is designed to transfer as much of the fuel’s energy as
possible into the rotating shaft, which is connected to an electric generator.
Gas turbines used for power generation are typically much larger than jet engines.
A significant gain in efficiency is realized as overall turbine size increases.
100
Wind Turbines
As global demand for energy increases, the supply of fossil fuels diminishes
and the price of energy continues to rise.
To keep up with global energy demand, renewable sources of energy such
as solar, wind, wave, tidal, hydroelectric, and geothermal must be tapped
more extensively.
In this section we concentrate on wind turbines used to generate electricity.
We note the distinction between the terms windmill used for mechanical
power generation (grinding grain, pumping water, etc.) and wind turbine
used for electrical power generation.
Although the wind is “free” and renewable, modern wind turbines are
expensive and suffer from one obvious disadvantage compared to most
other power generation devices – they produce power only when the wind is
blowing, and the power output of a wind turbine is thus inherently unsteady.
Wind turbines need to be located where the wind blows, which is often far
from traditional power grids, requiring construction of new high-voltage
power lines.
101
We generally categorize wind turbines by the orientation of their axis of rotation:
horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs)
vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs).
An alternative way to categorize them is by the mechanism that provides torque
to the rotating shaft: lift or drag.
So far, none of the VAWT designs or drag-type designs has achieved the
efficiency or success of the lift-type HAWT.
This is why the vast majority of wind turbines being built around the world are of
this type, often in clusters affectionately called wind farms.
For this reason, the lift-type HAWT is the only type of wind turbine discussed in
any detail in this section.
102
Various wind
turbine designs
and their
categorization.
103
Various wind turbine designs and their categorization.
104
Various wind turbine designs and their categorization.
105
Various wind turbine designs and their categorization.
106
(a) Wind farms, like this one on Altamont Pass in
California, are popping up all over the world to
help reduce the global demand for fossil fuels. (b)
Some wind turbines are even being installed on
buildings!
107
Cut-in speed: The minimum wind speed at which useful power can be
generated.
Rated speed: The wind speed that delivers the rated power, usually the
maximum power.
Cut-out speed: The maximum wind speed at which the wind turbine is
designed to produce power. At wind speeds greater than the cut-out speed,
the turbine blades are stopped by some type of braking mechanism to avoid
damage and for safety issues. The short section of dashed blue line indicates
the power that would be produced if cut-out were not implemented.
108
Available wind
power
Wind power
density
Betz limit
111
Performance (power coefficient) of various types of wind
turbines as a function of the ratio of turbine blade tip speed
to wind speed. So far, no design has achieved better
performance than the horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT).
112
113
14–5 ■ TURBINE SCALING LAWS
114
In practice, hydroturbine engineers
generally find that the actual increase in
efficiency from model to prototype is only
about two-thirds of the increase given by
this equation.
115
116
117
Turbine Specific Speed
A pump–turbine is used by
some power plants for energy
storage: (a) water is pumped
by the pump–turbine during
periods of low demand for
power, and (b) electricity is
generated by the pump–
turbine during periods of high
118
demand for power.
The runner of a pump–turbine used at the Yards Creek
pumped storage station in Blairstown, NJ. There are
seven runner blades of outer diameter 5.27 m. The turbine
rotates at 240 rpm and produces 112 MW of power at a
volume flow rate of 56.6 m3/s from a net head of 221 m.
119
Conversions between the dimensionless
and the conventional U.S. definitions of
turbine specific speed. Numerical values
are given to four significant digits. The
conversions assume earth gravity and
water as the working fluid.
Capacity specific
speed
120
Maximum efficiency as a function of turbine specific speed for the three main
types of dynamic turbine. Horizontal scales show nondimensional turbine specific
speed (NSt) and turbine specific speed in customary U.S. units (NSt, US). Sketches
of the blade types are also provided on the plot for reference.
121
122
• CLASSIFICATIONS AND TERMINOLOGY
• PUMPS
Pump Performance Curves and Matching a Pump to a
Piping System
Pump Cavitation and Net Positive Suction Head
Pumps in Series and Parallel
Positive-Displacement Pumps
Dynamic Pumps
Centrifugal Pumps
Axial Pumps
• PUMP SCALING LAWS Summary
Dimensional Analysis
Pump Specific Speed
Affinity Laws
• TURBINES
Positive-Displacement Turbines
Dynamic Turbines
Impulse Turbines
Reaction Turbines
Gas and Steam Turbines
Wind Turbines
• TURBINE SCALING LAWS
Dimensionless Turbine Parameters
Turbine Specific Speed