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CompressorThermodynamics

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Mostmodernpassengerandmilitaryaircraftarepoweredbygasturbineengines,alsocalledjetengines.Alltypesofjet
engineshavesomepartsincommon.Alljetengineshaveacompressortoincreasethepressureoftheincomingair.There
arecurrentlytwoprincipalcompressordesignsfoundonjetengines:theaxialcompressor,inwhichtheairflowsparallelto
theaxisofrotation,andthecentrifugalcompressor,inwhichtheairisturnedperpendiculartotheaxisofrotation.Ineither
design,thejobofthecompressoristoincreasethepressureoftheflow.Wemeasuretheincreasebythecompressor
pressureratio(CPR),whichistheratiooftheairtotalpressureptexitingthecompressortotheairpressureenteringthe
compressor.Thisnumberisalwaysgreaterthan1.0.Referringtoourstationnumbering,thecompressorentranceisstation
2andthecompressorexitisstation3.TheCPRisequaltopt3dividedbypt2,asshownontheslide.
CPR=pt3/pt2>=1.0
Toproducetheincreaseinpressure,thecompressormustperformworkontheflow.Intheaxialcompressor,cascadesof
smallairfoilsaremountedonashaftthatturnsatahighrateofspeed.Severalrows,orstages,areusuallyusedto
produceahighCPR,witheachstageproducingasmallpressureincrease.Inthecentrifugalcompressor,anadditional
pressureincreaseresultsfromturningtheflowradially,radiatingfromorconvergingtoacommoncenter.Sinceno
externalheatisbeingaddedtoorextractedfromthecompressorduringthepressureincrease,theprocessisisentropic.
ThetotaltemperatureratioTt3/Tt2acrossthecompressorisrelatedtothepressureratiobytheisentropicflowequations.
Tt3/Tt2=(pt3/pt2)^((gam1)/gam)
wheregamistheratioofspecificheats.
Workmustbedonetoturntheshaftonwhichthecompressorismounted.Fromtheconservationofenergy,the
compressorworkpermassofairflowCWisequaltothechangeinthespecificenthalpyhtoftheflowfromtheentranceto
theexitofthecompressor.
CW=ht3ht2
Theterm"specific"meanspermassofairflow.TheenthalpyattheentranceandexitisrelatedtothetotaltemperatureTt
atthosestations.
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11/11/2016

CompressorThermodynamics

CW=cp*(Tt3Tt2)
Performingalittlealgebra,wearriveattheequation:
CW=[cp*Tt]2*[CPR^((gam1)/gam)1]/nc
thatrelatestheworkrequiredtoturnthecompressortothecompressorpressureratio,theincomingtotaltemperature,
somepropertiesofthegas,andanefficiencyfactornc.Theefficiencyfactorisincludedtoaccountfortheactual
performanceofthecompressorasopposedtotheideal,isentropicperformance.Inanidealworld,thevalueofthe
efficiencywouldbe1.0inreality,itisalwayslessthan1.0.Soadditionalworkisneededtoovercometheinefficiencyof
thecompressortoproduceadesiredCPR.Theworkisprovidedbythepowerturbine,whichisconnectedtothe
compressorbythecentralshaft.
NoticethattheCPRisrelatedtothetotaltemperatureratioacrossthecompressor.SincetheCPRisalwaysgreaterthan
1.0andthevalueofgam,theratioofspecificheats,isabout1.4forair,thetotaltemperatureratioisalsogreaterthan1.0.
Airheatsupasitpassesthroughthecompressor.Therearetemperaturelimitsonthematerialsofthecompressor.On
someengines,thetemperatureattheexitofthecompressorbecomesadesignconstraint,afactorlimitingtheengine
performance.YoucannowuseEngineSimtostudytheeffectsofdifferentmaterialsonengineoperation.
Activities:
GuidedTours
EngineSimEngineSimulator:
Compressor:

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Editor:NancyHall
NASAOfficial:NancyHall
LastUpdated:May052015
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