2. Turbocharger test rig setup
Turbocharger maps are usually acquired on hot test benches [13], or cold test benches [7] and [8]. In the former case, the heat flux between the hot turbine and the cold compressor causes overestimation of the calculated compressor power and underestimation of isentropic efficiency. This error, due to the assumption of adiabatic behavior of the compressor, becomes even greater at low turbocharger speeds, as stated before [7], [8] and [13].
As there is no standard that provides detailed descriptions of the correct measurement and calculation method to obtain turbocharger maps, experiments were conducted in the LGP2ES laboratory at Cnam Paris on a standard cold turbocharger test rig fitted with a torquemeter specially designed for such applications. Torque was measured from shaft twist, which was deduced from the phase difference between two toothed wheels located at either end of the shaft [14]. The same device gives the rotational speed and hence the power. The main characteristics of the torquemeter are as follows:
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Maximum speed: 120,000 rpm
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Shaft diameter: 2.46 mm
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Maximum power: 5 kW
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Accuracy: ±0.0016 N m
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Grease lubricating ceramic ball bearings
The test rig layout is shown in Fig. 1 and a picture of the torquemeter and the turbocharger in Fig. 2.
Schematic of test rig.
Fig. 1.
Schematic of test rig.
Figure options
Test bench.
Fig. 2.
Test bench.
Figure options
The turbine is fed by dry compressed air under steady flow and in this application is used only for driving the compressor. The air source is a 700 m3 tank under 25 bar. The turbine flow rate is controlled by a valve and a second valve is used to modify the operating conditions of the compressor. The compressor map can thus be found by adjusting these valves. Both center housings are fed by the lubricating unit with SAE 15–30 W oil. Oil inlet temperature and pressure are adjustable, respectively from 20 to 120 °C and from 0.5 to 4 bar.
3. Determination of compressor performance
As mentioned above, usually the compressor is presumed to have an adiabatic behavior, which means its isentropic efficiency is calculated as follows:
equation(1)
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where Wis and Wreal are the isentropic and real compression work, ΔTis, ΔTreal are respectively the isentropic and real temperature variation between compressor inlet and outlet ( Fig. 3) and k is the specific heat ratio, Ti1, Ti2 are the compressor inlet and outlet total temperatures, and pi1and pi2 are the compressor inlet and outlet total pressures.
Entropic diagram for the compressor.
Fig. 3.
Entropic diagram for the compressor.
Figure options
Furthermore, based on measurements, the following can also be calculated:
-
compression ratio:
equation(2)
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-
compressor power, i.e. the power received by the air flow rate:
equation(3)
P=qm·cp(Ti2−Ti1),
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where qm is the air mass flow rate, and cp is the air specific heat at constant pressure.
The pressure is evaluated by different strain gauge transducers adapted to the measurement scale, while the temperature is measured by platinum resistance thermometers. The mass air flow rate is determined by a sharp edge orifice.
All sensor signals are converted to 0–5 voltage and sent to a data acquisition card. For each signal, 100 data acquisitions are done at 10 Hz, and the mean values recorded.
Thanks to the special torquemeter fitted between the turbine and compressor, the turbocharger’s mechanical efficiency is found with the following relation:
equation(4)
View the MathML source
Turn MathJax on
where Pm is the mechanical power given to the compressor shaft by the turbine, which is provided by the torquemeter, and Pf is the power loss to overcome friction within the turbocharger shaft bearings.
The friction losses can thus be estimated, provided that correct values for the compressor power are available. This is the case if heat exchange is minimized. In general, particularly at low turbocharger speeds, the compressor outlet total temperature is affected by the temperature conditions of the lubricating oil, air flow inside the compressor and ambient temperature. In the situation presented in this paper (cold test bench), minimizing heat exchange simply means handling the lubricating oil temperature parameters, as explained hereafter.
This experimental study was conducted as a parametric study, in order to assess the combined effect of lubricating oil temperature and pressure on the compressor performance. It was expected that the results thus obtained would advance our knowledge of the compressor map in the low speed range. More than 60 experiments were therefore performed but only the most relevant results are presented hereafter.
4. Experimental results
4.1. Influence of lubricating oil temperature on the compressor performance
As already discussed, the lubricating oil temperature appears to have a strong impact on the turbocharger performance. Mechanical power losses depend on oil viscosity, which is directly linked to oil temperature. Furthermore, heat exchange increases for high oil temperature and low rotational speeds.
Experiments show little difference in mechanical power given to the compressor shaft by the turbine, except for low rotational speeds (Fig. 4a). In Fig. 4b, it can be clearly seen that when the oil temperature is increased, the mechanical power provided by the torquemeter drops, with a difference of about 40% between the two extreme situations (20 °C and 80 °C). Although this difference between the two situations persists, when the speed increases the difference narrows and at 110,000 rpm it can be neglected.
Mechanical power vs. air flow rate.
Fig. 4.
Mechanical power vs. air flow rate.
Figure options
For a given rotational speed and constant lubricating oil pressure, the oil temperature, as expected, had a negligible influence on the pressure ratio (Fig. 5). However, it influences isentropic efficiency, especially at low rotational speeds (Fig. 6). This is due to the non-adiabaticity of the compressor, as explained below.
Compression ratio vs. air flow rate.
Fig. 5.
Compression ratio vs. air flow rate.
Figure options
Isentropic efficiency vs. air flow rate.
Fig. 6.
Isentropic efficiency vs. air flow rate.
Figure options
4.2. Influence of lubricating oil pressure on the compressor performances
Generally, turbochargers are tested with a constant feeding oil pressure. However, during experimentation, an effect of oil pressure was clearly noticed. When the inlet oil pressure was changed, a variation in the turbocharger speed was observed, although the valves controlling the air flow rate of the compressor and the turbine were maintained in a fixed position. For instance, when the oil inlet pressure was decreased from 4 to 1 bar (points 1–7 in Fig. 7) and then increased back to 4 bar (points 7–10 in Fig. 7), a change in turbocharger speed from 55,000 to 32,000 rpm was observed, albeit with some discontinuities and hysteresis. This change of speed has an effect on the pressure ratio and air flow rate, as indicated in Fig. 8.
Rotational speed vs. oil pressure.
Fig. 7.
Rotational speed vs. oil pressure.
Figure options
Compression ratio vs. air flow rate.
Fig. 8.
Compression ratio vs. air flow rate.
Figure options
Experiments at a given rotational speed and constant lubricating oil inlet temperature showed that the oil pressure has no influence on the pressure ratio and isentropic efficiency, which seems logical (Fig. 9 and Fig. 10).
Compression ratio vs. air flow rate.
Fig. 9.
Compression ratio vs. air flow rate.
Figure options
Isentropic efficiency vs. air flow rate.
Fig. 10.
Isentropic efficiency vs. air flow rate.
Figure options
The effect of oil pressure on mechanical power appears to be small (Fig. 11).
Mechanical power vs. air flow rate.
Fig. 11.
Mechanical power vs. air flow rate.
Figure options
The variation in mechanical power, for an oil pressure change from 2 to 4 bar, is approximately 5% at 70,000 rpm and 3% at 110,000 rpm. Nevertheless it must not be neglected at low speed. A difference of 24% is obtained at 30,000 rpm, which could explain the speed variation in Fig. 7, also noticed on other turbochargers.
The effect of oil pressure on mechanical power is quite unexpected, as for a given rotational speed, mechanical power losses depend primarily on oil viscosity, which is linked to temperature only and not to pressure. However, an explanation for this phenomenon was put forward in a recent numerical study [9]: while the oil pressure has no effect on viscosity, it does have an effect on oil flow. When the pressure increases, the oil flow also increases, leading to a better cooling of the journal bearings. Oil temperature within the inner clearance of journal bearings thereby decreases, viscosity increases and mechanical power losses also increase, entailing an increase in mechanical power.
5. Analysis of the results
5.1. Isentropic efficiency of compressor
Usually, on our test bench, turbocharger characteristic curves are established with a lubricating oil pressure of 3 bar and an oil tank temperature of about 60 °C.
At low rotational speeds, oil pressure and temperature at the inlet of the compressor have to be set precisely. The effect of oil inlet temperature for experiments done at 30,000 rpm is clearly observed.
When the inlet lubricating oil temperature is set at 20 °C, the outlet oil temperature is about 32 °C. This increase of 12 °C is due to mechanical power losses converted to heat and physically, this result is logical. When the oil temperature is set at 80 °C, the oil temperature difference between outlet and inlet is about −7 °C. This means either that energy is given to the shaft by the lubricating oil or that the oil is cooled by heat exchange due to air flow in the compressor. The latter hypothesis is physically the only realistic one and shows that in the
2. Turbocharger test rig setupTurbocharger maps are usually acquired on hot test benches [13], or cold test benches [7] and [8]. In the former case, the heat flux between the hot turbine and the cold compressor causes overestimation of the calculated compressor power and underestimation of isentropic efficiency. This error, due to the assumption of adiabatic behavior of the compressor, becomes even greater at low turbocharger speeds, as stated before [7], [8] and [13].As there is no standard that provides detailed descriptions of the correct measurement and calculation method to obtain turbocharger maps, experiments were conducted in the LGP2ES laboratory at Cnam Paris on a standard cold turbocharger test rig fitted with a torquemeter specially designed for such applications. Torque was measured from shaft twist, which was deduced from the phase difference between two toothed wheels located at either end of the shaft [14]. The same device gives the rotational speed and hence the power. The main characteristics of the torquemeter are as follows:-Maximum speed: 120,000 rpm-Shaft diameter: 2.46 mm-Maximum power: 5 kW-Accuracy: ±0.0016 N m-Grease lubricating ceramic ball bearingsThe test rig layout is shown in Fig. 1 and a picture of the torquemeter and the turbocharger in Fig. 2.Schematic of test rig.Fig. 1. Schematic of test rig.Figure optionsTest bench.Fig. 2. Test bench.Figure optionsThe turbine is fed by dry compressed air under steady flow and in this application is used only for driving the compressor. The air source is a 700 m3 tank under 25 bar. The turbine flow rate is controlled by a valve and a second valve is used to modify the operating conditions of the compressor. The compressor map can thus be found by adjusting these valves. Both center housings are fed by the lubricating unit with SAE 15–30 W oil. Oil inlet temperature and pressure are adjustable, respectively from 20 to 120 °C and from 0.5 to 4 bar.3. Determination of compressor performanceAs mentioned above, usually the compressor is presumed to have an adiabatic behavior, which means its isentropic efficiency is calculated as follows:equation(1)View the MathML sourceTurn MathJax onwhere Wis and Wreal are the isentropic and real compression work, ΔTis, ΔTreal are respectively the isentropic and real temperature variation between compressor inlet and outlet ( Fig. 3) and k is the specific heat ratio, Ti1, Ti2 are the compressor inlet and outlet total temperatures, and pi1and pi2 are the compressor inlet and outlet total pressures.Entropic diagram for the compressor.Fig. 3. Entropic diagram for the compressor.Figure optionsFurthermore, based on measurements, the following can also be calculated:-compression ratio:equation(2)View the MathML sourceTurn MathJax on-compressor power, i.e. the power received by the air flow rate:equation(3)P=qm·cp(Ti2−Ti1),Turn MathJax onwhere qm is the air mass flow rate, and cp is the air specific heat at constant pressure.The pressure is evaluated by different strain gauge transducers adapted to the measurement scale, while the temperature is measured by platinum resistance thermometers. The mass air flow rate is determined by a sharp edge orifice.All sensor signals are converted to 0–5 voltage and sent to a data acquisition card. For each signal, 100 data acquisitions are done at 10 Hz, and the mean values recorded.Thanks to the special torquemeter fitted between the turbine and compressor, the turbocharger’s mechanical efficiency is found with the following relation:equation(4)View the MathML sourceTurn MathJax onwhere Pm is the mechanical power given to the compressor shaft by the turbine, which is provided by the torquemeter, and Pf is the power loss to overcome friction within the turbocharger shaft bearings.The friction losses can thus be estimated, provided that correct values for the compressor power are available. This is the case if heat exchange is minimized. In general, particularly at low turbocharger speeds, the compressor outlet total temperature is affected by the temperature conditions of the lubricating oil, air flow inside the compressor and ambient temperature. In the situation presented in this paper (cold test bench), minimizing heat exchange simply means handling the lubricating oil temperature parameters, as explained hereafter.This experimental study was conducted as a parametric study, in order to assess the combined effect of lubricating oil temperature and pressure on the compressor performance. It was expected that the results thus obtained would advance our knowledge of the compressor map in the low speed range. More than 60 experiments were therefore performed but only the most relevant results are presented hereafter.4. Experimental results4.1. Influence of lubricating oil temperature on the compressor performanceAs already discussed, the lubricating oil temperature appears to have a strong impact on the turbocharger performance. Mechanical power losses depend on oil viscosity, which is directly linked to oil temperature. Furthermore, heat exchange increases for high oil temperature and low rotational speeds.Experiments show little difference in mechanical power given to the compressor shaft by the turbine, except for low rotational speeds (Fig. 4a). In Fig. 4b, it can be clearly seen that when the oil temperature is increased, the mechanical power provided by the torquemeter drops, with a difference of about 40% between the two extreme situations (20 °C and 80 °C). Although this difference between the two situations persists, when the speed increases the difference narrows and at 110,000 rpm it can be neglected.Mechanical power vs. air flow rate.Fig. 4. Mechanical power vs. air flow rate.Figure optionsFor a given rotational speed and constant lubricating oil pressure, the oil temperature, as expected, had a negligible influence on the pressure ratio (Fig. 5). However, it influences isentropic efficiency, especially at low rotational speeds (Fig. 6). This is due to the non-adiabaticity of the compressor, as explained below.Compression ratio vs. air flow rate.Fig. 5. Compression ratio vs. air flow rate.Figure optionsIsentropic efficiency vs. air flow rate.Fig. 6. Isentropic efficiency vs. air flow rate.Figure options4.2. Influence of lubricating oil pressure on the compressor performancesGenerally, turbochargers are tested with a constant feeding oil pressure. However, during experimentation, an effect of oil pressure was clearly noticed. When the inlet oil pressure was changed, a variation in the turbocharger speed was observed, although the valves controlling the air flow rate of the compressor and the turbine were maintained in a fixed position. For instance, when the oil inlet pressure was decreased from 4 to 1 bar (points 1–7 in Fig. 7) and then increased back to 4 bar (points 7–10 in Fig. 7), a change in turbocharger speed from 55,000 to 32,000 rpm was observed, albeit with some discontinuities and hysteresis. This change of speed has an effect on the pressure ratio and air flow rate, as indicated in Fig. 8.Rotational speed vs. oil pressure.Fig. 7. Rotational speed vs. oil pressure.Figure options
Compression ratio vs. air flow rate.
Fig. 8.
Compression ratio vs. air flow rate.
Figure options
Experiments at a given rotational speed and constant lubricating oil inlet temperature showed that the oil pressure has no influence on the pressure ratio and isentropic efficiency, which seems logical (Fig. 9 and Fig. 10).
Compression ratio vs. air flow rate.
Fig. 9.
Compression ratio vs. air flow rate.
Figure options
Isentropic efficiency vs. air flow rate.
Fig. 10.
Isentropic efficiency vs. air flow rate.
Figure options
The effect of oil pressure on mechanical power appears to be small (Fig. 11).
Mechanical power vs. air flow rate.
Fig. 11.
Mechanical power vs. air flow rate.
Figure options
The variation in mechanical power, for an oil pressure change from 2 to 4 bar, is approximately 5% at 70,000 rpm and 3% at 110,000 rpm. Nevertheless it must not be neglected at low speed. A difference of 24% is obtained at 30,000 rpm, which could explain the speed variation in Fig. 7, also noticed on other turbochargers.
The effect of oil pressure on mechanical power is quite unexpected, as for a given rotational speed, mechanical power losses depend primarily on oil viscosity, which is linked to temperature only and not to pressure. However, an explanation for this phenomenon was put forward in a recent numerical study [9]: while the oil pressure has no effect on viscosity, it does have an effect on oil flow. When the pressure increases, the oil flow also increases, leading to a better cooling of the journal bearings. Oil temperature within the inner clearance of journal bearings thereby decreases, viscosity increases and mechanical power losses also increase, entailing an increase in mechanical power.
5. Analysis of the results
5.1. Isentropic efficiency of compressor
Usually, on our test bench, turbocharger characteristic curves are established with a lubricating oil pressure of 3 bar and an oil tank temperature of about 60 °C.
At low rotational speeds, oil pressure and temperature at the inlet of the compressor have to be set precisely. The effect of oil inlet temperature for experiments done at 30,000 rpm is clearly observed.
When the inlet lubricating oil temperature is set at 20 °C, the outlet oil temperature is about 32 °C. This increase of 12 °C is due to mechanical power losses converted to heat and physically, this result is logical. When the oil temperature is set at 80 °C, the oil temperature difference between outlet and inlet is about −7 °C. This means either that energy is given to the shaft by the lubricating oil or that the oil is cooled by heat exchange due to air flow in the compressor. The latter hypothesis is physically the only realistic one and shows that in the
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