Chapter 3: One Dimensional Theory

• The real flow through an impeller is three dimensional

• That is to say the velocity of the fluid is a function of three positional
coordinates, say, in the cylindrical system, r, θ and z, as shown in Fig. below.
• Thus, there is a variation of velocity not only along the radius but also across
the blade passage in any plane parallel to the impeller rotation
• Also, there is a variation of velocity in the meridional plane, i.e. along the axis
of the impeller.
• The velocity distribution is therefore, very complex and dependent upon the
number of blades, their shapes and thicknesses, as well as on the width of the
impeller and its variation with radius.

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A Centrifugal Impeller in Relation to Cylindrical Coordinates

2
Basic Assumptions
The one-dimensional theory simplifies the
problem very considerably by making the
following assumptions:
The blades are infinitely thin and the pressure
difference across them is replaced by
imaginary body forces acting on the fluid and
producing torque.
The number of blades is infinitely large, so
that the variation of velocity across blade
passages is reduced and tends to zero. Thus,
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Basic Assumptions Contd
there is no variation of velocity in the
meridional plane, i.e. across the width of
the impeller. Thus,

• As a result of the above assumptions, the

flow through, say, a centrifugal impeller
may be represented by a diagram shown
in Fig. below.
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One-dimensional flow through a centrifugal impeller

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 Basic Assumptions Contd
• The above assumptions enable us to limit our analysis to changes of
conditions which occur between impeller inlet and impeller outlet
without reference to the space in between, where the real transfer of
energy takes place.
• This space is treated as a ‘black box’ having an input in the form of
an inlet velocity triangle and an output in the form of an outlet
velocity triangle.
• Such velocity triangles for a centrifugal impeller rotating with a
constant angular velocity ω are shown in Fig. above.
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 Analysis
• At inlet, the fluid moving with an absolute velocity v1
enters the impeller through a cylindrical surface of
radius r1 and may make an angle α1 with the tangent at
that radius.
• At outlet, the fluid leaves the impeller through a
cylindrical surface of radius r2, absolute velocity v2
inclined to the tangent at outlet by the angle α2.
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Analysis Contd
• The velocity triangles shown in Fig. above are obtained as follows.
The inlet velocity triangle is constructed by first drawing the vector
representing the absolute velocity v1 at an angle α1.
 The tangential velocity of the impeller, u1 is then subtracted from
it vectorially in order to obtain vr1, the relative velocity of the fluid
with respect to the impeller blades at the radius r1.
In this basic velocity triangle, the absolute velocity v1 is resolved
into two components:
 One in the radial direction, called velocity of flow vf1, and
 The perpendicular to it i.e in the tangential direction, vw1,
sometimes called velocity of whirl.
These two components are useful in the analysis and, therefore,
they are always shown as part of the velocity triangles.

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 Analysis Contd
• From One-dimensional flow through a centrifugal
impeller coupled with Newton’s second law applied to
angular motion,
• Torque = Rate of change of angular momentum
Now,
• Angular momentum = (Mass) x (Tangential velocity)
x (Radius).
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One-dimensional flow through a centrifugal impeller

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Analysis Contd

11
Analysis Contd

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Analysis Contd
• Equation (1.4) is known as Euler’s equation.
• From its mode of derivation it is apparent that Euler’s equation
applies to a pump (as derived) and to a turbine.
• In the case of a turbine, however, since

• E would be negative, indicating the reversed direction of energy

transfer.
• It is, therefore, common for a turbine to use the reversed order of
terms in the brackets to yield positive E.
• Since the units of E reduce to metres of the fluid handled, it is often
referred to as Euler’s head.
• It is useful to express Euler’s head in terms of the absolute fluid
velocities rather than their components.
• From the velocity triangles of Fig. above,

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Analysis Contd

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Analysis Contd
• In the above expression,
The first term denotes the increase of the
kinetic energy of the fluid in the impeller.
 The second term represents the energy used
in setting the fluid in a circular motion about
the impeller axis (forced vortex).
The third term is the regain of static head due
to a reduction of relative velocity in the fluid
passing through the impeller.

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 Application of Euler’s Equation to Centrifugal and Axial Flow
Machines
a) Centrifugal Flow Machine
• For centrifugal flow machine, the velocity triangles
are as shown in Fig. above.
• In addition, the following relationships hold.
• In general, u = ωr, it follows that the tangential blade
velocities at inlet and outlet are given by

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Application of Euler’s Equation to Centrifugal Flow Machines
Contd

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Application of Euler’s Equation to Centrifugal Flow Machines
Contd

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 Centrifugal Flow Machine
• At inlet the usual assumptions are as follows:

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Centrifugal Flow Machine

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Centrifugal Flow Machine

21
Centrifugal Flow Machine

22
 Axial Flow Machine

• An axial flow machine, is as shown in Fig. below.

• In the axial flow machine the flow is axial, the
changes from inlet to outlet take place at the same
radius.

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Axial Flow Machine

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Axial flow impeller and velocity triangles

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Axial Flow Machine

• The following assumptions are made

with regard to the velocity triangles:

3. At outlet, the relative velocity leaves the blade tangentially

and a similar procedure to that for a centrifugal impeller is
used to complete the velocity triangles.
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 Axial Flow Machine

• From the outlet triangle,

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 Axial Flow Machine

• For any two radii ra and rb,

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Axial Flow Machine

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 Worked example
• An axial flow fan as a hub diameter of 1.50m and a tip
diameter of 2.0m. It rotates at te speed of 18m/s and,
when handling 5.0m3/s of air, develops a theoretical
head equivalent of water. Determine the blade outlet
angles at hub and at tip. Assume that the velocity of flow
is independent of radius and that the energy transfer per
unit length of blade,dr, is constant. Take density of air
as1.2kg/m3 and te density of water as 1000kg/m3
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• Solution
• Velocity of flow, v1 = Q/A =

31
Worked Example 1.2
• The shaft of small turbine turns at 20000 rpm, and the
blade speed is U = 250 m/s. The axial velocity leaving
the stator is Vx2 = 175 m/s. The angle at which the
absolute velocity leaves the stator blades is α2 = 67°, the
flow angle of the relative velocity leaving the rotor is
β3= -60°, and the absolute velocity leaves the rotor at
the angle α3 = -20°. These are shown in Figure below.
Find (a) the mean radius of the blades, (b) the angle of
the relative velocity entering the rotor, (c) the magnitude
of the axial velocity leaving the rotor, (d) the magnitude
of the absolute velocity leaving the stator, and (e) the
specific work delivered by the stage.
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33
Solution
• In turbines, a stage consists of a stator followed by
a rotor
• The inlet to the stator is designated as location 1,
the inlet to the rotor is location 2, and the exit from
the rotor is location 3.
• The Euler turbine equation is written as
w = U2Vu2 - U3Vu3
• From Euler equation, the axial component of
velocity is denoted as Vx and the component of the
velocity in the direction of the blade motion as Vu.

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Solution Contd

• For an axial turbomachine

U1=U2 = U.
• Hence, Work delivered by a stage is then given by
w = U(Vu2 - Vu3)
(a) The mean radius of the rotor is

35
36
 Trothalpy and specific work in terms of velocities
• Rothalpy is a compound word combining the terms
rotation and enthalpy.
• Since no work is done in the turbine stator , total
enthalpy remains constant across it.
• In this section an analogous quantity to the total
enthalpy is developed for the rotor.

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 Trothalpy and specific work in terms of velocities Contd

• Specifically, consider a mixed-flow compressor in

which the meridional velocity at the inlet is not
completely axial and at the exit from the blades not
completely radial.
• The work done by the rotor blades is

• This can be written as

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 Trothalpy and specific work in terms of velocities Contd

• The quantity

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Trothalpy and specific work in terms of velocities Contd

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 Trothalpy and specific work in terms of velocities Contd

• This gives

41
 Degree of reaction
• Degree of reaction, or reaction for short, is defined as
the change in static enthalpy across the rotor divided
by the static enthalpy change across the entire stage.
• For the turbine this is given as

42
 Degree of Reaction Contd
• Work delivered by a rotor in a turbine is

• Since for nozzles (or stator) h01 = h02, work can also be
written as

43
 Degree of Reaction Contd
• Solving the last two equations for static enthalpy
differences and substituting them into the definition of
reaction gives

44
 Degree of Reaction Contd
• In a flow in which V1 = V2, the reaction R = 1.
• Such a machine is a pure reaction machine.
• A lawn sprinkler, rotating about an axis is such a machine,
for all the pressure drops take place in the sprinkler arms.
• They turn as a reaction to the momentum leaving them.
• In a steam turbine with an axial flow machine in which U2
= U3 its reaction is zero when W2 = W3.
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 Worked Example
• Consider an axial turbine stage with blade speed U =
350 m/s and axial velocity Vx = 280 m/s. Flow enters
the rotor at angle α2 = 60°. It leaves the rotor at angle
α3 = -30°. Assume a stage for which α1 = α3 and a
constant axial velocity. Find the velocities and the
degree of reaction.

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 Solution
• Since axial velocity is constant and the flow angles are
equal at both the entrance and exit of the stage, the
velocity diagrams at the inlet of the stator and the exit
of the rotor are identical.
• From a velocity triangle, such as shown in Figure 1.9a,
the tangential velocities are:

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48
 UTILIZATION

• A measure of how effectively a turbine rotor converts

the available kinetic energy at its inlet to work is
called utilization, and a utilization factor is defined as
the ratio

49
UTILIZATION Contd

• From equation above, the denominator is the available

energy consisting of what is converted to work and the
kinetic energy that leaves the turbine.
• This expression for utilization equals unity if the exit
kinetic energy is negligible.
• But the exit kinetic energy cannot vanish completely
because the flow has to leave the turbine.
• Hence utilization factor is always less than one.
• Maximum utilization is reached by turning the flow so
much that the swirl component vanishes; that is, for the
best utilization the exit velocity vector should lie on the
meridional plane.

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 UTILIZATION Contd

• Making the appropriate changes in Eq. (1.22) to make

it applicable to a turbine and substituting it into Eq.
(1.29),
• gives an expression for utilization

• That is in term of velocities alone

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 UTILIZATION Contd

• From Eq. (1.27) it is easy to see that the work

delivered is also

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Utilization Contd
• In the situation in which R = 1 and therefore
also V2 = V1, this expression becomes
indeterminate.
• It is valid for other values of R.
• In a usual design of a multistage axial
turbine the exit velocity triangle is identical
to the velocity triangle at the inlet of a stage.
• Under this condition V1 = V3 and α1 = α3,
and the utilization factor simplifies to
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Utilization Contd

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Utilization Contd
• At maximum utilization α3 = 0 and the work is w =
UVu2. Equating this to the work given in Eq. (1.35)
leads to the equality

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 Maximum utilization factor
• is obtained. For maximum utilization, V3 = Vx3, and
solving Eq. (1.33) for this ratio gives

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 Maximum utilization factor Contd
• If a stage is designed such that Vx3 = Vx2, then the
speed ratio in Eq. (1.37) may be written as
follows:

57
Maximum utilization factor Contd

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 Maximum utilization factor Contd
• Inspection of Figure above, as well as Eq. (1.41),
shows that maximum utilization factor increases from
zero to unity, when the nozzle angle α2 increases from
zero to α2 = 90°.
• Hence large nozzle angles give high utilization factors.
• Typically the first stage of a steam turbine has R = 0,
with a nozzle angle in the range from 65° to 78°.
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 Worked Example
• Combustion gases flow from a stator of an axial
turbine with absolute speed V2 = 500 m/s at angle α2 =
67°. The relative velocity is at an angle β2 = 30° as it
enters the rotor and at β3 = -65° as it leaves the rotor,
(a) Find the utilization factor, and (b) the reaction.
Assume the axial velocity to be constant.

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Solution
• The axial and tangential velocity components at the exit of the
nozzle are

61
• Since the axial velocity remains constant, at the rotor exit the
tangential component of the relative velocity is obtained as:

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• To calculate the utilization factor using its definition Eq.
(4.19), work is first determined to be

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