Principle of Turbocharger

• In simple terms, a turbocharger comprises of a

turbine and a compressor connected by a
common shaft supported on a bearing system.
The turbocharger converts waste energy into
compressed air which it pushes into the
engine. This allows the engine to produce
more power and torque and improves the
overall efficiency of the combustion process.
• To better understand the technique of
turbocharging, it is useful to be familiar with
the internal combustion engine's principles of
operation. Today, most passenger car and
commercial diesel engines are four-stroke
piston engines controlled by intake and
exhaust valves. One operating cycle consists of
four strokes during two complete revolutions
of the crankshaft.
• Suction (charge exchange stroke)
When the piston moves down, air (diesel engine or
direct injection petrol engine) or a fuel/air mixture
(petrol engine) is drawn through the intake valve.
• Compression (power stroke)
The cylinder volume is compressed.
• Expansion (power stroke)
In the petrol engine, the fuel/air mixture is ignited
by a spark plug, whereas in the diesel engine fuel
is injected under high pressure and the mixture
ignites spontaneously.
 Exhaust (charge exchange stroke)
The exhaust gas is expelled when the piston
moves up.
These simple operating principles provide
various possibilities of increasing the engine's
power output:
• Swept volume enlargement
Enlargement of the swept volume allows for
an increase in power output, as more air is
available in a larger combustion chamber and
thus more fuel can be burnt.
• This enlargement can be achieved by
increasing either the number of cylinders or
the volume of each individual cylinder. In
general, this results in larger and heavier
engines. As for as fuel consumption and
emissions are concerned, no significant
advantages can be expected
•
Increase in engine rpm
Another possibility for increasing the engine's
power output is to increase its speed. This is
done by increasing the number of firing strokes
per time unit. Because of mechanical stability
limits, however, this kind of output
improvement is limited. Furthermore, the
increasing speed makes the frictional and
pumping losses increase exponentially and the
engine efficiency drops.
• Turbocharging
•
In the above-described procedures, the engine operates as a
naturally aspirated engine. The combustion air is drawn directly
into the cylinder during the intake stroke. In turbocharged
engines, the combustion air is already pre-compressed before
being supplied to the engine. The engine aspirates the same
volume of air, but due to the higher pressure, more air mass is
supplied into the combustion chamber. Consequently, more
fuel can be burnt, so that the engine's power output increases
related to the same speed and swept volume.
•
Basically, one must distinguish between mechanically
supercharged and exhaust gas turbocharged engines.
• Mechanical supercharging
With mechanical supercharging, the
combustion air is compressed by a compressor
driven directly by the engine. However, the
power output increase is partly lost due to the
parasitic losses from driving the compressor.
The power to drive a mechanical turbocharger
is up to 15 % of the engine output. Therefore,
fuel consumption is higher when compared
with a naturally aspirated engine with the
same power output.
• Exhaust gas turbocharging
•
In exhaust gas turbocharging, some of the
exhaust gas energy, which would normally be
wasted, is used to drive a turbine. Mounted
on the same shaft as the turbine is a
compressor which draws in the combustion
air, compresses it, and then supplies it to the
engine. There is no mechanical coupling to the
engine.
The Turbine section 
The turbine stage comprises of two components; the
turbine 'wheel' and the collector, commonly referred to as
a 'housing'. The turbine wheel can be of radial mixed or
axial design. Generally, in turbochargers used on high
speed engines the turbines are of radial design. On larger
engines such as ship propulsion axial turbines are used. 

The exhaust gas is guided into the turbine wheel by the

housing. The energy in the exhaust gas turns the turbine.
Significant amounts of power can be generated in the
region of 50kW on a typical 12 litre diesel engine. 
Once the gas has passed through the blades of the wheel it
leaves the turbine housing via the exhaust outlet area. 
The speed of the engine determines how fast
the turbine wheel spins. If the engine is in idle
mode the wheel will be spinning but at a
minimal speed. As you put your foot on the
accelerator the wheel starts spinning faster. As
more gas passes through the turbine housing,
the faster the turbine wheel rotates.
• WHY TURBOCHARGER

• A turbocharger acts in a similar way as a supercharger and pressurises the air at the inlet
manifold. As the inlet valve in the cylinder opens, a greater mass of air is drawn into the
cylinder to be burnt with the fuel. More power is generated at each engine speed. 

Unlike the supercharger it does not feed off the power output of the engine. The
turbocharger uses the waste energy from the exhaust gas to drive a turbine wheel that is
linked to the compressor through a shaft. At high altitudes, there is insufficient oxygen to
burn the fuel, resulting in low power and black smoke. 

At high altitudes the turbocharger rotates faster to increase delivery of air to the engine to
compensate. So a turbocharger maintains power from the engine and produces clean
emissions. 

Fitting a turbocharger and an air cooler can increase engine power even more. An
Intercooler removes the heat of compression between the stages of a compressor
whereas an aftercooler reduces the temperature of the air leaving the compressor.
Delivering cold air means that there is more oxygen per cylinder (cold air has a higher
density than warm air) thus more engine power.
 Compressor section 
Compressors are the opposite of turbines. Again the compressor
stage comprises of two sections, the impeller or 'wheel' and the
'housing'. The compressor wheel is connected to the turbine by a
forged steel shaft. As the compressor wheel spins air enters
through an area known as the inducer and is compressed through
the blades leaving the exducer at a high velocity. The housing is
designed to convert the high velocity, low pressure air stream into
a high pressure, low velocity air stream through a process called
diffusion. 
Air enters the compressor at a temperature equivalent to
atmosphere, however it leaves the compressor cover at a
temperature up to 200 degrees celsius. 
Because the density of the air decreases as it is heated up, even
more air can be forced into the engine if the air is cooled after the
compressor. This is called intercooling or aftercooling and is
achieved either by cooling the charge air with water or air. 
The oil supply 
The turbocharger bearing system is lubricated by oil
from the engine. The oil is fed under pressure into the
bearing housing, through to the journal bearings and
thrust system. The oil also acts as a coolant taking away
heat generated by the turbine. 
The Journal Bearings are a free-floating rotational type.
To perform correctly, the journal bearings should float
between a film of oil (i.e. between bearing & shaft, and
bearing & bearing housing.) The bearing clearances are
very small, less than the width as a human hair. 
Dirty oil, or blockages in the oil supply holes, can cause
serious damage to the turbocharger. 
• To conclude, the benefits of turbocharging
are: 

• increased engine power output (in the

region of 50% increase)
• improved fuel consumption (improved
pressure balance across the engine)
• improved emissions
• altitude compensation