3rd lecture

Efficiencies
Efficiency of compressors and pumps
The isentropic efficiency c of a compressor or the hydraulic efficiency of a pump h is defined as,

The overall efficiency of the compressor or pump o is

Hence the mechanical efficiency is

The incremental work input for a compressor or pump process:

For the corresponding reversible adiabatic compression process, noting that Tds = 0 = dh – dp/, the
minimum work input rate is

From the steady flow energy equation, for an adiabatic process in a compressor

The Mollier diagram , shown in Figure (b), on which

the actual compression process is represented by the
state change 1-2 and the corresponding ideal process
by 1- 2s. For an adiabatic compressor the only
meaningful efficiency is the total-to-total efficiency
which is:

If the difference between inlet and outlet kinetic energies is

small
 For incompressible flow

For the ideal case with no fluid friction

For a pump the hydraulic efficiency is defined as

Small stage or polytropic efficiency

The isentropic efficiency described before can be misleading if used for comparing the
efficiencies of turbomachines of differing pressure ratios. Now any turbomachine may be
regarded as being composed of a large number of very small stages irrespective of the actual
number of stages in the machine. If each small stage has the same efficiency, then the
isentropic efficiency of the whole machine will be different from the small stage efficiency,
the difference depending upon the pressure ratio of the machine, because of the divergence
of the pressure lines.
 The isentropic efficiency can be misleading if used for comparing the efficiencies of turbomachines
of differing pressure ratios. Any turbomachine may be regarded as being composed of a large
number of very small stages. If each small stage has the same efficiency, then the isentropic
efficiency of the whole machine will be different from the small stage efficiency, the difference
depending upon the pressure ratio of the machine.
Compression process
As shown in the figure, it is assumed that the compres-
sion process may be divided up into a large number of
small stages of equal polytropic efficiency p. For each
small stage the actual workvinput is W and the corres-
ponding ideal work in the isentropic process is Wmin.

Since each small stage has the same efficiency, then

Compression process by small stages

The adiabatic efficiency of the whole compression process is

Because of the divergence of the constant pressure lines

.i.e

,Therefore

Thus, for a compression process the isentropic efficiency of the

machine is less than the small stage efficiency (polytropic efficiency),
the difference being dependent upon the divergence of the constant
pressure lines.
 Small stage efficiency for a perfect gas
The polytropic efficiency for the small stage is

Integrating across the whole compressor and Incremental change of state in a compression process
taking equal efficiency for each infinitesimal
stage gives,
The isentropic efficiency for the whole compression process is

For isentropic process

then

Relationship between isentropic (overall)

efficiency, pressure ratio and small stage
(polytropic) efficiency for a compressor
 Turbine polytropic efficiency
A similar analysis to the compression process can be applied to a perfect gas
expanding through an adiabatic turbine.

Turbine isentropic efficiency against pressure

ratio for various polytropic efficiencies
 Reheat factor
The foregoing relations obviously cannot be applied to steam turbines as vapours do not in
general obey the gas laws. It is customary in steam turbine practice to use a reheat factor RH as
a measure of the inefficiency of the complete expansion.
The reheat factor is defined as

Now since the isentropic efficiency of the turbine is

then

which establishes the connection between Mollier diagram showing expansion process
polytropic efficiency, reheat factor and through a turbine split up into a number of
turbine isentropic efficiency. small stages.
 Nozzle efficiency
In a large number of turbomachinery components the flow process can be regarded as a purely
nozzle flow in which the fluid receives an acceleration as a result of a drop in pressure. Such a
nozzle flow occurs at entry to all turbomachines and in the stationary blade rows in turbines. In
axial machines the expansion at entry is assisted by a row of stationary blades (called guide vanes
in compressors and nozzles in turbines) which direct the fluid on to the rotor with a large swirl
angle. Centrifugal compressors and pumps, on the other hand, often have no such provision for
flow guidance but there is still a velocity increase obtained from a contraction in entry flow area.

The most frequently used definition of nozzle

efficiency, N, is the ratio of the final kinetic energy
per unit mass to the maximum theoretical kinetic
energy per unit mass obtained by an isentropic
expansion to the same back pressure, i.e.

Mollier diagrams for the flow processes

through a nozzle
Diffusers

A diffuser is a component of a fluid flow system designed to reduce the flow velocity and
thereby increase the fluid pressure.

Turbomachinery flows are, in general, subsonic (M<1) and the diffuser can be represented as
a channel diverging in the direction of flow as shown in the figure.

Some subsonic diffuser geometries and their parameters: (a) two-dimensional;

(b) conical; (c) annular.
 The actual performance of a diffuser can be expressed in several different ways:
(1) as the ratio of the actual enthalpy change to the
isentropic enthalpy change;
(2) as the ratio of an actual pressure rise coefficient to
an ideal pressure rise coefficient.
For steady and adiabatic flow in stationary passages,
h01 = h02, so that

For the equivalent reversible adiabatic process from

state point 1 to state point 2s,

A diffuser efficiency, D, also called the diffuser

effectiveness, can be defined as
In a low speed flow or a flow in which the density can be considered nearly constant,

so that the diffuser efficiency can be written

in terms of pressure differences