Turbology for Beginners

TOPICS COVERED Fundamentals & First Principles Choosing the Right Turbocharger How to Understand Compressor Maps Selecting the Best Turbine Calculating Efficiency & Air Temperatures Choosing an Intercooler

Paul Nugent, 9th July 2004, Rev 04 http://S2central.net http://www.S2forum.com

Disclaimer This paper is intended as a beginners guide to the confusing world of turbocharger selection. Any damage whatsoever to your engine, bank balance, mental health or social life caused by this paper is your own responsibility, not the authors. Some images and calculations have been borrowed from Garretts application guide and Corky Bells book entitled Maximum Boost without permission. I thoroughly recommend both these sources as solid must read reference material.

Turbology for Beginners Rev 04

Foreword Turbology is an invented term in respect to the terminology, technology and thermodynamic calculations related to the world of turbocharged engines. A fair amount of mathematical equations accompany the text in this paper so that key parameters can be quantified along the way. These are valid for any turbo installation on four-stroke petrol engines. Those readers new to the wonders of turbology need not be concerned if this paper makes no sense whatsoever on the first read through. Theres a lot of material to cover, and it is worthwhile following the various calculations through in some detail to grasp a deeper understanding of the subject matter along the way. Introduction The art of turbocharger selection for vehicle manufacturers, tuning specialists and DIY mentalists is all about a series of compromises some are well known, many are not ! Before diving into some of the details, it is useful to remind ourselves about some of the terminology and fundamental aspects of the turbocharger. Most people reading this will already know that a turbocharger is a mechanical device that uses exhaust gas to rapidly spin a turbine, connected on a central shaft to a compressor wheel which forces more air into the engine than it would have consumed without the turbo fitted. Another term for this principle is forced induction. Forcing more air into the engine is one of the fundamental aspects of producing more performance from an internal combustion engine. The aim of this paper is to give readers an appreciation for the black art of turbology and why its forced induction techniques are so successful in practical situations. First Principles Going back to basics never hurts. Consider this fundamental equation that captures how much work, in the form of a turning force, or torque , is generated by the internal combustion engine. Torque = P x A x L Where: P is the pressure of combustion gas acting down on the piston A is the area over which the pressure acts on the piston (bore) L is the distance travelled by the piston (stroke) By increasing P (with forced induction) we proportionally increase torque for the same engine capacity.

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Note the use of the term torque, as this is the measure of how much work is being done by the engine at any given time. An engines power output is proportional to engine speed as a measure of the rate at which work is being done. This is shown below: Power = Torque x RPM So by increasing torque in this manner, it can also be seen that we increase power without increasing engine speed Result! Torque is the true measure of a well designed fun-to-drive engine, as it is torque which provides that satisfying push into the back of the seat when the loud pedal is pressed firmly towards the floor. It is the engines torque which defines a cars ability to accelerate, whereas maximum power defines its ultimate top speed (along with weight and aerodynamic considerations of course). It will be shown in this document that maximum torque cannot necessarily be maintained through a turbocharged engines entire rpm range at least not without significant consideration for parameters like intake air temperature, fuel mixture, knock resilience and exhaust gas temperatures. Fundamentally, that is why this paper exists !

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Glossary of Terms Absolute Pressure This is pressure when it is measured with respect to total vacuum. This is a true reading of all the pressure being measured. Absolute pressure is defined as ambient pressure plus boost pressure. ECUs measure absolute pressure so that corrections for altitude can be made for thin air. Boost Pressure Also known as guage pressure, this is pressure when it is measured with respect to ambient pressure. Boost gauges measure boost pressure. Boost Threshold This is the minimum engine speed at which the turbo will generate positive boost pressure. Not to be confused with lag. Compressor Also known as the cold side of the turbocharger, this half is responsible for pumping air into engine. Detonation Also known as knocking or pinging, this is the audible side effect of having excessive ignition timing advance for the prevailing mixture of fuel and air under the prevailing conditions. Excessive air temperature can also cause detonation. Intercooler This is essentially a heat exchanger placed between the turbo and the engine to remove heat from the air compressed by the compressor. Lag Simply put, lag is the time delay between a change in throttle position and the delivery of a noticeable increase in boost Turbine Also known as the hot side of the turbocharger, the turbine is the fan-wheel which is driven by exhaust gasses as they leave the engine Wastegate This is the primary device for limiting boost pressure in the system. Essentially a pneumatic valve, usually controlled by the ECU, the wastegate is closed when exhaust gas is needed to spin the turbine until target boost pressure is reached, and opened to allow the remaining exhaust gas to bypass the turbine and go straight out the tailpipe.

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An Introduction to Compressor Maps It is not possible to have a turbo configuration which gives one perfect combination of minimal lag at low engine speeds, blistering mid range torque and maximum power at the top of the engine speed range. Compromises have to be made which favour the target application such that the most important aspects can be designed into the system to the detriment of one or more attributes. This partly depends on how extreme the requirements are for the end user. Be very careful in defining these requirements Do you want absolute maximum power at high engine speeds (sacrificing low end tractability) or do you want maximum torque at low-mid rev ranges (sacrificing top end performance) or something biased to the mid-range which sacrifices some low-end torque and some top-end power ? An ability to understand compressor maps, supplied by turbo manufacturers, is a crucially important factor in selecting the right turbo for the job. Getting the calculations wrong will be an expensive mistake as the turbo will not perform as desired with a poor boost threshold or disappointing maximum power being the result. Compressor maps are quite daunting at first, as its not obvious to the untrained eye how the values on either axis are obtained never mind what all the squiggly lines mean. In essence, the compressor map tells us the efficiency of the compressor side of the turbo under the prevailing conditions of manifold boost pressure with a knowledge of how much air the engine is consuming at any given engine speed. Buying a turbocharger of any brand without a compressor map from the manufacturer is sheer folly as it will leave an awful lot of guesswork and unknowns out in the open regards the capability and efficiency of the turbo in any given installation. Rule: Do your homework or suffer the consequences ! This paper also covers an understanding of how intake air temperatures can be calculated, with knowledge of turbo and intercooler efficiency limits so that accurate estimates of air intake temperature can be made. This is crucial for estimating the ignition timing and fuel values for ECU programming. However, it is the boost profile (defined by the compressor map) which must be defined at the first stage in ECU programming for any given application.

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The compressor map shown below is for the Garrett GT30R this shall be used for the purpose of understanding this topic in more detail.

Figure 1 Compressor Map for the Garrett GT30R The compressor map is a plot of Pressure Ratio on the y-axis, against Corrected Air Flow on the x-axis. Lets look at how these values are calculated from first principles.

Note - A mixture of metric and imperial units (for European and American turbocharger language) shall be used in the following description, so please bear with me Ill try to explain any and all unit conversions along the way.

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Pressure Ratio (PR) This is the simpler of the two axis to understand. This is the ratio of absolute compressor output pressure divided by absolute compressor inlet pressure. PR can be roughly approximated as absolute manifold pressure (eg boost guage pressure of 1.5bar would be ~2.5bar absolute manifold pressure). Keep that in mind as a rough rule of thumb, but the more correct way to calculate the PR must take into account the ambient air pressure and the estimated (or measured) air pressure loss through the engines air filter and intercooler. Boost + Pi + Pa PR = --------------------------Pa Pf Key: Pa = Ambient pressure (psi) Boost = Boost guage pressure (psi) Pi = Pressure loss through intercooler & intake tract (psi) Pf = Pressure loss through air filter (psi) A typical value for Pi with a good intercooler is 1 to 2 psi. A typical value for Pf is 0.5 psi this may not be valid for the Audi S2 airbox. When calculating PR, it is very useful to plug realistic ambient pressure values into this equation depending on whether you live at sea level or altitude. This is equally true when calculating the values for the x-axis. Conversions to note here: 1 bar = 14.5 psi 1 bar = 1000 mbar As an example with Pa = 1020mbar, Boost = 1.8 bar, Pi = 2psi, Pf = 0.5psi we have PR = 3.0

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Corrected Air Flow This figure represents the corrected mass flow rate of air consumed by the engine at a given speed, taking air density (ambient air pressure and temperature) into account. This is the science bit so stay awake ! In order to calculate how much air enters the engine, a simple equation with knowledge of the engines speed and cylinder capacity is required. This determines the volume of air that can enter the engine without the assistance of a turbocharger. This is what we call the basic air flow rate. Basic (Unboosted) Air Flow Rate = Engine Capacity x (RPM/2) x VE The reason why RPM is divided by two is because all four stroke engines have an induction cycle every other crankshaft rotation. The factor VE in the above equation refers to the engines volumetric efficiency. In an ideal world the engine would be 100% efficient and completely fill each and every cylinder completely on every induction cycle across the entire rev range. In reality a figure of 85% to 90% is more appropriate for modern engines. In doing these air flow calculations it is important to get the units of measurement clearly understood. The above calculation for Basic Air Flow will produce a result in cubic centimetres per minute if you use metric engine size in cc and engine speed in rpm. However, American turbo manufactures prefer to talk in various imperial units such as cubic feet per minute (cfm) and pounds of air per minute (lbs/min), whereas KKK prefer to use kilograms of air per second (kg/s), and cubic metres per second (m3/s). So in order to calculate base air flow in cubic feet per minute (cfm) we first need to convert engine size from metric to imperial units of the cubic inch (cuin). Knowing that 1 inch = 2.54 cm we have: Engine Size (cc) Engine Size (cuin) = -------------------------2.543 Eg 2226cc is equivalent to 136cuin

Using a value of cuin for engine size generates a base flow rate in cubic inches per minute, so to convert that to cubic feet per minute (cfm) another conversion is required and we all know there are twelve inches per foot. Flow rate in cuin per minute Flow rate in cubic feet per minute (cfm) = ----------------------------------------123

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So, for the base flow rate in cfm from engine size in cc we have the following: (Engine CC/16.39) * (RPM/2) * VE Basic Flow Rate, cfm = ---------------------------------------------------1728 Eg With 2226cc at 7000rpm and VE=85% we get a basic flow rate of ~234cfm Converting that result to pounds of air per minute requires a simple conversion factor of 0.069 , giving us a basic airflow rate of ~16 lbs/min. Remember that is for our 2226cc engine without any assistance from a turbocharger. To calculate the theoretical airflow with forced induction, it is necessary to multiply the basic air flow rate with the systems Pressure Ratio (PR) at the desired boost pressure levels. Theoretical (Uncorrected) air flow rate = Basic Flow Rate x PR So for the above examples, with our 2226cc engine at 7000rpm running 1.8bar boost we have a theoretical rate of ~48lbs/min. By the way this configuration will require a VERY strong engine to run such high boost levels at high engine speeds. When looking at the compressor maps, it must be remembered that the x-axis is for CORRECTED air flow rate, in order to take ambient conditions into account. The reason for that is the effect that ambient temperature and pressure has on air density. It is air density, which determines the weight of a given volume of air. The following calculation provides the necessary correction, but be aware that it uses some odd units of measurement again. The source of this calculation is the Garrett application guide. Theoretical Flow * (Absolute Air Temp/545) Corrected Flow Rate = -----------------------------------------------------------------Ambient Pressure / 13.95 Note: Absolute Air Temperature is calculated by adding 460 onto the air temp in Fahrenheit Another useful metric conversion is that Fahrenheit = 32 + (Celsius * 9/5).

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With Ambient Air Temp = 20 Celsius, we have 68 Fahrenheit and 528 degrees Absolute. With our uncorrected flow rate of 48lbs/min and ambient conditions as stated we then get a corrected flow rate of ~45lbs/min. 48 * (528/545) Corrected Flow Rate = -----------------------------------------------------------------14.79 / 13.95 To convert the corrected airflow rate from lbs/min to kg/s it should be divided by a factor of 2.2 (pounds per kilogram) and then by a factor of 60 (seconds per minute). These units are needed for KKK compressor maps. The corrected flow rate can now be plotted on the compressor map in accordance with the desired pressure ratio. The compresor map shown below, for the Garrett GT30R, depicts this.

Figure 2 First values plotted on GT30R map There are two areas of operation to avoid when looking at where the turbo is being asked to operate. Firstly, the extreme right side of the map (known as the choke region) where the turbo becomes highly inefficient and output air temps rise drastically when the compressor runs out of capacity.
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Secondly, the extreme left side of the map (known as the surge region) where the compressor does not produce a stable and consistent flow of air. The compressor must operate within the safe limits of the choke and surge lines for efficient performance and durability. Obviously the closer you run to the surge line and the choke line, there are some sacrifices in efficiency which may be important in some applications more than others eg A road application is much less likely to be running at 5000-8000 rpm for prolonged periods than an engine destined to spend most of its time on a drag strip. It can be better to run at lower boost levels if it increases the compressor efficiency as this will have a beneficial impact on output air temperatures. Essentially, a plot on the compressor map, at all engine speeds of interest, with target boost pressures in mind is required to ensure the turbo will operate in the appropriate region of its capability. Taking the example at 4000rpm with our mighty 2226cc lump we can see that a target boost pressure of 1.8bar is going to generate these values : PR = 3.0 and Corrected Air Flow = 26lbs/min With Ambient Air Conditions at 1020mBar and 20 Celsius and VE = 85%

Figure 3 A bad choice with surging at 4000rpm on too much boost

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Plotting this on the GT30R compressor map above (Fig 3), we can see this is clearly to the left side of the surge line and that target boost must be reduced at this engine speed to reduce PR and air-flow such that it operates on the right side of the surge line. 1bar boost is a better value at 4000rpm as it generates an air flow rate of 20lbs/min with a PR of 2.2 which just gets into the right side of the surge line, as can be seen below in Figure 4.

Figure 4 A much better choice of boost level at 4000rpm Note how sensitive these calculations are to assumptions if we set VE=90% at 4000rpm because the cylinder head is more efficient in the mid range then additional air flow is produced at the same PR and the turbo operates further to the right of the surge line. So without detailed knowledge of the flow characteristics of any given cylinder head, there is a bit of guesstimation involved. It pays to do some max and min analysis on critical calculations if you plan to run close to the efficiency limits. Creation of a spreadsheet to ease the burden of all the PR and CFM calculations across the rev range is a great idea. It could look like the snapshot below (Fig 5) of the one I developed.

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Engine Size 2226 cc Atmos Pressure 1020 mBar Ambient Temp 20 Celsius Delta Pi 2 psi Delta Pf 0.5 psi Engine Speed (RPM) 7500 7000 6500 6000 5500 5000 4500 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000

-----> 135.8 cuin -----> 14.79 psi -----> 68 Fahrenheit

0.069

cfm to lbs/min

VE 85% 85% 85% 85% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 85% 85% 85% 85% 85%

Base Base Boosted Boosted Corrected Corrected Boost Boost Flow Flow PR Flow Flow Flow Flow (bar) (psi) (cfm) (lbs/min) (cfm) (lbs/min) (lbs/min) (cfm) 250.57 233.87 217.16 200.46 194.56 176.88 159.19 141.5 123.81 100.23 83.52 66.82 50.11 33.41 17.29 16.14 14.98 13.83 13.42 12.2 10.98 9.76 8.54 6.92 5.76 4.61 3.46 2.31 1.80 1.90 2.00 2.00 2.00 1.80 1.40 1.00 0.60 0.40 0.20 0.10 0.00 0.00 26.10 3.00 27.55 3.10 29.00 3.20 29.00 3.20 29.00 3.20 26.10 3.00 20.30 2.60 14.50 2.19 8.70 1.78 5.80 1.58 2.90 1.38 1.45 1.28 0.00 1.17 0.00 1.17 751.71 51.87 725 50.034 694.91 47.936 641.47 44.256 622.59 42.944 530.64 36.6 413.89 28.548 309.89 21.3744 220.38 15.2012 158.36 10.9336 115.26 7.9488 85.53 5.9008 58.63 4.0482 39.09 2.7027 48.15 46.45 44.5 41.09 39.87 33.98 26.5 19.84 14.11 10.15 7.38 5.48 3.76 2.51 698 673 645 596 578 492 384 288 204 147 107 79 54 36

Figure 5 A spreadsheet for number crunching In due course I shall make this spreadsheet more user-friendly and have a freely downloadable version to be enjoyed. I also plan to have some calculators available in a web-based version at http://S2central.net sometime in the not too distant future. I have used the figures above for an application of the GT30R turbo on the 2226cc engine of the S2, and the resulting plot on compressor map is shown in Figure 6 below. It runs quite close to the surge line. You can see that this turbo is more suited to the upper third of the rev range. With about 1bar of boost available at 4000rpm there is some mid range grunt, but this turbo isnt optimised for high boost at low engine speeds that is clear from the compressor map. With a healthy 1.4bar available at 4500rpm, ramping to a mental 2bar between 5500-6500rpm, tailing off to 1.8bar on the redline, this vehicle should be fun to drive !

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Figure 6 The completed compressor map plot Having verified the suitability of this compressor, this boost profile can be used in the ECU programming to establish maximum boost values.

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Turbine Selection The plots on the compressor map make the sweeping assumption that the engine can generate these target boost values at the given engine speeds. It is equally important to select a suitably sized hot side of the turbo so that there is sufficient rotational energy at low-mid range speeds to generate sufficient boost, whilst trying to have enough exhaust gas flow capacity to generate the compressor wheel speeds needed for high boost at high engine speeds. This is where reduced exhaust back pressure, with a free-flow system can make significant gains on turbine performance. Too much back pressure and the turbine will not reach maximum potential. Too little back-pressure and the turbine could be over-spooled without careful boost controls in place. Essentially, the larger the turbine wheel then the later the turbo will develop maximum boost. Too small a turbine and the application can have blistering performance in the low-mid range but may run out of puff in the high engine speeds. Too large a turbine and low-speed tractability will suffer from excessive lag. It can be seen from the Garrett application book, that two choices for turbine sides on the GT30R unit are available. It is yet another compromise that has to be made

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Compressor Efficiency and Air Temperature As eluded to earlier, pressure ratio has a direct effect on intake air temperature. This is determined by some terribly exciting laws of thermodynamics which we neednt concern ourselves with in detail here. Essentially, when the compressor is operating at its most efficient levels (for a given pressure ratio), then it will pump air with minimum temperature increase. This is why it is worthwhile paying lots of attention to efficiency contours on the compressor map, as going for maximum boost at all load points will have a detrimental effect on air temperature. Logically, this can be improved with a larger or more efficient intercooler to achieve the necessary reduction in air temperature. A few more simple calculations are needed to characterise compressor efficiency, its effect on temperature rise and how to select the right intercooler for a target intake air temperature. Firstly, consider the figure below and the three temperature points of interest.

Turbo

Tc
Intercooler

Ti

Ta
Figure Key Temperature Points Ta = Ambient air temperature measured on the ABSOLUTE scale Tc = Air temperature measured at the output of the compressor Ti = Air temperature measured at the output of the intercooler From these three values we can also establish two more parameters of interest. These are as follows: Temperature Rise produced by the compressor, Tr = Tc Ta Temperature removed by the intercooler, Td = Tc - Ti

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The following formula is used to calculate compressor efficiency. (PR0.28 x Ta ) - Ta Compressor Efficiency, Ec = -------------------------------------------Tr Only real world measurement can accurately quantify compressor efficiency on any given application. Note the exponent value of 0.28 is determined by a gas constant established from an ancient law of thermodynamics. Reworking the above equation is a useful way to estimate air temperature on the outlet of the compressor (Tc) from known ambient temperature, pressure ratio and the efficiency contours on the compressor map. (PR0.28 x Ta ) - Ta Temperature Rise, Tr = -------------------------------------------- = Tc - Ta Ec As an example with PR=3.0, Ta = 20 Celsius (460+68 Fahrenheit), with our GT30R compressor running at 72% efficiency, we have a temperature rise of 264 Fahrenheit. This gives us a value of Tc = 332 Fahrenheit. Once again the use of a spreadsheet program is the best way to crunch these numbers for an instant view on how ambient conditions and pressure ratio have a direct effect on intake air temperature.

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Choosing an Intercooler To characterize the efficiency of any intercooler, the following equation is simple enough to visualise as temperature removed divided by temperature rise. Tc - Ti Intercooler Efficiency, Ei = -------------------------Tc - Ta A theoretically perfect intercooler with 100% efficiency will provide a temperature at the intercooler output equal to that of ambient temperature. Such devices do not exist in the real world. A good value for maximum desired air temperature on the Audi I5 20V engines is 40 degrees Celsius. It can be seen, by following the preceding calculations, that in order to achieve Ti of approx 40 Celsius, an intercooler efficiency of 86% is required. This info can be used to go shopping for a suitably sized intercooler that does exist in the real world. Generally speaking, it will also be seen that the most efficient intercoolers have lower than average pressure loss (Pi). This reduces the pressure ratio (PR) at any given boost pressure and that causes a reduction in compressor output temperature at any efficiency level which is nice! Furthermore, it can also be seen how a free-flowing air filter (lower Pf) can generate lower intake air temperatures because of the reduction in PR that it achieves, with reference to the PR equation on Page 4. For example, a 0.5psi reduction in Pf can lower PR from 3.0 to 2.9 and reduce air temperature exiting the turbo by 10 degrees Fahrenheit Cool ! Once again, this is all very well in theory, but a free-flowing (sports) air filter needs to be properly installed with decent heat shields and a healthy supply of fresh cold air in order to provide such gains above a convoluted airbox and paper air filter. However, never forget that a clean paper filter provides better protection from dust ingress than any sports filter.

-o- End o-

All comments, and constructive critique welcome at S2-Editor@S-Cars.Org

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