Question 43:

Explain the following modern methods of turbo charging - i. Pulse converter system;

ii. Sequential turbo charging; iii. 2 stage turbo charging; iv. Variable geometry turbo charger

Answer :

A. PULSE CONVERTER SYSTEM:-

 Concerning that pulse charging system due to long interval of air inlet and partial loss of
air inlet (multi inlet turbine) which lead a low efficiency of turbine, in order to improve
the performance of engine, pulse converting charging system is presented.
 Pulse converting system tries to keep the advantage of pulse system which is its high
available energy and the unsteady flow at exhaust, meanwhile steady and effective flow
condition can be obtained for turbine.
 A real simple pulse converting system used for four cylinder engine is shown in the
figure below

 It uses conventional pulse manifold, using a carefully designed connecting piece to

connect a manifold which has two branches to a single turbine.
 Through four cylinders connecting to an inlet of turbine, it totally avoids the interval of
air inlet among exhaust pipes.
 Comparing to constant pressure system though inlet of turbine are different it avoids
the situation of pulse system operating in low efficiency.
  The design of connecting piece makes the least transmission of pressure pulse from one
pipe of the exhaust pipe to another, so it avoids that a cylinder's exhaust pipe breaks
another cylinder scavenging process.
 This type of pulse converter are mostly used on medium speed engine especially 4
cylinder, 8 cylinder and 16 cylinder. If engine has cylinder we should use two pulse
converter, each pulse converter converting an inlet of turbine.

B. SEQUENTIAL TURBOCHARGING:-

 The ST system consists of two or more turbochargers in parallel, and these

turbochargers are put into or out of operation in terms of diesel engine operation
points.
 This system can improve the turbochargers matching with the engine, so the efficiency
of the turbocharger and boost pressure are both improved.
 It refers to a setupin which the motor utilizes one turbochargerfor lower engine speeds,
and a second or both turbochargers athigher engine speeds.
 During low to mid engine speeds, when available spent exhaustenergy is minimal, only
one relatively small turbocharger (calledthe primary turbocharger) is active. During this
period, all of theengine's exhaust energy is directed to the primary turbochargeronly,
providing the small turbo's benefits of a lower boostthreshold, minimal turbo lag, and
increased power output at lowengine speeds.
 As rpm increases, the secondary turbocharger is partiallyactivated in orderto
prespoolprior to its full utilization. Once a preset engine speedor boost pressure is
attained, valves controlling compressor andturbine flow through the secondary
turbocharger are openedcompletely. (The primary turbocharger is deactivated at this
pointin some applications.)
 In this way a full twinturbochargersetup provides the benefitsassociated with a large
turbo, including maximum power output,without thedisadvantage of increased turbo
lag.
 Sequential turbocharging (ST) system is an effective measure toimprove the fuel
economy performance and the transientresponsive performance and to reduce the
smoke emission at lowspeed.

C. VARIABLE GEOMETRY TURBOCHARGER:

  A Variable Turbine Geometry turbocharger is also known as avariable geometry
turbocharger (VGT), or a Variable NozzleTurbine (VNT). A turbocharger equipped with
Variable Turbine Geometry has movable vaneswhich can direct exhaust flow onto the
turbine blades. The vaneangles are adjusted via an actuator. The angle of the vanes
varythroughout the engine RPM range to optimize turbine behavior.
 Variablegeometryturbochargers (VGTs) are a family ofturbochargers, usually designed to
allow the effective aspect ratio(A/R) of the turbo to be altered as conditions change.
 This is done because optimum aspect ratio at low enginespeeds is very different from
that at high engine speeds. If theaspect ratio is too large, the turbo will fail to create
boost at lowspeeds; if the aspect ratio is too small,the turbo will choke the engine at
high speeds, leading to highexhaust manifold pressures, high pumping losses, and
ultimatelylower power output.
 At low rpm: The vanes are partially closed, reducing the areahence accelerating the
exhaust gas towards the turbine. Moreover,the exhaust flow hits the turbine blades at
right angle. Both makesthe turbine spin faster.
 At high rpm: At high rpm the exhaust flow is strong enough. Thevanes are fully opened
to take advantage of the high exhaust flow.This also release theexhaust pressure in the
turbocharger, saving the need ofwastegate.

D. TWO STAGE CHARGE TURBOCHARGING:

 In this system consists of different sized turbochargers are used in sequence, but both
operate constantly. The first turbo boosts pressure as muchas possible. Subsequent
turbos take the charge from the previousstage and compresses it further.
 This type of turbo charging is require for engines requiring highdegree of supercharging.
 The exhaust mass flow coming from the cylinder flows into theexhaust manifold first.
Here it is possible to expand the entireexhaust mass flowusing the high pressure turbine
(HP) or to redirect some of the massflow through a bypass to the low pressure turbine
(LP). The entireexhaust mass flow is then utilized again by the low pressure turbine(LP).
 The entire fresh air flow is first compressed by the low pressurestage. In thehigh
pressure stage, it is compressed further and then the chargingair is cooled. Due to the
precompression process, the relatively smallHP compressor can reach a high pressure
level so that it can forcethe required amount of air to flow through the system.
 At low engine speeds, i.e. when the exhaust mass flow rate is low,the bypass remains
completely closed and the entire exhaust massflow is expanded by the HP turbine. This
results in a very quick andhigh boost pressure rise. As the engine speed increases, the
job ofexpansion is continuously shifted to the LP turbine by increasing the cross-
sectional area of the bypassaccordingly.