Turbocharger

Two stroke crosshead engines must be

supplied with air above atmospheric pressure
for it to work. Although turbochargers were
developed in 1925, it was not until 1950s that
large two stroke engines were turbocharged.
Pressurized air is needed to scavenge
the cylinders of the exhaust gases and supply
the charge of air for next combustion cycle
was provided by mechanically driven air
compressors (roots blower) or by using the
space under the piston as a reciprocating
compressor (under piston scavenging).

 This of course meant that

the engine was supplying
the energy to compress
the air, which meant that
the useful work obtained
from the engine was
reduced by this amount.
The amount of energy
that can be produced by
a diesel engine depends
upon amount of fuel
burning per cycle and
rpm of the engine.
Increase in rpm of the
engine leads to reduction
of efficiency of the
propeller for an engine
driving a propeller.

 Thus increase in power by the route of increase

in rpm is not desirable for this type of marine
diesel engine. So the first route is preferable. In
order to burn more fuel per cycle, the mass of
oxygen (thereby the air) supplied to the engine
per cycle should be proportionately increased.
To ensure that exhaust gases are scavenged
properly and sufficient air free of exhaust gases
are left after scavenging for compression and
ultimate burning the fuel, 200% extra air
(depending upon method of scavenging is
supplied than the mass required for stoicmetric
combustion (this air helps in cooling the liner
and exhaust valve).

 About 35% of the total fuel energy goes out in

the exhaust gas. The turbocharger uses 7% of
the total energy (20% of the exhaust gas energy)
to drive a single row turbine. The turbine shaft
drives a rotary compressor. Air is drawn and
compressed. Due to compression, the air
temperature rises. Hence it is cooled in a cooler
to increase its density and then sent to the air
inlet manifold or scavenge air receiver. At full
power of diesel engine, the turbocharger may be
rotating at > 10000rpm.

Starting the engine

An electric motor driven auxiliary blower is
provided to supply air during starting of a
two stroke main diesel engine because in
this condition the turbocharger is not
supplying air to the engine to burn the fuel.
This automatically cuts out when the
charge supplied by the turbocharger is
sufficient for combustion.

Advantages of turbocharger

By turbocharging a diesel engine

following advantages are there:
1. Increased power from the engine of
same size or reduction in size of engine
with same output.
2. Reduced fuel oil consumption
3. Thermal loading is reduced due shorter
more efficient burning period for the fuel,
leading to less exacting cylinder
conditions.

Turbocharger construction
The turbocharger
consists of a single stage
impulse turbine
connected to a radial
centrifugal compressor
via a shaft. The turbine is
driven by the diesel
engine exhaust gas,
which enters via the gas
inlet casing. The gas
expands through the
nozzle ring where
pressure and thermal
energy is partially
converted to kinetic
energy.

 This high velocity gas

is directed on to the
turbine blades, which
drives the turbine
wheel at high speed.
The exhaust gas then
passes to the gas
outlet casing to the
exhaust uptake. On the
air side, air is drawn
through suction filter
and enters the
compressor wheel and
moves radially and gets
accelerated to high
velocity.

 The high kinetic energy of

the air gets converted to
pressure energy after
passing through diffuser
and volute casing of the
compressor. The nozzle
ring of the turbine is
made from creep
resistant chromium nickel
alloy steel, heat resisting
molybdenum chrome
alloy steel or nimonic
alloy, which will withstand
the high temperature and
be resistant to corrosion.

 Turbine blades are normally

a nickel chrome alloy or a
nimonic material (an alloy of
nickel containing chrome,
titanium, aluminium,
molybdenum and tungsten),
which has good resistance
to creep, fatigue and
corrosion. Manufactured
using investment casting
procedure. Blade roots are
of a fir tree shape, which
gives positive fixing and
minimum stress
concentration at the
conjunction of root and
blade.

 The root is usually slack

fit to allow for differential
expansion of the rotor
and blade and to assist in
damping vibration. On
small turbochargers and
the latest modern
turbochargers, the blades
are tight fit in the wheel.
Lacing wire is used to
dampen the vibrations,
which can be a problem.
The wire passes through
holes in the blades and
damps the vibrations due
to friction between the
wire and blade.

 The wire can pass through all

the blades, crimped between
individual blades to keep it
located, or it can be fitted in
shorter sections, fixed at one
end, joining groups of about six
blades. A problem with lacing
wire is that it can be damaged
by foreign matter, it can be
subjected to corrosion and can
accelerate fouling by products of
combustion when burning heavy
fuel oil. Failures of cracks
emanating from lacing wire
holes can also be a problem. All
the above can cause imbalance
of the rotor.

 The turbine casing is of cast iron. Some

casings are water cooled, which
complicates the casting. Water cooled
casings are necessary for turbochargers
with ball and roller bearings with their own
integral lube oil supply to keep the lube oil
cool. Modern turbochargers with externally
lubricated journal bearings have uncooled
casings. This leads to greater overall
efficiency as less heat energy is rejected
to cooling water and is available for
exhaust gas economizer.

 The compressor impeller

is of aluminium alloy or
the more expensive
titanium. Manufactured
from a single casting, it is
located on the rotor shaft
by splines. Aluminium
impellers have limited life
due to creep, which is
dictated by final air
temperature. Often the
temperature of air leaving
the impeller can be as
high as 2000 C. The life of
the impeller under these
circumstances may be
limited to about 70000
hours.

To extend the life, air

temperatures must be
reduced. One way of achieving
this is to draw the air from
outside the engine room,
where the ambient air
temperature is below that of
the engine room. Efficient
filtration and separation to
remove water droplets is
essential and the impeller will
have to be coated to prevent
corrosion accelerated by the
possible presence of salt
water. The air casing is also of
aluminium alloy and is in two
parts.

 Bearings are either ball or roller type or plain white metal

journals. The ball and roller bearings are resilient
mountings incorporating spring damping to prevent
damage due to vibration. These bearings have their own
integral oil pumps and oil supply and have a limited life
(about 8000 hours). Plain journal bearings are lubricated
from the main oil supply or from a separate system
incorporating drain tank, cooler and pumps. Oil is
supplied in sufficient quantity to cool as well as lubricate.
The System may incorporate a header tank arrangement
to supply oil to the bearings whilst the turbocharger
comes to rest should the oil supply fail (during power
supply failure). A thrust arrangement is required to locate
and hold the rotor axially in the casing. In normal
operation the thrust is towards the compressor end.

Labyrinth seals or glands are

fitted to the shaft and casing to
prevent the leakage of exhaust
gas into the turbine end
bearing or to prevent oil being
drawn into the compressor. To
assist in the sealing effect, air
from the compressor volute
casing is led into the space
within the gland. A vent to
atmosphere at the end of the
labyrinth gives a guide to the
efficiency of the turbine end
gland. Discolouring of the oil
on a rotor fitted with a roller
bearing will also indicate a
failure in the turbine end gland.
A labyrinth arrangement is also
fitted to the back of the
compressor impeller to restrict
the leakage of air to the gas
side.