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why do engines compress air

by Murphy Fritsch Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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All turbine engines have a compressor to increase the pressure of the incoming air before it enters the combustor. Compressor performance has a large influence on total engine performance. As shown in the above figure, there are two main types of compressors: axial and centrifugal.

Compressing the air increases the potential energy, and concentrates the oxygen molecules for more efficient combustion in the next stage. Combustor: The combustor introduces fuel into the compressed air and ignites the mixture, creating a high-pressure expanding gas.Aug 30, 2017

Full Answer

Why do we need to compress air before combustion?

The combustion chamber is sealed to form the charge. The charge is the volume of compressed air-fuel mixture trapped inside the combustion chamber ready for ignition. Compressing the air-fuel mixture allows more energy to be released when the charge is ignited.

Why do we need to compress air?

Compressed air is used as an energy source and as active air As an energy source compressed air is often used to power pneumatic machinery such as drills, hammers, wrenches and grinders. Active air is air that comes directly into contact with the product. For this reason, it must be clean, dry and contaminant free.

Why do gas turbines compress the air?

As hot combustion gas expands through the turbine, it spins the rotating blades. The rotating blades perform a dual function: they drive the compressor to draw more pressurized air into the combustion section, and they spin a generator to produce electricity.

Does compressed air run out?

That depends on the size of the can and how much you use it. If the can and valving is intact and undamaged, it will not leak or spoil, so can sit on a shelf for many years.

Is compressed air safe to breathe?

Canned air is essentially a toxic poison that is not meant to be inhaled, according to the safety information for Dust-Off. Dusting or huffing these products can have negative immediate and long-term consequences. Inhalant abuse can cause permanent brain damage that can lead to irreversible neurological deficits.

Why does compressed air become hot?

Compressed air is hot because the air molecules are physically forced closer together during compression, which causes the molecules to move quickly; this rapid molecule movement generates heat.

How is air compressed in turbine engine?

After the air is impelled by the rotor blades, it goes through the stator blades. The stator blades are fixed and act as diffusers at each stage. They partially convert high velocity air into high pressure. Each rotor/stator pair is a compressor stage.

What is the difference between turbine and compressor?

Main Difference Between Compressor and Turbine The compressor is the medium of gaining energy by increasing the pressure, and the turbine extracts energy by decreasing the pressure. The compressor is a conversion of mechanical energy into heat energy but the turbine converts hydraulic energy into mechanical energy.

What happens if we compress air?

The combination law explains what happens to air when it's compressed into a smaller volume. It tells us that when air is compressed, the air's pressure and temperature increase as the volume of the space containing air decreases. By pushing air into a smaller space, we force it to become hotter and more pressurized.

Where is compressed air used?

Compressed air is used as an energy source and as active air As an energy source compressed air is often used to power pneumatic machinery such as drills, hammers, wrenches and grinders.

What is meant by compressed air?

Definition of compressed air : air under pressure greater than that of the atmosphere.

What is the use of compressed air onboard?

Compressed air has many uses on board ship, ranging from diesel engine starting to the cleaning of machinery during maintenance. Ships compressed air systems are usually divided into one or more of the following: Main and auxiliary engine starting air system (high pressure).

Why is combustion faster?

combustion is faster when we compress the gas for higher partial pressure.

What is compression in diesel engines?

Compression facilitates combustion of gasoline and other SI fuels engines and is necessary in diesel CI engine. Apart from above there is essential mathematical formula for efficiency of ICE

What does e=1- (V2/V1)gamma-1 mean?

e=1- (V2/V1)^gamma-1 which explains mysterious conversion of heat of combustion of fuel to mechanical work. Better compression ratio means better efficiency. If V2/V1=1 i.e. no compression then efficiency is zero. It means there is no mechanical energy off conversion of heat which runs counter to the observed phenomena of mechanical work produced.

What would happen if an engine was made with pure oxygen?

Much cleaner engine and emissions. Such an engine would produce no oxydes of nitrogen, which are known atmospheric pollutants and components of both smog and acid rain. Presently, catalytic converters and fuel/air mixture modification are used to limit the production of these pollutants, where the air/fuel mixture is a compromise between the need for low carbon monoxyde, low unburned fuel and low oxydes of nitrogen (see first figure below). Using pure oxygen would eliminate the need for a compromise and the engine could run at a higher air/fuel ratio of higher efficiency (see second figure below), and a higher air/fuel ratio (~15.7 if using air; with a pure oxygen supply, these air/fuel ratios would be much smaller, but the trend should be the same)

Why is combustion faster when compressed?

Combustion is faster when the air is compressed due to the higher partial pressure of oxygen and shorter distances for oxygen and fuel molecules must travel to interact.

How to increase power in a petrol engine?

For petrol (gasoline) engines it is also possible to increase the power by putting in more fuel and also more air by compressing it. This is what is done with a turbo-charger.

How much pressure is required for a full combustion?

The immediate internal pressure on fullest combustion could approximately be 12-13 Bar and the approximate final volume of gases to one Bar as piston moves should be approximately 12 Liters.

What is compressed air engine?

A Compressed-air engine is a pneumatic actuator that creates useful work by expanding compressed air. A compressed-air vehicle is powered by an air engine, using compressed air, which is stored in a tank. Instead of mixing fuel with air and burning it in the engine to drive pistons with hot expanding gases,compressed air vehicles (CAV) ...

What are the disadvantages of a compressed air engine?

Zero fuel cost (the cost is involved only in the compression of air). But the Compressed Air Engine (C.A.E.) has some disadvantages, which are: 1. Less power output. 2. High pressure of compressed air may lead to bursting of storage tank. 3. Probability of air leakage.

What is MDI bus?

MDI makes MultiCATs vehicle that can be used as buses or trucks. RATPhas also already expressed an interest in the compressed-air pollution-free bus.

Can compressed air be used in vehicles?

The compressed air engine can be used in many vehicles. Some of its applications to be used as engine for vehicles are: JemStansfield, an English inventor has been able to convert a regular scooter to a compressed air moped. This has been done by equipping the scooter with a compressed air engine and air tank.

What happens if you don't compress the air?

It's more direct than about output or efficiency: if you don't compress the air, it won't move through the engine. The exit velocity of the exhaust gases is a function of pressure and if the combustion chamber had a higher pressure than ambient and there was no compressor, the exhaust gases would go out the back and the front of the engine.

What does a compressor do in a GT?

As to the OP, I think Minger's response is the best answer so far. Essentially the compressor is there to compress the air to increase mass flow. Without the increased mass flow we wouldn't get any meaningful amount of output from the GT to do anything useful with it.

Why does my compressor shoot out gas?

The ignited gases shooting out the front is a direct result of the compressor no longer holding that stuff back as everything slows down abruptly.

Why is the exit temperature of a turbojet higher?

If you are talking about average exit temperature, a turbojet would be higher because it doesn't have all that ambient bypass air to mix with. To understand why we compress air in a jet engine, one must first understand the goal. For an aviation gas turbine, the goal is thrust.

What is the advantage of jets over fans?

One advantage to jets over fans is a fast response to a power increase. With the fan, response time is limited by the comparatively large angular moment of the fan. I'm told this is occasionally disconcerting to former military pilots who, new to commercial turbo fans, wait a bit over long to increase power when needed.

Does the F-22 have a turbofan?

High sub-mach for high-bypass turbofans, although even the F-22 uses a turbofan engine.

What stage of air conditioning does a turbofan use?

An aircraft that uses Turbofan or Turboprop engines would be taking the compressed air from 3rd stage and 6th stage (varies) and supplying it to the Pressurisation and Air Conditioning Kit (PACK).

How does a heat exchanger work?

Several principles come together here: 1 The pressurized air does its job similarly to the gases inside your fridge. Compressing a gas heats it up, and expanding it cools it down again. 2 A heat exchanger can be proportionally smaller if the heat difference between the two media which exchange heat is bigger. 3 Engines are designed for some air to be bled off.

Does HP take air from LP?

If you take air from the HP stages, it will be hotter and need a smaller radiator to remove the same amount of heat compared to less compressed air from the LP stages. The same holds true when this air is expanded and used for cooling.

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