“ANALYSIS OF FLOW OVER TURBOCHARGER

TURBINE AND OPTIMIZATION FOR INLET

PRESSURE AND OUTPUT”

A Project Report
Submitted by
Akshansh Seth 500030196
Kanishka Mathur 500030101
Palash Garg 500029691
Deeptanshu Parashar 500030480

in partial fulfillment of the degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
IN
AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN ENGINEERING
under the guidance of
Mr. Ram Kunwer
(Assistant Professor)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Petroleum & Energy Studies

Bidholi, Dehradun, UK

April, 2017

1
 Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Petroleum and Energy Studies

CERTIFICATE

It is certified that the work contained in the project titled “Analysis

of flow over turbocharger turbine and optimization for inlet
pressure and output” by following students has been carried out
under my supervision and that this work has not been submitted
elsewhere for a degree.

1. Akshansh Seth R160213006

2. Deeptanshu Parashar R160213012
3. Kanishka Mathur R160213022
4. Palash Garg R160213037

Signature
Mr. Ram Kunwer
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
College of Engineering, U.P.E.S.
Dehradun, Uttarakhand
India-248001
Signature
Dr. P.S. Ranjit
HOD, Automotive Design Engineering
College of Engineering, U.P.E.S.
Dehradun, Uttarakhand
India-248001

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 ABSTRACT

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis is a very useful tool for

predicting the flow of air inside the turbocharger of a car. For designers, the
most important task is the prediction of operating characteristic
performance. All analytical methods that are used to predict the performance
of the turbocharger merely gives a single value and we unable to determine
the root cause of the poor performance. Due to the development of the CFD
code, it is easier to get the performance values and also observe the actual
behavior of the flow in the turbocharger domain. Variation of performance
can be found out and seen through analysis.
In the present work done here, a 3-dimensional (3-D) real flow analysis is
done of the turbocharger of a car using the software Ansys Fluent. The 3-D
model of the parts of the turbocharger impeller and casing are made in
CATIA V5. The fluid flow analysis would be done in the Ansys Fluent. The
model is first generated using the data and then meshed in the Ansys and
then various pressure and velocity contours, turbo maps are to be drawn to
analyze the fluid flow through the turbocharger.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to our

supervisor Mr. Ram Kunwer for his guidance and support. We would also
like to express my gratitude towards him for showing confidence in me. It
was a privilege to have a great experience working under him in a cordial
environment.

We are very much thankful to the University of Petroleum and Energy

Studies, for providing us the opportunity of pursuing Bachelor of
Technology in Automotive Design Engineering in a peaceful environment
with ample resources.

In the end, we would like to acknowledge our parents, family members.

Without their support, this work would not have been possible.

Name of students
Akshansh Seth
Deeptanshu Parashar
Kanishka Mathur
Palash Garg

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.No. Contents Page No.

Certificate 2

Abstract 3

Acknowledgements 4

Contents 5

List of figures and tables 7

1. Introduction 8
1.1 Turbocharger 8
1.1.1 History 8
1.1.2 Working 9
1.1.3Theory 11
1.2 CFD 14
1.2.1 Discretisation methods in CFD 15
1.2.2 High resolution Scheme 15
1.3 Working in CFD 16
1.3.1 Pre-processing 16
1.3.2 Solver 16
1.3.3 Post-processing 17

2. Literature Survey 18
3. Objectives & Methodology 19
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 3.1 Objective 19
3.2 Methodology 19
3.3 Modeling 23
4. Results & Calculation 25
4.1 Result 25
4.2 Calculations 27
5. Conclusion 29
6. References 30

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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Description Page No.

Fig 1.1` Automotive Turbocharger 8

Fig 1.2 Cut Section of Turbocharger 8
Fig 1.3 drawing of automotive turbo charging system 9
Table 1.1 Variables used in Calculations
Fig 1.4 line diagram depicting engine and 16
turbocharger components
Table 1.2 Turbocharger and cylinder components(TABLE) 16
Fig 3.1 Turbine impellar (Catia v5) 24
Fig 3.2 Turbine casing in catia V5 25
Fig 3.3 interfacing of turbine and casing 25
Fig 3.4 Meshing of interfaced impellar and casing 26
Table 4.1 Vaiables used in analysis 25
Fig 4.1 Velocity streamline flow 25
Fig 4.2 Power vs Mass flow 26
Fig 4.3 Efficiency vs Pressure ratio 26
Fig 4.4 Efficiency vs Mass Flow 26
Fig 4.5 Pressure ratio vs Mass Flow 26

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 Chapter 1 – INTRODUCTION

1.1 Turbocharger

Can you ever imagine a car giving more output power than already
provided by the engine? Well, people try to increase the power of the car by
fitting bigger engines. But what if we are to tell you that there is a small
device known as the turbocharger that helps in increasing the engine power
output and engine efficiency by forcing some extra air into the engine’s
combustion chamber. This increase in engine’s power is completely due to
fact that the compressor can force more air and thus proportionately more
fuel into the engine’s combustion chamber than the intake at the atmospheric
pressure alone.

1.1.1 History

Forced induction dates back to the late 19th century, when Gottlieb
Daimler patented the technique of using a gear-driven pump to force air into
an internal combustion engine in 1885. The turbocharger was invented by
Swiss engineer Alfred Büchi (1879–1959), the head of diesel engine
research at Gebrüder Sulzer, engine manufacturing company in Winterthur,
who received a patent in 1905 for using a compressor driven by exhaust
gases to force air into an internal combustion engine to increase power
output, but it took another 20 years for the idea to come to fruition.

In the beginning, turbochargers were used in production aircraft

engines such as the “Napier Lioness” in the 1920s. In the 1920s,

8
turbocharged equipped diesel engines for ships and locomotives started
appearing. The United States widely used Turbochargers in aviation. During
World War II, notable examples of U.S. aircraft with turbochargers include
the B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator, P-38 Lightning, and P-47
Thunderbolt.

Turbochargers are largely at use in cars and commercial vehicles

because of their allowance to smaller-capacity engines to have improved
economy of fuel, considerably less emissions, more power and considerably
more torque.

1.1.2 Working

Turbochargers increase engine power by compressing intake air

before it enters the engine. Turbochargers are air pumps driven by the
engine’s exhaust stream. The heat and pressure of the exhaust gases spin the
turbine blades (hence the name turbocharger) of the pump. The turbine
wheel is connected to a compressor wheel. As the turbine spins, so does the
compressor wheel. The compressor wheel spins at very high speeds and
compresses the intake air. The compressed air is then sent to the cylinders.
Because exhaust gas is a waste product, the energy developed by the turbine
is said to be free because it theoretically does not use any of the engine’s
power it helps to produce. Turbochargers are used on both diesel and
gasoline engines. The main advantage of their use is that they allow for an
increase of power without a substantial decrease in fuel economy. This is
because they boost the engine’s power output only when extra power is
needed. A small engine, in most cases, can be used to provide low fuel
consumption and emissions levels. When increased power is needed, the
turbocharger is activated.
9
 Fig 1.1 Automotive Turbocharger

Fig.1.2 Cut Section of Turbocharger

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 Fig. 1.3 line drawing of automotive turbo charging system

1.1.3 THEORY
The turbocharger is a crucial component of modern internal
combustion engines. An important parameter for checking the performance
of the turbocharger is its efficiency.
wt [rpm] turbine rpm

we [rpm] engine rpm

V [cc] Cylinder volume

m [kg/s] Mass flow rate

p [bar] Pressure

R [J/(kg K)] Gas constant

T [K] Temperature
η [-] Efficiency

ρ [kg/m3] Density
Table 1.1 variables used in calculations
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Fig. 1.4 line diagram depicting engine and turbocharger
components

Table 1.2 Turbocharger and cylinder components

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The general form for the definition of efficiency of a turbocharging process
is always based on the comparison of two ideal processes:
• The isentropic compression of the working medium (air or mixture)
from an initial state 1 to a final state 2.
• The isentropic expansion of the exhaust gas from an initial state 3 to
a final state 4.
The states 1, 2, 3, 4 indicate here generic states of start and end of the
compression and the expansion process, respectively.
The formula of turbocharger efficiency can be given as:

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1.2 Computational fluid dynamics
CFD or computational fluid dynamics is predicting what will happen,
quantitatively, when fluids flow, often with the complications of
simultaneous flow of heat, mass transfer, phase change, chemical reaction,
mechanical movement (eg of pistons, fans, rudders), stresses in and
displacement of immersed or surrounding solids. Computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) is one of the branches of fluid mechanics that uses
numerical methods and algorithms to solve and analyze problems that
involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the millions of
calculations required to simulate the interaction of fluids and gases with the
complex surfaces used in engineering. Even with simplified equations and
high-speed supercomputers, only approximate solutions can be achieved in
many cases. Ongoing research, however, may yield software that improves
the accuracy and speed of complex simulation scenarios such as transonic or
turbulent flows. Initial validation of such software is often performed using a
wind tunnel with the final validation coming in flight test. The most
fundamental consideration in CFD is how one treats a continuous fluid in a
discretized fashion on a computer. One method is to discretize the spatial
domain into small cells to form a volume mesh or grid, and then apply a
suitable algorithm to solve the equations of motion (Euler equations for
inviscid and Navier-Stokes equations for viscous flow). In addition, such a
mesh can be either irregular (for instance consisting of triangles in 2D, or
pyramidal solids in 3D) or regular; the distinguishing characteristic of the
former is that each cell must be stored separately in memory. Where shocks
or discontinuities are present, high resolution schemes such as Total
Variation Diminishing (TVD), Flux Corrected Transport (FCT), Essentially
Non Oscillatory (ENO), or MUSCL schemes are needed to avoid spurious
oscillations (Gibbs phenomenon) in the solution. If one chooses not to
proceed with a mesh-based method, a number of alternatives exist, notably
Smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), a Lagrangian method of solving
fluid problems, Spectral methods, a technique where the equations are
projected onto basis functions like the spherical harmonics and Chebyshev
polynomials, Lattice Boltzmann methods (LBM), which simulate an
equivalent mesoscopic system on a Cartesian grid, instead of solving the
macroscopic system (or the real microscopic physics). It is possible to
directly solve the NavierStokes equations for laminar flows and for turbulent

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flows when all of the relevant length scales can be resolved by the grid (a
direct numerical simulation). In general however, the range of length scales
appropriate to the problem is larger than even today's massively parallel
computers can model. In these cases, turbulent flow simulations require the
introduction of a turbulence model. Large eddy simulations (LES) and the
Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS) formulation, with the
k-ε model or the Reynolds stress model, are two techniques for dealing with
these scales. In many instances, other equations are solved simultaneously
with the Navier-Stokes equations. These other equations can include those
describing species concentration (mass transfer), chemical reactions, heat
transfer, etc. More advanced codes allow the simulation of more complex
cases involving multi-phase flows (e.g. liquid/gas, solid/gas, liquid/solid),
non-Newtonian fluids (such as blood), or chemically reacting flows (such as
combustion).

1.2.1 Discretization methods in CFD

The stability of the chosen discretization is generally established
numerically rather than analytically as with simple linear problems. Special
care must also be taken to ensure that the discretization handles
discontinuous solutions gracefully. The Euler equations and Navier-Stokes
equations both admit shocks, and contact surfaces. Some of the
discretization methods being used are:
• Finite volume method (FVM).
• Finite element method (FEM).
• Finite difference method.
• Boundary element method

1.2.2 High-resolution schemes

High-resolution schemes are used where shocks or discontinuities are
present. To capture sharp changes in the solution requires the use of second
or higher order numerical schemes that do not introduce spurious
oscillations. This usually necessitates the application of flux limiters to
ensure that the solution is total variation diminishing.

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1.3 How is the working done in CFD
Working in CFD is done by writing down the CFD codes. CFD codes
are structured around the numerical algorithms that can be tackle fluid
problems. In order to provide easy access to their solving power all
commercial CFD packages include sophisticated user interfaces input
problem parameters and to examine the results. Hence all codes contain
three main elements:
1. Pre-processing.
2. Solver
3. Post - processing.

1.3.1 Pre-Processing
Preprocessor consists of input of a flow problem by means of an
operator friendly interface and subsequent transformation of this input into
form of suitable for the use by the solver.
The user activities at the Pre-processing stage involve:
1) Definition of the geometry of the region: The computational
domain. Grid generation is the subdivision of the domain into a number of
smaller, no overlapping sub domains.
2) Definition of fluid properties: Specification of appropriate
boundary conditions at cells, which coincide with or touch the boundary.
The solution of a flow problem (velocity, pressure, temperature etc.) is
defined at nodes inside each cell.
1.3.2 Solver
These are three distinct streams of numerical solutions techniques:
finite difference, finite volume& finite element methods. In outline the
numerical methods that form the basis of solver performs the following
steps:

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 1) The approximation of unknown flow variables are by means of
simple functions
2) Discretization by substitution of the approximation into the
governing flow equations & subsequent mathematical manipulations.
1.3.3 Post processing
As in the pre-processing huge amount of development work has
recently has taken place in the post processing field. Owing to increased
popularity of engineering work stations, many of which has outstanding
graphics capabilities, the leading CFD are now equipped with versatile data
visualization tools. These include:
1) Domain geometry & Grid display
2) Vector plots
3) Line & shaded contour plots
4) 2D & 3D surface plots
5) Particle tracking
6) View manipulation (translation, rotation, scaling etc.)

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 Chapter 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW

 Sridhar [1]: The paper “Characterization and Matching of

Turbochargers for Producer Gas Engine Applications-Experiments
and Analysis” tells us that the engine’s natural power, fuel economy
& torque is improved due to the fact that the compressor can force
more air into the combustion chamber than the atmospheric pressure.
 Portalier et. Al [3]: The research paper on “Assessment of a
sequentially turbocharged diesel engine on real-life driving cycles”
highlights on the practical working of the turbocharger stating the
major disadvantage as the ‘turbo lag’ i.e. is the time between demand
for an increase in power and turbocharger providing increased intake
pressure, hence increased power.
 Dixon [2]: The book “Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics of
Turbomachinery” also tells us that over-boosting an engine frequently
causes damage to engine such as pre-ignition, overheating, over-
stressing, engine knocking because of very high intake manifold
pressure.
 Conseil International de Machines à Combustion[8] : The
handbook “Definitions and guidelines for measurement and
calculation” tells us about turbocharger inlet and outlet, boundary
conditions to be taken into account
 Nguyen Schafer [7] : from the book “ Rotordynamics of automotive
turbocharger” we get to know the thermodynamic properties and
formulations of turbocharger.

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 Chapter 3 - PROJECT

3.1 OBJECTIVE

• The main objective of the work is to study the performance

characteristics of the radial Turbine by plotting the Turbine map by
modeling the impeller and casing separately.

• Interfacing of impeller and casing in ANSYS Fluent and to simulate it

for various conditions of flow rate and speeds and to analyze the
results.

3.2 METHODOLOGY

3.2.1 Study of turbocharger, CATIA V5, ANSYS CFX:

First of all, a thorough study of turbocharger will be done from the

book “Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Turbomachinery” and other
sources. The impeller and casing will be modeled by using the CATIA V5
and analysis will be done by using the software ANSYS CFX. Thus, their
detailed study and practice would be done.

3.2.2 Designing of impeller and casing separately using software

CATIA PRO V5:

Using the proper dimensions the impeller and casing would be modelled
separately in CATIA V5. The impeller would be designed thrice with
different turbine angles.

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3.2.2 Interfacing of impeller and casing in software ANSYS Fluent:

Both the impeller and casing, since designed separately have to be

interfaced. The same can be done through both CATIA V5 and ANSYS.
Thus, we will be using ANSYS for the interfacing of the impeller and
casing.

3.2.2 Analysis and simulations of flow rates in software ANSYS

Fluent:

Furthermore, analysis of the flow of exhaust gas in the turbocharger

model will be done using the software ANSYS. There are two modules
which can be used for the analysis, i.e. Fluent and CFX. We will be using
the CFX model due to its fast processing.

Computational domain

The computational domain was chosen to represent a turbine mounted

on a turbocharger test rig with straight ducts at the turbine inlet and outlet.
Long ducts were therefore used in the computational model, which increases
the size of the domain and therefore the computational requirements.3D
simulations are used.

Boundary Conditions

All the simulations in the present study were thus performed under
steady inflow conditions using the inlet total pressure and temperature and
outlet static pressure as boundary conditions

Inlet pressure 2.2 bar

RPM 51000,61000,71000,81000 rpm

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Solver Type

ANSYS-FLUENT offers two different numerical methods: pressure-

based and density-based solvers.

Pressure-based solver

In the pressure-based solver, a pressure equation is obtained from a

combination of the continuity and momentum equations. In this way, the
obtained velocity field satisfies the continuity. Due to the nonlinearity and
coupled behavior of the flow equations, the solution process involves
iterations. Thus, the entire set of governing equations (continuity for the
velocity field and pressure equation) is solved repeatedly until the solution
converges. Segregated and coupled pressure-based algorithms are available
in ANSYS-FLUENT (ANSYS, 2011). In the segregated algorithm, each of
the governing equations is solved independently. In the coupled algorithm,
the momentum equations and the pressure-based continuity equation are
solved simultaneously. As a general rule, the coupled algorithm has a higher
convergence speed than the segregated algorithm. However, the memory
requirement for the coupled algorithm is also higher.

Turbulence model
The RANS approach is selected for this work. The most commonly
used RANS models for internal flow problems are those defined by two
equations. Their main advantage is their good trade-off between
computational cost and accuracy, turbulence model . The SST model blends
the robust and accurate formulation of the k-ω model in the near-wall region
with the free-stream independence of the k-€ model in the far field. In the
SST turbulence model, the transport of the principal turbulent shear stress is

21
taken into account, which allows the correct response to adverse pressure
gradients to be obtained.
Mesh
The mesh should be fine enough to faithfully reproduce the geometry,
which is usually achieved by searching for the independence of the solution
in terms of the number of cells. In the case for the turbine, a smaller cell size
is preferable in the rotor region, where the momentum interchange occurs,
relative to that in the ducts, which can be computed with a one dimensional
approach. the turbine was divided into four different regions: the volute,
stator, rotor, and outlet regions.

3.2.3 Optimization by drawing the turbomaps:

The different analysis reports for the three different turbines will be used
to draw turbomaps.Vista CCD will be used to draw these maps. There is a
requirement of turbomachinery default code for drawing these maps.

Power vs Mass Flow

Pressure ratio vs Mass Flow

Efficiency vs Pressure ratio

Efficiency vs Mass Flow

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3.3 Modeling

Turbine Impeller:

Outer Dia: 50 mm

Inner Dia: 5 mm

No. of vanes: 12

Vane angle: 60 degree

Fig. 3.1 Turbine impellar (Catia

v5)

Turbine Casing:

Duct dia: 35mm

Casing outer dia: 100 mm

Casing inner dia: 40 mm

Fig 3.2 Turbine casing in Catia

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Interfacing of Turbine Impeller and Casing:

Fig. 3.3 interfacing of turbine and casing

Meshing:

Fig. 3.4 Meshing of interfaced impellar and casing

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 Chapter 4 – RESULT & CALCULATION

4.1 Result

The variables for the analysis are depicted in the table 4.1 given below:

No. of mesh nodes 9.7 x 107

No. of mesh elements 4.1 x 107
Mesh type Tetrahedron
Mass flow rate 0.09 kg/sec
Inlet pressure 2.2 bar
Exhaust gas temperature 773 K

Table 4.1 Variables for analysis.

The CFD simulation was done with these variables on the Ansys
CFX. The results were generated. In the CFX – Post the velocity streamlines
generated are as shown below:

Fig. 4.1 Velocity25

streamline flow
According to the result shown above, the path of air flow through the
turbocharger is clear. This helps us to confirm that the fluid flow analysis
done on the turbocharger is correct and the performance curves can now be
drawn.

The performance maps drawn for the different simulations done in the
Ansys CFX are shown below:

Fig. 4.2 Fig. 4.3

Fig. 4.4 Fig . 4.5

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The graphs shown here show the different efficiencies, power and pressure
ratios that are obtained from the varying of rpm of the turbo impeller. The
values of the experimental results from the numerical flow analysis of the
efficiencies can be tabulated with the varying revolutions of the
turbocharger. The graph predicts the following general outcomes:

• The power of the turbocharger will increase with the increase in the
mass flow rate of exhaust gas as well as the the increase in rpm of
turbocharger also indicates higher power for the same mass flow.
• The efficiency will increase with the mass flow rate and as well as
with the increase of rpm, turbocharger has more efficiency. However,
there is a decrease in efficiency after the increase of mass flow rate
above 0.1 kg/sec.
• Max. efficiency @ 51000 rpm = 94 %
• Max. efficiency @ 61000 rpm = 86 %
• Max. efficiency @ 71000 rpm = 88 %
• Max. efficiency @ 81000 rpm = 91 %
All the above efficiencies have been maximum at 0.1 kg/sec mass
flow rate of exhaust gas.

4.2 Calculation

Calculations of Mass flow rate of exhaust gas:

Assumptions:

1. Four cylinder - 3000cc engine

2. Flywheel rotation – 4000rpm
3. Exhaust pressure – 2.2 bar

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4. Exhaust temperature – 773K
 Rpm to rps – 4000/60 = 66.67 rps
 Volume flow rate = (cylinder capacity x rps x no. of cylinders)/2
= 750 x 66.67 x 2
= 100,002 cc/sec
 Density = P / (R x T)
= (2.2 x 105) / (287 x 773)
= 0.9196 kg/m3
 Mass flow rate = density x volume flow rate
= 0.9196 x 100002 x 10-6
= 0.91 kg/sec

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 Chapter 5 – CONCLUSION

In this project, the CFD analysis of the turbocharger is successfully done in

the Ansys CFX and the performance turbo maps are drawn for different
values of turbine angular velocity. The calculated results may differ from the
experimental results due to instrumentation and human erroe and also due to
discretisation of the domains and solution of differential equations in
computational methods. Streamline flow in some cases have more
turbulence which is due to occurrence of losses. Predictiion of turbine
performance by CFD gives the idea to know the flow behavior inside a turbo
model and see the intricacy of flow pattern, since the actual flow inside the
turbocharger is very complicated. Hence, the results from the analysis
conclude that the turbocharger efficiency will increase with increase in mass
flow rate of exhaust gas up to a certain limit and the decreases. Also the
efficiency increases with increase in rpm.

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REFERENCES

1. H V Sridhar, “Characterization and Matching of Turbochargers for

Producer Gas Engine Applications-Experiments and Analysis”, Ph.D.
Thesis, Combustion, Gasification and Propulsion Laboratory, Dept. of
Aerospace Engineering, IISc, Bangalore, 2008.
2. SL Dixon, “Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics of
Turbomachinery”, LinacreHouse, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP, UK,
1998.

3. J. Galindo, H. Climent, C. Guardiola, A. Tiseira, J. Portalier,

“Assessment of a sequentially turbocharged diesel engine on real-life
driving cycles”, Int. J. Veh. Des. 49 (1/2/3) (2009).

4. Bidhan Kumar Pradhan, “Computational fluid dynamics analysis of

flow through high speed turbine using fluent”, Department of
mechanical engineering, National Institute Technology, Rourkela.
5. Manoj Kumar Shukla, Rajeev Jain, S.N Shukla, “ CFD analyusis of
3D flow for francis turbine”, problem oriented research laboratory,
MANIT , Bhopal, india. (2005)
6. Baines, N.C.: Fundamentals of Turbocharging. Concepts ETI, Inc,
Wilder (2005)
7. Nguyen Schafer, Rotor dynamics of automotive turbocharger.
Springer, inc, (2000)

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