Impact of two-stage turbocharging architectures on pumping losses

of automotive engines based on an analytical model

J. Galindo, J.R. Serrano
*
, H. Climent, O. Varnier
Universidad Politcnica de Valencia, CMT Motores Trmicos, Spain
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 8 June 2009
Received in revised form 15 February 2010
Accepted 27 February 2010
Available online 2 April 2010
Keywords:
Automotive
Reciprocating internal combustion engines
Turbochargers
Two-stage turbocharging
Analytical engine modeling
a b s t r a c t
Present work presents an analytical study of two-stage turbocharging conguration performance. The
aim of this work is to understand the inuence of different two-stage-architecture parameters to opti-
mize the use of exhaust manifold gases energy and to aid decision making process. An analytical model
giving the relationship between global compression ratio and global expansion ratio is developed as a
function of basic engine and turbocharging system parameters. Having an analytical solution, the inu-
ence of different variables, such as expansion ratio between HP and LP turbine, intercooler efciency, tur-
bochargers efciency, cooling uid temperature and exhaust temperature are studied independently.
Engine simulations with proposed analytical model have been performed to analyze the inuence of
these different parameters on brake thermal efciency and pumping mean effective pressure. The results
obtained show the overall performance of the two-stage system for the whole operative range and char-
acterize the optimum control of the elements for each operative condition.
The model was also used to compare single-stage and two-stage architectures performance for the
same engine operative conditions. Benets and limits in terms of breathing capabilities and brake ther-
mal efciency of each type of system have been presented and analyzed.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
In automotive applications, combustion engines are required to
have not only a high specic power output but also reduced pollu-
tant emissions. For these reasons, current light and medium duty
engines are being highly turbocharged [1], achieving improved
brake mean effective pressure and enlarged exhaust gases recircu-
lation (EGR) available zone [2]. In the recent years, a generalization
of the use of turbocharging in diesel engines has occurred and the
same is happening in petrol engines [3]. The reason is that once the
combustion processes produced a breakthrough with the arrival on
new exible injection systems and new combustion concepts [4],
one of the weakest points for further engine development has been
the air loop system.
It is a commonplace that the most promising way to achieve
Euro 6 and beyond standards is the downsized engine. This tech-
nique consists in developing engines with a reduced swept volume
but with the same power output. This has a rst output in reducing
fuel consumption and lower pollutant emissions, but in the same
time torque at very low speeds is limited and engine transient
behavior is worsened. Market-acceptance is always more demand-
ing about vehicle dynamics, so as a minimum; performances of the
downsized engine must be maintained not only under steady, but
also in transient conditions.
One way to improve transient performance is to employ a smal-
ler turbocharger, since the corresponding turbine is better de-
signed for working with low exhaust gases mass ow and has
lower thermal and mechanical inertias. Both features allow for fas-
ter engine response. However, small size turbochargers limit the
maximum engine speed and load. In order to overcome this prob-
lem, two turbochargers operation arranged in series or in parallel
can be used. Parallel arrangement of turbochargers eliminates tur-
bo-lag issues but both compressors provide the same compression
ratio, limited by the maximum compression ratio of the smallest
compressor [5]. However, the high boost pressure required in
downsized engines to maintain the power output and the steady
state performance is only obtained if the air compression process
is performed in serial conguration [6]. Therefore, two-stage tur-
bocharging arises as a practical solution to increase the air charge
into the cylinders. Besides, higher EGR rates can be achieved while
keeping reasonable values of air to fuel ratio (AFR) [7].
In a two-stage system, the high-pressure (HP) turbocharger is
smaller than the low-pressure (LP) one in order to achieve better
transient response at low speeds because its reduced inertia com-
pared to single-stage system. The low-pressure turbocharger is
0196-8904/$ - see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2010.02.028
* Corresponding author. Address: Universidad Politcnica de Valencia. CMT
Motores Trmicos. Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain. Tel.: +34 96 387 96
57; fax: +34 96 387 76 59.
E-mail address: jrserran@mot.upv.es (J.R. Serrano).
Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 19581969
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Energy Conversion and Management
j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er . com/ l ocat e/ enconman
large and optimized for maximum power output operation. The
addition of an extra intercooler between both compressors is used
to reduce HP compressor inlet temperature and improve overall
system efciency. The high-pressure turbine is controlled through
variable nozzle area or a bypass valve while the low-pressure tur-
bine is usually a xed geometry turbine. Fig. 1 shows a typical two-
stage architecture.
Two-stage turbocharging has been studied for heavy and light
duty applications, where a lot of work has been devoted to quantify
performance improvement and fuel economy that represent this
technology related to the single stage turbocharging. Pger [8]
presented results of this comparison obtained on a modern 12-l
6-cylinder commercial Diesel engine. It showed the huge increase
on boost pressure at low engine speed and on corresponding low
end torque. Besides, maximum torque, rated power output and
the overall system efciency is improved. Schmitt et al. [9] de-
scribed for heavy and light duty applications the engine character-
istic curves in the low- and high-pressure compressor
characteristic maps. As regulated 2-stage charging system is more
exible and combines benets of both small and big turbochargers,
matching can be optimized for the engine characteristic curves run
through the center of the compressor characteristic maps at opti-
mum efciencies. In his example, efciencies of over 70% for HP
and LP compressor are reached. Same conclusions are presented
by Choi et al. [10] who quantied for light duty applications
improvement of BSFC based on average ve operation points of
2.2%. The reduction in BSFC for a light duty engine is smaller than
for a heavy duty engine because vehicle drivability is very impor-
tant in these applications, and turbochargers matching are more
optimized for transient engine operations. This means that is pos-
sible to use a smaller turbine with a turbine by-pass for the LP
stage, offering packaging and transient operation advantages ow-
ing to the lower inertia of the LP unit.
In the literature, different computer simulations with gas dy-
namic one dimensional models are presented for engine perfor-
mance prediction. These models simulate compressors
performance using directly manufacturers maps with different
interpolation techniques [11], and turbines performance with
more or less sophisticated models as explained in [12] and [13].
With this approach it is not possible to check the inuences of dif-
ferent variables independently because a compressor or a turbine
Nomenclature
Acronyms
bmep break mean effective pressure
EGR exhaust gas recirculation
HP high pressure
imep indicative mean effective pressure
LP low pressure
famep friction plus auxiliaries mean effective pressure
pmep pumping mean effective pressure
Z
c

1
g
c
c
r

c
c1
c
c 1
_ _
Z
t
g
t
1 e
r

1c
t
c
t
_ _
R
c
c
r

c
c1
c
c
R
t
e
r

1c
t
c
t
Latin symbols
A area (m
2
)
c
p
specic heat at constant pressure (J/kg K)
c
r
compression ratio
e
r
expansion ratio
F fuel to air ratio
H
c
heat of combustion (J/kg)
K quotient of burn gas specic heat by fresh air specic
heat at constant pressure (c
pt
/c
pc
)
_ m mass ow rate (kg/s)
Ope
r
optimized expansion ratio
p pressure (bar)
q heat losses (J/kg)
R ideal gas constant (J/kg K)

c
total compression ratio

t
total expansion ratio
T temperature (K)
u ow velocity (m/s)
_
W power (J/s)
Greek symbols
c adiabatic exponent (c
p
/c
v
)
e intercooler efciency
j pressure loss coefcient
q gas density (kg/m
3
)
g efciency
g
e
brake thermal efciency
g
v
volumetric efciency
C temperature including heat losses (K)
Subscripts
0 stagnation conditions
1 LP compressor inlet conditions
2 HP compressor outlet conditions
3 HP turbine inlet conditions
4 LP outlet conditions
C LP compressor outlet conditions
c compressor
H
2
O cooling uid
IT HP compressor inlet conditions
s isentropic process
T HP turbine outlet conditions and LP turbine inlet condi-
tions
t turbine
fa friction plus auxiliaries
Fig. 1. Engine scheme.
J. Galindo et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 19581969 1959
map is needed. As explained in the study presented by Saulnier
et al. [6] about the matching of a two-stage turbocharging system
for a small light duty engine, with these maps the simulation
inherits relationships between turbomachines sizes and their ef-
ciencies. Therefore, this approach is more adapted in a second
stage of the development process when turbochargers and engine
architectures are dened. At that time of the design process, they
allow to carry out studies about instantaneous variables [14] dif-
cult to measure in test bench as instantaneous temperature or
studies about the potential of other technologies as Miller Cycle
and variable valve timing system when associated to a regulated
2-stage turbocharging system [15].
Another approach less time consuming is the simulation of the
engine performance with physics-based thermodynamic zero-
dimensional models as presented by Gautier et al. [16] or Lee
et al. [17]. This approach also needs compressor and turbine maps
to simulate turbocharger performance, so is not convenient to
check inuences of different variables independently. Neverthe-
less, as they consider the cycle averaged values of the state vari-
ables, capturing the air path dynamics with sufcient accuracy,
they are well adapted to develop new control strategies for turbine
by-pass actuation. For example, Chasse et al. [18] developed with
this approach a control structure, composed of two cascaded con-
trollers and feed forward terms to actuate the wastegate, while Pli-
anos et al. [19] fullled the same function with a coordinated LQG
based controller adapted to the specic issues of double stage
turbocharging.
Unlike the authors mentioned above, who used their models to
develop the two-stage system and its control structure, this work
aims to analyze the coupling of the engine and both turbochargers
and obtain clear criteria useful for phenomena understanding. The
main objective of this work is the development of an analytical
pre-design model able to determine optimum two-stage architec-
tures as a function of basic engine and turbocharging system
parameters. Pre-design capability of such an analytical model is
highly appreciated due to the intrinsic complexity of two-stage
architectures. This type of models offers an overview of the prob-
lem that helps the understanding of complex behavior of systems
and aids decision making process (for example: architecture pre-
design purposes like turbochargers size selection, components
selection and control valves specication) prior to working with
more sophisticated models. Similar analytical model were devel-
oped by Zinner [20] for single stage turbocharging but nothing in
the literature appears for two-stage systems with specic downsiz-
ing architecture (Fig. 1).
The analytical approach, developed in this work, is very useful
for two main reasons. By keeping an analytical solution it is possi-
ble to check the inuence of different variables independently. As
explained before, this cannot be undertaken with other ap-
proaches. By analytical models, simulations have been performed
faster and with reasonable accuracy, which is important when
numerous calculations are needed for having an overview of mul-
tivariable problems like two-stage systems for a given downsized
engine application. As application, engine simulations with pro-
posed model have been presented and results have been used to
dene the specications for two-stage turbocharging systems
compatible with air requirements and an optimum use of exhaust
manifold gases enthalpy.
The paper is structured as follows. Section 2 is devoted to de-
duce in detail the equations that relate compression ratio with
expansion ratio and the analytical solving procedure, while Sec-
tion 3 shows the validation with experimental data of the proposed
model. Section 4 contains the results and discussion concerning:
(a) the inuence of HP and LP turbines expansion ratio, (b) the
inuence of the inter-cooling system, (c) the inuence of exhaust
temperature and turbomachines efciency, and (d) a comparison
between single and two-stage congurations. Finally, conclusions
are presented in Section 5.
2. Governing equations
Flow evolution through a two-stage turbocharging congura-
tion and the nomenclature that will be used in the paper for each
characteristic point of the system are shown in Figs. 1 and 2,
respectively. On one hand the evolution in the LP compressor goes
from 10 to C0 and the evolution in the LP turbine goes from T0 to 4,
and on the other hand the evolution in the HP compressor goes
from IT0 to 20 and the evolution in the HP turbine goes from 30
to T0. The evolution in the intercooler between compressors goes
from C0 to IT0. The objective is to relate the compression ratio
(c
r
) with the expansion ratio (e
r
) for a given condition in the
turbochargers.
The compression ratio of a two-stage conguration is the
product of the two elemental compression ratios developed by
the HP and LP compressors, neglecting the pressure drop in the
intercooler due to internal friction losses. The compression ratio
is generally associated with the energy needed by the compres-
sor to obtain a specic pressure increase. With respect to the LP
(1) and HP (2) compressors, the expressions for compressors
powers [21] are:
_
W
cLP

_ m
c
c
pc
T
10
g
cLP
p
c0
p
10
_ _
c
c
1
c
c
1
_ _

_ m
c
c
pc
T
10
g
cLP
c
rLP

c
c
1
c
c
1
_ _
_ m
c
c
pc
T
10
Z
cLP
1
_
W
cHP

_ m
c
c
pc
T
IT0
g
cHP
p
20
p
IT0
_ _
c
c
1
c
c
1
_ _

_ m
c
c
pc
T
IT0
g
cHP
c
rHP

c
c
1
c
c
1
_ _
_ m
c
c
pc
T
IT0
Z
cHP
2
Assuming turbulent pressure drop in the intercooler, can be
written:
p
C0
p
IT
0
j
1
2
q
C0
u
2
C0
j
1
2
_ m
2
c
q
C0
A
2
C0
3
Therefore p
IT0
can be calculated as a function of mass ow, p
C0
and
T
C0
:
p
IT
0
p
C0
_ m
2
c
jRT
C0
2p
C0
A
2
C0
4
The temperature downstream the LP compressor (T
C0
) can be ex-
pressed in terms of isentropic efciency as:
g
cLP

T
C0s
T
10
T
C0
T
10
! T
C0
T
10
1
1
g
cLP
c
c
c
1
c
c
rLP
1
_ _ _ _
T
10
1 Z
cLP
5
The intercooler modies the uid thermodynamic properties up-
stream the HP compressor. The air mass ow is cooled and the tem-
perature decrease depends of the intercooler efciency (e) and the
cooling uid temperature (T
H
2
O
).
e
T
C0
T
IT0
T
C0
T
H
2
O
! T
IT0
T
C0
1 e e T
H
2
O
6
Rearranging (2) with (5) and (6) one obtains:
_
W
cHP
_ m
c
c
pc
Z
cHP
T
10
1 Z
cLP
1 e e
T
H
2
O
T
10
_ _
7
The total power consumed by HP and LP compressors is calculated
by the addition of (7) and (1) as:
1960 J. Galindo et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 19581969
_
W
cTotal

_
W
cHP

_
W
cLP
_ m
c
c
pc
T
10
Z
cLP
Z
cHP
1 Z
cLP
1 e e
T
H
2
O
T
10
_ _ _ _
8
By the same token, the expansion ratio of a two-stage conguration
is the product of the two elemental expansion ratios developed by
the HP and LP turbines, and these expansion ratios are generally
the consequence of the energy required by the turbines to produce
and transfer the necessary work to the compressors. With respect to
HP (9) and LP (10) turbines, the expressions of turbine power are:
_
W
tHP
_ m
t
c
pt
C
30
HP
g
tHP
1 e
rHP

1c
t
c
t
_ _
_ m
t
c
pt
C
30
HP
Z
tHP
9
_
W
tLP
_ m
t
c
pt
C
T0
LP
g
tLP
1 e
rLP

1c
t
c
t
_ _
_ m
t
c
pt
C
T0
LP
Z
tLP
10
where e
rHP
and e
rLP
are the expansion ratio in the HP and LP turbine,
respectively dened as:
e
rHP

p
30
p
T0
and e
rLP

p
T0
p
4
11
In addition, C
30
HP
and C
T0
LP
are the turbine inlet temperatures con-
sidering heat losses (q) before gas expansion, as Fig. 2 shows.
C
30HP
and C
T0LP
are dened as:
C
30
HP
T
30

q
HP
c
pt
12
C
T0
LP
T
T0

q
LP
c
pt
13
The isentropic efciency of the HP turbine can be expressed in
terms of temperature, therefore gas temperature at its outlet can
be written as:
g
tHP

C
30
HP
T
T0
C
30
HP
T
T0s
! T
T0
C
30
HP
1 g
tHP
1 e
rHP

1c
t
c
t
_ _ _ _
C
30
HP
1 Z
tHP
14
Total to total efciency has been used since kinetic energy is further
recovered by the LP turbine. Rearranging (10) with (14), one obtains
Eq. (15) where it is clear the effect of heat losses and HP turbine
expansion in the temperature upstream LP turbine (C
T0LP
).
_
W
tLP
_ m
t
c
pt
C
T0
LP
Z
tLP
_ m
t
c
pt
T
T0

q
LP
c
pt
_ _
Z
tLP
_ m
t
c
pt
T
30

q
HP
c
pt
_ _
1 Z
tHP

q
LP
c
pt
_ _
Z
tLP
15
The total power provided by LP and HP turbines is calculated by the
addition of (15) and (9) as:
_
W
tTotal

_
W
tLP

_
W
tHP
16
In the equilibrium, compressor total power and turbine total power
should be equal considering mechanical losses included in the tur-
bines efciency. If both turbochargers (HP and LP) are in the same
shaft we could write that Eq. (16) has to be equal to Eq. (8). Never-
theless, this is not the common case. Therefore, we must impose
that the turbine and compressor power is equal individually in each
turbocharger. It means one equation for the HP turbocharger and a
different equation for the LP turbocharger. Indeed, equalling Eq. (9)
to (7) for the HP turbocharger and (15) to Eq. (1) for the LP turbo-
charger we could write:
_
W
tHP
_ m
t
c
pt
C
30
HP
Z
tHP
_ m
c
c
pc
Z
cHP
T
10
1Z
cLP
1ee
T
H
2
O
T
10
_ _

_
W
cHP
17
_
W
tLP
_ m
t
c
pt
C
30
LP
1Z
tHP
Z
tLP
_ m
c
c
pc
T
10
Z
cLP

_
W
cLP
18
where C
30LP
is dened as:
C
30
LP
C
30
HP
1
q
LP
C
30
HP
c
pt
1 Z
tHP

_ _
19
and C
30LP
is equal to C
30HP
when q
LP
= 0.
Taking into account the fuel to air ratio (F) to relate the burn gas
mass ow with the air mass ow, the following expression can be
obtained:
10
20
20
s
IT0
C0
C0
s
p
10
p
20
p
C0
s
h
p
30
p
T0
30
4
T0
s
T0
4
s
p
IT0
C0
p
W
cHP
W
cLP
q
I
p
4
30
HP
T0
LP
W
tLP
W
tHP
q
HP
q
LP
Fig. 2. Thermodynamic evolutions of a two-stage turbochargers conguration.
J. Galindo et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 19581969 1961
_ m
t
_ m
c
1 F 20
We dene K as the quotient between the different specic heat of
burn gas and fresh air:
c
pt
c
pc
K 21
Replacing the denitions of (20) and (21) in (17) and (18) and rear-
ranging both equations one obtains the compression ratio groups as
a function of the expansion ratio as follows:
Z
cLP
1 FK
C
30
LP
T
10
Z
tLP
1 Z
tHP

1 FK
C
30
HP
T
10
Z
tLP
1 Z
tHP

q
LP
C
30
HP
c
pt
_ _
22
Z
cHP
1 FK
C
30
HP
T
10
Z
tHP
1 Z
cLP
1 e e
T
H
2
O
T
10
23
From Eqs. (22) and (23) is clear that the lower are the heat losses
q
HP
and q
LP
the higher would be C
30HP
and C
30LP
, respectively. As
a consequence, Z
cHP
and Z
cLP
would increase while keeping constant
HP and LP turbines expansion ratio (and the rest of parameters).
From Eq. (23) can also be observed the effect of the inter-cool-
ing. Indeed, the lower is the cooling uid temperature for a given
intercooler efciency the higher would be the compression ratio
for a given expansion ratio (being the rest of parameters constant).
The effect of inter-cooling efciency is clearer if we make a simple
hypothesis assuming that cooling uid temperature is equal to
ambient temperature (T
H
2
O
= T
10
). Then Eq. (23) can be written as
follows:
Z
cHP
1 FK
C
30
HP
T
10
Z
tHP
1 Z
cLP
1 e
24
Looking at Eq. (24) is clear that the higher is e the higher is Z
cHP
for a
given expansion ratio.
In order to make evident the effect of the turbochargers isentro-
pic efciency in the equations it is possible to write Z groups as a
function of efciency and the corresponding expansion and com-
pression ratios as appear in Eq. (25).
Z
cLP

1
g
cLP
c
rLP

c
c
1
c
c
1
_ _

1
g
cLP
R
cLP
1
Z
cHP

1
g
cHP
c
rHP

c
c
1
c
c
1
_ _

1
g
cHP
R
cHP
1
Z
tLP
g
tLP
1
1
e
rLP

c
t1
c
t
_ _
g
tLP
1 R
tLP

Z
tHP
g
tHP
1
1
e
rHP

c
t1
c
t
_ _
g
tHP
1 R
tHP
25
In Eq. (25) R
cLP
and R
cHP
groups value increase as compression ratio
grows. However R
tLP
and R
tHP
groups value decrease as expansion
ratio grows and the minimum value that can achieve is 0. Substitut-
ing Eq. (25) in Eqs. (22) and (23) and rearranging one can write:
R
cLP
1 g
cLP
g
tLP
1 FK
C
30
LP
T
10
1 R
tLP
1 g
tHP
1 R
tHP

26
R
cHP
1 g
cHP
g
tHP
1 FK
C
30
HP
T
10
1 R
tHP

1 g
tLP
1 R
tLP
1 e e
T
H
2
O
T
10
27
Dening
f
LP
g
cLP
g
tLP
1 FK
C
30
LP
T
10
and
f
HP
g
cHP
g
tHP
1 FK
C
30
HP
T
10
28
It can be concluded that the higher are the temperatures ratio and
turbochargers efciency, the higher are the f groups. In addition, it
is worth noting that K % 1 and also (1 + F) % 1. Substituting Eq. (28)
in Eqs. (26) and (27), the compression ratio for each turbocharger
can be expressed as:
R
cLP
1 f
LP
1 R
tLP
1 g
tHP
1 R
tHP
29
R
cHP
1 f
HP
1 R
tHP

1 g
tLP
1 R
tLP
1 e e
T
H
2
O
T
10
30
Analysis of a two-stage turbochargers conguration can be de-
scribed with two different points of view. In fact, the product of
expressions (29) by (30) denes the global compression ratio as a
function of the different expansion ratios known in the turbines.
So, it can be evaluated the maximum intake manifold pressure for
a certain energy and exhaust pressure upstream the HP turbine.
But, it is sometimes more convenient in the design process to eval-
uate the minimum back pressure cost to obtain a certain compres-
sion ratio. In the latter case, expressions (29) and (30) must be
rewritten to express the expansion ratio in function of compression
ratio. For that, expressions (22) and (23) are rearranged as follows:
Z
tHP

Z
cHP
1 FK
T
10
C
30
HP
1 Z
cLP
1 e e
T
H
2
O
T
10
_ _
31
Z
tLP

Z
cLP
T
10
1 FKC
30
LP
1 Z
tHP

Z
cLP
T
10
K1 FC
30
LP
Z
cHP
T
10
C
30
LP
C
30
HP
1 Z
cLP
1 e e
T
H
2
O
T
10
_ _ _ _ 32
Taking into account the denition of the Z groups shown in Eq. (25)
and the denitions of f
LP
and f
HP
from (28), Eqs. (31) and (32) are
rearranged as:
R
tHP
1
1 R
cHP

f
HP
1
R
cLP
1
g
cLP
_ _
1 e e
T
H
2
O
T
10
_ _
33
R
tLP
1
1 R
cLP

f
LP
1
g
tHP
R
cHP
1
f
HP
1
R
cLP
1
g
cLP
_ _
1 e e
T
H
2
O
T
10
_ _ _ _ 34
In this way, the relation between expansion ratios and compression
ratios is more complex. The different parameters overlap them-
selves and their particular inuences are more difcult to extract
and to analyse individually with this point of view.
To analyse the performance of this two-stage turbocharging
architecture in a given engine and to compare different operating
conditions, we can dene parameters which allow observing easily
and also quantify at pre-design stage the performance of the whole
system. The rst parameter used is the ratio between the global
compression ratio and the global expansion ratio (

c
/

t
). When
this term is greater than the unity, turbocharging generates a net
positive work on the piston during the engine breathing process;
when is lower than the unity, the engine has to produce more work
to evacuate the exhaust gases of the combustion chamber than get
during breathing fresh one. The second parameter, which is highly
related with the previous one, is the pumping mean effective pres-
sure (pmep) which quanties the engine breathing efciency. It can
be represented as the difference between the average pressure up-
stream HP turbine (p
30
) and the average pressure downstream HP
compressor (p
20
). Using the denition of the global compression
ratio by the global expansion ratio, it can be rearranged to give:
1962 J. Galindo et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 19581969
pmep p
30
p
20
p
20
P
t
p
4
P
c
p
10
_ _
1
_ _
35
Therefore pmep is positive when negative net work is achieved dur-
ing gas exchange process. The third parameter used is the brake
thermal efciency (g
e
). Its denition is usually based on the brake
mean effective pressure (bmep) corresponding to the energy trans-
ferred from fuel to engine output. The bmep can be divided in three
different terms: the indicated mean effective pressure (imep) corre-
sponding to fuel transformation efciency, the pumping mean
effective pressure (pmep) and the friction plus auxiliaries mean
effective pressure (famep). The addition of pmep and famep is gener-
ally known as engine mechanical losses. The famep corresponds to
the mechanical losses by friction of the different engine moving
parts and the energy consumed by engine auxiliaries such as water
or fuel pumps. The expression of the brake thermal efciency can be
written as:
g
e

imep famep pmep
q
20
g
v
F H
c
36
Taking into account the denition of the indicated efciency (g
i
)
and assuming for simplicity reasons the hypothesis of fa-
mep ( q
20
g
v
F H
c
(mainly at full load operation) to obtain re-
sults independently of engine design and engine speed, the
following approximate expression is established:
g
e
g
i

p
20
q
20
g
v
F H
c
P
t
p
4
P
c
p
10
_ _
1
_ _
37
Engine load and speed for a given engine and specic operating con-
ditions could be introduced in the analysis dening the friction plus
auxiliaries efciency (g
fa
) as:
g
fa
1
famep
q
20
g
v
F H
c
38
Table 1
Basic characteristics of the engine for model validation.
Type of engine Double-stage turbocharged
Heavy-duty Diesel engine
Number of cylinders six cylinders
Injection system Unit pump injector
Compression ratio 16:1
Turbocharger Wastegate HP turbine + LP turbine
Fig. 3. Comparison of measured and modeled HP and LP expansion ratio as a function of HP and LP compression ratio, respectively. Comparison of measured and modeled
global expansion ratio.
Table 2
Parameters used for the simulation.
c
pt
1209 J/kgK
c
pc
1001 J/kgK
g
cHP
0.7 t/t
g
cLP
0.7 t/t
g
fa
1
g
i
0.4
g
tHP
0.6 t/t
g
tLP
0.6 t/s
g
v
0.8
e 0.9
F 0.062
j 0
c
c
1.402
c
t
1.311
q
HP
0 J/kg
q
LP
0 J/kg
H
c
42,500,000 J/kg
R 287 J/kgK
T
10
298 K
T
30
1000 K
J. Galindo et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 19581969 1963
3. Model validation
A validation process was carried out to assess the analytical
model accuracy and reliability. Different operating conditions, cor-
responding to representative steady state points of the USA anti-
pollution directive (US2007), were tested on a two-stage turbo-
charging heavy duty engine. The engine used in this validation
was 12 l displacement Diesel engine and its basics characteristics
are shown in Table 1. A more detailed description of the experi-
mental installation and measurement methodology is presented
in [7].
A comparison between experimental and simulated results of
expansion ratio versus compression ratio in the HP and LP turbines
is shown in Fig. 3. Moreover, it can be observed in this gure a
comparison between measured and predicted total expansion ratio
through the turbines. In each case, a good agreement between
computed and measured values is obtained with very small differ-
ences. These differences can be explained with the inherent exper-
imental uncertainties that present the different sensors used in this
study. Turbines efciencies were calculated from compressor
works to include mechanical efciencies and heat transfer effects.
However, small uncertainties in measured inlet and outlet com-
pressor temperatures can lead to the small errors encountered in
the results.
4. Results and discussion
At rst, the different equations were analyzed with constant
parameters as shown in Table 2. Equations were described for
two different points of view. On one hand, the compression ratio
is maximized for a given expansion ratio and on the other hand,
the expansion ratio is minimized for a given compression ratio.
Nowadays, the compression ratio appears like a constraint in the
engine design process and a lot of optimization efforts concern
the reduction of the cylinders back pressure. The following results
go in the same direction. Equations were solved for different given
10 bar
9 bar
8 bar
7 bar
6 bar
0 2 4 6 8 10
LP Expansion Ratio [bar]
0.5
0.7
0.9
1.1
1.3
G
l
o
b
a
l

C
o
m
p
r
e
s
s
i
o
n

R
a
t
i
o

b
y

G
l
o
b
a
l

E
x
p
a
n
s
i
o
n

R
a
t
i
o
0.37
0.38
0.39
0.4
0.41
B
r
a
k
e

T
h
e
r
m
a
l
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y
-2
0
2
4
6
P
u
m
p
i
n
g

M
e
a
n

E
f
f
e
c
t
i
v
e

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

[
b
a
r
]
5 bar
4 bar
3 bar
2 bar
10 bar
9 bar
8 bar
7 bar
6 bar
5 bar
4 bar
3 bar
2 bar
10 bar
9 bar
8 bar
7 bar
6 bar
5 bar
4 bar
3 bar
2 bar
Fig. 4. Global compression ratio by global expansion ratio, brake thermal efciency and pumping mean effective pressure as a function of LP expansion ratio for different
global compression ratios.
Fig. 5. Optimized LP expansion ratio for different compression ratios in function of
the aftercooler conguration and two design constraints.
1964 J. Galindo et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 19581969
compression ratios and expansion ratios were optimized in the HP
and LP turbines to minimize the global expansion ratio.
4.1. HP and LP expansion ratio inuence
The distribution of the expansion ratio between the HP and LP
turbines is very important in terms of turbocharging performance.
Fig. 4 shows the relation between the ratio

c
/

t
, the brake ther-
mal efciency and the pumping mean effective pressure as a func-
tion of the expansion ratio in the LP turbine, which represents the
intermediate pressure between turbines, for different compression
ratios. All these performance curves have a maximum (or a mini-
mum for the pmep) which corresponds to the minimum cylinders
back pressure for this operation condition. The wastegate valve
or the VGT mechanism should control the distribution between
HP and LP turbines to maintain always the best operating condition
shown by maximumvalues in Fig. 4. With the exposed procedure it
is easy to nd such a maximum for a given engine operating point,
considering that turbochargers are operating within design
conditions.
The equations developed before can be solved as a function of
different design objectives: minimum cylinders back pressure or
maximum brake thermal efciency. Optimized LP expansion ratio
(Ope
rLP
) obtained to maximize the ratio

c
/

t
or the brake thermal
efciency are similar for congurations with aftercooler. Ope
rLP
can
be adjusted with good agreement (R
2
= 99.95%) as a function of the
total compression ratio with lineal regression as shown in Fig. 5.
The architecture shown in Fig. 1 has an aftercooler with a good
efciency and low cooling uid temperature, so there are no differ-
ences between LP expansion ratio optimized for each objective.
But, if a system without aftercooler or with a low efciency is con-
sidered, slightly differences can be observed in Fig. 5. Theses differ-
ences are generated by the imep calculation which take into
account a constant volumetric efciency and constant air fuel ratio.
Without a good temperature control downstream the HP compres-
sor, the air density entering to the cylinders (and so the engine
indicative power) varies substantially depending on the HP com-
pression ratio.
4.2. Intercooler performance inuence
Efciency and cooling uid temperature in the intercooler and
the aftercooler have a strong impact on two-stage turbocharging
efciency. Minimum cylinder back pressure is obtained with the
highest intercooler cooling capacity. But a nonlinearity relation be-
tween efciency and cooling uid temperature exists. In fact, min-
imum back cylinder pressure is more impacted by intercooler
efciency when cooling uid temperature is low than when is high.
Fig. 6. Global compression ratio by global expansion ratio, brake thermal efciency, pumping mean effective pressure and optimized LP expansion ratio for different
intercooler efciencies and cooling uid temperatures.
J. Galindo et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 19581969 1965
This nonlinear relation can be observed in Fig. 6 where the evolu-
tion of the quotient

c
/

t
, the brake thermal efciency and the
pumping mean effective pressure are plotted as a function of ef-
ciency and cooling uid temperature for given compression ratios.
When efciency increases, the optimized expansion ratio distri-
bution is modied increasing LP turbocharger work and decreasing
HP one to keep minimum cylinder back pressure. In parallel, the
overall system efciency is improved and the total expansion ratio
decreases for a given compression ratio amplifying the differences
between LP and HP expansion ratio. This trend is slightly different
with the cooling uid temperature. When the cooling uid temper-
ature decreases, the expansion ratio distribution remains practi-
cally constant. The LP turbocharger work reduction observed is
only the consequence of the improved system efciency and the

c
/

t
increase.
In this analysis, pressure drop along the intercooler was ne-
glected because it strongly depends of the operating conditions,
especially of the air mass and ow density, as shown in Eq. (4)
and it is relatively small comparing to compressors pressure ratio
(p
C0
p
IT0
( p
20
p
10
).
4.3. Exhaust temperature and turbocharger efciency inuence
It canbe observedinthe compressionratio Eqs. (29) and(30) that
compressor efciencies and temperature upstream the HP turbine
appear only in the f groups. Turbine efciencies are present in the
terms f
LP
andf
HP
but inadditionturbineefciencies appear as factors
of other terms in the compression ratio Eqs. (29) and (30). Being
small the terms theymultiply, authors have assumedthe hypothesis
that their inuences can be neglected inthe equations and have per-
formed a parametric study of all turbocharger efciencies and HP
turbine upstream temperature directly with the f groups.
To validate this hypothesis, calculations were realized varying
compressor efciencies and keeping turbine efciencies constant
(g
tLP
= 0.6 and g
tHP
= 0.6), and repeated varying turbines efcien-
cies and keeping compressors efciencies constant (g
cLP
= 0.7 and
g
cHP
= 0.7) to obtain the same values of the f
LP
and f
HP
terms. Dif-
ferences between both calculations are shown in Fig. 7.
The relative difference obtained for the quotient

c
/

t
and the
brake thermal efciency are kept below 5% in main operating con-
ditions. But when turbocharger efciencies are very small, the er-
Fig. 7. Calculation of uncertainties for global compression ratio by global expansion ratio, brake thermal efciency and optimized LP expansion ratio versus LP and HP stage
efciencies.
1966 J. Galindo et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 19581969
Fig. 8. Global compression ratio by global expansion ratio, brake thermal efciency, pumping mean effective pressure and optimized LP expansion ratio for different LP and
HP stage efciencies.
Fig. 9. Global compression ratio by global expansion ratio and brake thermal efciency differences between single-stage and two-stage architectures versus turbocharger
efciencies.
J. Galindo et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 19581969 1967
ror increases substantially and exceeds 10%. This operating range
does not correspond to the typical operating conditions of a mod-
ern engine because is very inefcient working with high compres-
sion ratio and very small turbocharger efciencies. So, errors in this
range are not taken into account in the study and the hypothesis
can be veried for both parameters.
Concerning the optimized LP expansion ratio, the error is more
important and varies from 5% to 20% in the typical engine operat-
ing range. The assumption stated before cannot be veried for this
parameter and numerical values cannot be directly processed. Nev-
ertheless, curves for both calculations were checked and tenden-
cies look very similar as exemplied at Fig. 7 (bottom right) for a
total compression ratio equal to 5 bar. So, trends can be analyzed
in the same way to estimate the turbocharger efciencies inuence
(or HP turbine upstream temperature) on the optimized LP expan-
sion ratio.
Results obtained varying compressor efciencies and keeping
turbine efciencies constant were used for the parametric study
and are shown in Fig. 8. To have a better representation, gures
are plotted as a function of g
cLP
g
tLP
and g
cHP
g
tHP
, corresponding
to the LP turbocharger efciency and HP turbocharger efciency,
respectively. HP turbine upstream temperature is a proportional
term in the f groups, so its inuence can be analyzed by the same
way. T
30
= 1000 K is used as reference in the calculations and tur-
bine adiabatic conditions have been imposed in order to simplify
analysis and conclusions. A multiplication factor can be applied
to the graphics scales to have a visibility of the different results
as a function of the temperature.
Each operating conditions were calculated with an optimization
process to determine the LP expansion ratio which minimizes the
cylinder back pressure. Given that compression ratios are limited
to 6 bars to keep operating conditions at least representative of a
medium and light-duty Diesel engine. In these cases, the cylinder
back pressure is limited to acceptable values.
Fig. 8 shows the evolution of the ratio

c
/

t
, the brake thermal
efciency and the pumping mean effective pressure as a function
of turbocharger efciencies. Bottom plane scales have been reori-
ented for surfaces visualization optimization. The higher are the
g parameters, the higher are two-stage turbocharger performance.
It can be noted that this relation is not linear and the cylinder back
pressure increases much more than turbochargers efciency de-
crease. When turbochargers efciency decrease, brake thermal ef-
ciency and pumping mean effective pressure are very impacted
and overall system performance falls.
The optimized LP expansion ratio represents work distribution
between HP turbine and LP turbine. When the efciency of one tur-
bocharger stage is different to the efciency of the other stage,
wastegate regulates the pressure to have higher expansion ratio
in the stage with better efciency. When efciencies are the same,
expansion ratios are quite similar in both stages to minimize back
cylinder pressure.
4.4. Comparison between single-stage and two-stage performance
A single-stage turbocharger, which has the same characteristics
than the two-stage turbocharger studied before but with only the
HP stage, was analyzed and results were compared to the two-
stage system ones. Both systems have an aftercooler downstream
the HP compressor to cool the air mass ow entering to the
cylinders.
Fig. 9 shows the differences for the ratio

c
/

t
and the brake
thermal efciency. Given compression ratios are limited to 4 bar
to keep acceptable expansion ratio in a single-stage turbocharger.
The differences become more and more important as the LP stage
efciency increases and the HP stage efciency decreases. With
typical modern engine turbocharger efciencies (f parameter
assuming T
30
= 1000 K and adiabatic conditions in turbine and
compressor), it can be observed the real potential of the two-stage
system comparing to the single-stage one.
5. Conclusions
An analytical pre-design model able to determine optimum
two-stage architectures has been presented. Equations giving the
relationship between total compression ratio and total expansion
ratio as a function of basic engine parameters have been rst time
developed for two-stage systems similarly to well known existing
expressions for single stage turbocharging. This model can be eas-
ily solved having analytical solutions and contributes to under-
stand the complex interrelations of this type of engine
architecture. By using non-dimensional or engine size reduced
parameters the model results can be easily used for any engine
power requirement.
Using developed equations several studies have been carried
out to analyze different parameters that modify the overall perfor-
mance of the system, as an example of such analytical model po-
tential. Inuences of the expansion degree between LP and HP
turbine on the ratio

c
/

t
, the brake thermal efciency and the
pumping mean effective pressure were characterized and opti-
mum performance for given operating conditions was established.
As a result, a linear relation between Ope
rLP
and

c
can be ob-
served. This allows a pre-design of either the wastegate or the
VGT opening in the HP turbine; this is one of the main control deci-
sions in the two-stage architecture.
In addition, other performed studies are the inuence of inter-
cooler efciency, of turbocharger efciencies, of cooling uid tem-
perature and of exhaust temperature, which were analyzed for
different global compression ratios. The main conclusions obtained
have been that cooling uid temperature has stronger impact on
pumping mean effective pressure than intercooler efciency. Re-
sults show how the pmep varies from 0.6 bar to 0.3 bar modifying
the cooling uid temperature from 298 K (obtained with an exter-
nal air cooler) to 358 K (obtained with an internal-engine-water
cooler), while the pmep varies only from 0.6 bar to 0.3 bar
decreasing the intercooler efciency from 90% to 40% and keeping
the cooling uid temperature at 298 K. Moreover, a strong inu-
ence of turbocharger efciencies and exhaust temperature on
brake thermal efciency has been observed. As example, it can
be noted for the operating condition described in Table 2 brake
thermal efciency decrease from 41% to 38% varying compressor
efciencies from 70% to 50% or exhaust temperature from 1000 K
to 700 K.
Finally, the model was applied to compare single-stage and
two-stage architecture in terms of engine effective efciency for
the same engine operative conditions. At 2 bar of boost pressure,
which corresponds to the typical boost pressure used in light duty
engines, results obtained show two-stage systems provide a differ-
ence up to 10% in terms of brake thermal efciency, especially for
operating conditions where turbocharger efciencies are low.
When boost pressure raises up to 4 bar, which is a common case
for high downsized o medium duty engines, this difference can ex-
ceed 100% due to the difculties for single stage system for achiev-
ing high compression ratio with good efciency.
These analyses and the modeling philosophy associated could
be expanded to more areas of interaction between HP and LP tur-
bochargers, with a deeper study, new conclusions could be ob-
tained. In addition, the effect of EGR or turbochargers maps (to
address efciency variations in the different operative conditions)
could be included in these equations in order to make more com-
plex analyses. Authors consider these analyses a necessary tool to
understand main energy equilibrium factors that affect to HP and
1968 J. Galindo et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 19581969
LP coupling design. Moreover, it provides a very fast and highly
complementary tool to other approaches such as 1D gas-dynamic
models.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the economical support of this work
to Spanish Project TRA2007-65433 from Ministerio de Ciencia e
Innovacin. Olivier Varnier is indebted to the Ministerio de Ciencia
e Innovacin for its support through Grant AP2007-02868.
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