Specific Work of Turbo Machines - Pumps, Compressors and Fans

Specific work of pumps, fans, compressors and turbines

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Specific work is the work per unit weight. Specific work in turbo machines as fans, pumps, compressors or turbines has the SI-units N.m/kg = J/kg = m2/s2.

Specific Work of a Pump or Fan

Specific work of a pump or fan working with an incompressible fluid can be expressed as:

w = (p2 - p1) / ρ (1)

where

w = specific work (N.m/kg = J/kg = m2/s2)

p = pressure (N/m2)

ρ = density (kg/m3)

Specific Work of a Turbine

Specific work of a turbine with an incompressible fluid can be expressed as:

w = (p1 - p2) / ρ (2)

Specific Work of a Compressor

A compressor works with compressible fluids and the specific work for an isentropic compressor process can be expressed with the help of:

p1 v1κ = p2 v2κ (3)

where

v = volume (m3)

κ = cp / cv - ratio of specific heats (J/kg.K)

Specific work:

w = κ / (κ -1) R T1 [( p2 / p1)((κ-1)/κ) - 1] (4)

where

R = individual gas constant (J/kg.K)

T = absolute temperature (K)

Specific Work of a Gas Turbine

A gas turbine expands a compressible fluid and the specific work can be expressed as:

w = κ / (κ -1) R T1 [1 - ( p2 / p1)((κ-1)/κ)] (5)

Head in Turbomachines

The specific work can on basis of the energy equation be expressed with the head as:

w = g h (6)

where

h = head (m)

g = acceleration of gravity (m/s2)

Transformed to express head:

h = w / g (7)

Example - Specific Work of a Water Pump

A water pump works between 1 bar (1 105 N/m2) and 10 bar (10 105 N/m2). The specific work can be calculated with (1):

w = (p2 - p1) / ρ = ( (10 105 N/m2) - (1 105 N/m2) ) / (1000 kg/m3)

    = 900 N.m/kg

Dividing by acceleration of gravity the head can be calculated using (7):

hwater = (900 N.m/kg) / (9,81 kg/s2)

    = 91,74 (m) water column

Example - Specific Work of an Air Compressor

An air compressor works with air at 20 oC compressing the air from 1 bar absolute (1 105 N/m2) to 10 bar (10 105 N/m2). The specific work can be expressed with (4):

w = κ / (κ -1) R T1 [( p2 / p1)((κ-1)/κ) - 1]

    = ( (1,4 J/kg.K)/ (1,4 - 1 J/kg.K) ) (286,9 J/kg. K) (273 + 20 K) [( (10 105 N/m2) / (1 105 N/m2) )((1,4 - 1 J/kg.K)/(1,4 J/kg.K)) - 1 ]

    = 274200 N.m/kg

where

κair = 1,4 (J/kg.K) - ratio of specific heat air

Rair = 286.9 (J/kg. K) - individual gas constant air

Dividing by acceleration of gravity the head can be calculated using (7):

hair = (274200 N.m/kg) / (9,81 kg/s2)

    = 27951 (m) air column

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Related Topics

  • Fluid Mechanics The study of fluids - liquids and gases. Involves various properties of the fluid, such as velocity, pressure, density and temperature, as functions of space and time.
  • Pumps Piping systems and pumps - centrifugal pumps, displacement pumps - cavitation, viscosity, head and pressure, power consumption and more

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