Influence of the lubricating oil pressure and temperature on the performance at low speeds of a centrifugal compressor for an automotive engine

Currently, turbocharged common rail high pressure direct injection diesel engines are regarded as state-of-the-art. The use of the turbocharging technique in gasoline engines is also increasing, in order to achieve further fuel consumption reductions via downsizing. As the specific power outputs of both diesel and gasoline engines rise, the low-end torque behavior of such engines and turbo-lag are becoming increasingly critical. This is primarily a result of the specific characteristics of turbochargers and internal combustion engines themselves. When it comes to matching a turbocharger to a given engine, the compressor map over the entire operating area has to be known with sufficient accuracy, especially at low turbocharger speeds corresponding to the engine low part loads (i.e. urban traffic). This map is established assuming the adiabatic behavior of the compressor. While this assumption is acceptable at rather high speeds, it is no longer valid for low speeds, and for that reason, the compressor map in this area is not provided by the turbocharger manufacturer. Worldwide, there are no standard guidelines for the correct measurement and calculation of turbocharger maps at low speeds. In collaboration with a French automotive manufacturer, a special method was therefore designed and applied within the laboratory LGP2ES at Cnam Paris in order to obtain the compressor low speed map. A special torquemeter was fitted in a cold turbocharger test bench, affording measurements from 30,000 rpm to 120,000 rpm. The experimental results presented in this paper show the combined effect of the lubricating oil temperature and pressure on the compressor performance, expressed in terms of compression ratio, compressor power, isentropic efficiency and mechanical efficiency. These results afford a better estimation of the compressor map at low speeds.