Unsteady gasdynamic modeling of double-entry turbine integrated with engine exhaust manifolds

Abstract

Pulsating turbocharging system with a dual-entry turbine is always applied for the utilization of pulsating energy and improvement of low-speed torque for the internal combustion engine. With the enhancement of pulsating energy via the pulsating turbocharging system and dual-entry turbine, the interaction between exhaust manifolds and dual-entry turbine cannot be disregarded by either side when confronted by pulsating inflows. This paper proposes a gasdynamic model of double-entry turbine coupling with exhaust manifolds to examine the interaction effect between turbine and exhaust manifolds. This gasdynamic model can predict the propagation of pressure and mass flow rate from exhaust manifolds to the double-entry turbine as well as transient turbine performance. Predictions of this gasdynamic model are validated against detailed 3-D simulation and show good consistency with 3-D results. The performance and energy distribution of the double-entry turbine coupled to exhaust manifolds under various pulsating conditions are thoroughly discussed via this reduced-order model. Results show that with increasing frequency or amplitude of pulsating inflows imposed on inlets of the exhaust manifolds, the performance of the entire system deviates from the quasi-steady hypothesis, particularly the swallowing capacity. This phenomenon indicates that the matched operating point between the turbine and engine deviates from the quasi-steady conditions. In addition, exhaust manifolds geometries have a notable impact on turbine performance and energy distributions in exhaust systems. It is found that with an increase in the volume or length of the exhaust manifolds, the pulse at the turbine inlet is amplified, and available energy at the turbine inlet is increased, even though the inlet conditions of exhaust manifolds remain unchanged. This study may provide a guiding effect for the optimization of the turbo-engine matching process and the development of high-performance turbocharged engines.