1.
The Fundamental Goal: To Increase Pressure
Think of a compressor as a reverse wind turbine.
A turbine uses high-pressure fluid (gas or steam) to spin a rotor and produce work.
A compressor uses work (from a motor or turbine) to squeeze a fluid, increasing its
pressure.
This is crucial because high-pressure air is needed for:
Jet Engines & Gas Turbines: To efficiently burn fuel and create thrust/power.
Refrigerators & AC Units: To compress refrigerant so it can release heat.
Industrial Processes: To power tools, move materials, or in chemical synthesis.
2. How Do You Increase Pressure? The Two Ways
There are two primary ways to increase the pressure of a fluid:
1. Add Energy as Heat: Heating a gas in a closed container increases its pressure (like
a pressure cooker). This is not how compressors work. It's inefficient for moving
fluids.
2. Do Work on the Fluid: This is the compressor's method. By doing work on the fluid,
you force it into a smaller volume or you decelerate it, both of which result in a
pressure increase.
A compressor does work on the fluid to raise its "Stagnation Pressure"—the pressure the
fluid would have if it were brought to rest.
3. The Core Mechanism: Exchanging Velocity and Pressure
Compressors operate on the principles of Bernoulli's Equation and Newton's Second Law.
The process has two main steps, repeated over and over:
Step 1: Add Kinetic Energy (Velocity) to the Fluid
A set of spinning airfoils called Rotor Blades does work on the fluid.
Think of it like a fan. The blades accelerate the fluid and push it in a specific
direction. This increases the fluid's velocity.
According to Newton's Second Law (F = ma), to accelerate the fluid, the blades must
exert a force on it. The equal and opposite reaction means the fluid exerts a force on
the blades, which is what requires torque and power to drive the compressor.
Step 2: Convert that Kinetic Energy into Pressure
Immediately after the rotor, the fast-moving fluid enters a set of stationary airfoils
called Stator Vanes.
The stators are shaped like diffusers. They act like a diverging nozzle or a funnel in
reverse, slowing the fluid down.
According to Bernoulli's principle, when a fluid slows down in a controlled way, its
kinetic energy is converted into pressure energy. This is the crucial step where
pressure rises.
This Rotor-Stator pair is called a "Stage". A single compressor has many stages in a row to
achieve a large total pressure rise. The rotor adds velocity, the stator converts that velocity
into pressure.
Diagram
Code
4. The Physics in Detail: Velocity Triangles and "Blade-Speak"
To understand the design, engineers use velocity triangles to decompose the fluid's motion at
different points.
Absolute Velocity (C): The fluid's speed relative to the stationary compressor casing.
Blade Velocity (U): The speed of the rotor blades themselves (U = ω × r).
Relative Velocity (W): The fluid's speed relative to the moving blade. This is what
the blade "feels". C = W + U (vector addition).
The Process Explained with Velocities:
1. Inlet: Fluid approaches the rotor. Its absolute velocity (C₁) is mostly axial (straight
through the machine).
2. Through the Rotor: The rotating blades impart a whirl or tangential
component (C_u) to the velocity. The relative velocity (W) is carefully guided by the
blade's shape.
3. Exit the Rotor: The absolute velocity (C₂) is now high and has a significant swirl
component.
4. Through the Stator: The stationary stator vanes, shaped like curved tunnels, remove
the swirl and slow the flow down to a mostly axial direction again (C₃), converting
the kinetic energy into pressure.
The measure of how much pressure rise occurs in the rotor vs. the stator is called the Degree
of Reaction.
5. Types of Compressors
The description above is for an Axial Compressor, where the flow moves parallel to the axis
of rotation. They are efficient and used in jet engines.
The other main type is a Centrifugal Compressor:
The fluid enters at the center (eye) of a spinning impeller.
Centrifugal force flings the fluid outward to the rim, dramatically increasing its
velocity and some pressure.
The high-speed fluid then enters a stationary diffuser (volute), which slows it down
and converts the kinetic energy into a large pressure rise.
Analogy: Spinning a bucket of water on a rope – the water is forced to the outside of
the bucket.
