Turbocharging of vehicle engines

The aim of this article is to give the reader a better understanding of the operation of the turbocharging system of a road vehicle engine, and to guide him in determining the main elements of the supercharging loop.

The operating characteristics of the compressor and turbine and their interaction with engine behavior will be studied. A simple method for defining the main components of a supercharging system will be proposed. The various technologies currently in use will be presented, and their future development will be discussed.

This article will be limited to the application of small turbochargers used on car and truck engines. The machines used on large industrial engines have their own specific technology, which will not be covered in this article.

Since detailed study of the compressor and turbine stages has already been the subject of specialized articles in this treatise, we will confine ourselves to presenting the operating characteristics of centrifugal compressors and centripetal turbines used for pressure ratios of the order of 3:1.