Why Is A Turbo A 'compressor'

[VB-]

so, why have they been labelled as that, when in fact, they are the complete opposite. a turbo is actually a blower and superchargers are more litterally compressors (bar centrifugal, but they're gay anyway)

so does anyone know why they have been incorrectly named so?

and please dont turn this into a turbo vs. supercahrger thread, i dont care about your opinions of centrifugal chargers either lol

cheers,

Ben

[zebra]

Probably because back in the day, they used to use cabin "blowers" off aircraft as superchargers, where a mechanicly drive air pump was used to feed fresh air into the cabin / cockpits, were adapted to engines to make them faster.

and IMO a turbo compresses air and a supercharger (exept centrifugal superchargers cause I hate them ) just simply forces more air into the intake which the engine cant swollow hence positive pressure in the intake.

[zoomzoom]

all the terms youve described are just slang really, they are by no means standardised.

when it comes down to basics, exhaust or belt driven charger are still superchargers. they both increase (super) the mass of air (charge air) going into the engine. turbo is just a term to refer to the turbine in their design

[R32Abuser]

a turbo is a turbine-it consists of a compressor "fan/blades" and a turbine "fan/blade" on a shared shaft. It is an air compressor whereby its sole aim is to force more air into the intake than was previously there, so in essence it is a compressor, but i see where you're coming from. I think the main reason why they named them a turbocharger is to distinguish them from superchargers.

[FATAZZ]

Ineresting topic. Notice how Merc's have Kompressor badges too. that means supercharged doesn't it?

[2BNVS]

yep

[VB-]

R32 abuser, i dont see turbos as compressors, they move a shitload of air, air hits restriction (your motor not being able to swallow it) and this is what generates pressure, whereas superchargers actually compress the air before feeding it into the motor.

[zoomzoom]

R32 abuser, i dont see turbos as compressors, they move a shitload of air, air hits restriction (your motor not being able to swallow it) and this is what generates pressure, whereas superchargers actually compress the air before feeding it into the motor.

what?

[VB-]

a turbo moves alot of air, when that air has no place to go, pressure builds.

superchagers squash air to generate pressure, then feed it into the motor

[66yostagea]

Same day, differnt pressure.

[zoomzoom]

air may be forced into the manifold by centrifugal force or by a positive displacement type device. pressure is simply a result of mass volume and temperature.

whatever youre using to compress the air, its still compressed air.

on a side note, moving "shitloads" of air doesnt necessarily make pressure. a fan can move a lot of air but cant create pressure. at least 0.001 psi doesnt count.

note many of those ebay electric "superchargers", which are high speed fans that push a large CFM, but once the pressure builds past atmospheric pressure theyd be lucky to push 1 psi in some cases.

[HackerX]

AFAIK

Turbochargers are internal compressors (The air is compressed leaving the turbine). The fan blades are designed to compress air coming in, as opposed to just being a pump.

There are different types of superchargers, some are internal compressors (and essentially work the same as a turbocharger) and some are external compressors, i.e. they're just a pump and the compression occurs in the manifold.

The term "blower" would then refer to any supercharger that acts as a pump and not a compressor.

My friend wikipedia has more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbocharger - Note "compressor"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roots_type_supercharger - Note "pump"

[VB-]

zoomzoom, if you read over what i said again, i said the turbo moves the air, and when it hits the restriction, the pressure builds. i dont think turbos actually compress the air, they 'blow' alot of it, it has no place to go, so the pressure builds up. superchargers 'compress' the air before feeding it into the manifold. are you with me? yes its still pressurized air, at the end of the day its the same shit, but they both get there in different ways, and have been named accordingly, but the names they are given seem to be the exact opposite of what they are. thats how it works in my head anyway

hackerX. read the turbocharger one again, it also calls the turbo a pump

A Turbocharger, often called a turbo, is a small radial fan pump

i think the wording on that site isnt the best

what i didnt know was that the turbine actually compresses the air as it enters, never heard this theory before, even wiki says its a pump lol

[HackerX]

It implies being a pump as well

IMO, a turbo's compressor wheel compresses the air in the same way that a pipe with one end larger than the other would compress air. Where as your typical supercharger just takes air and pushes it through at a greater rate than natural flow. Any compression happens post-supercharger.

I'm happy to be wrong on this though.

[1R34SON]

Turbo's sole job is to suck hard and release at will. (like girls lol jk girls.. but sort of still the same).

Because turbos are constantly compressing and releasing its power almost simultaniously, the compression (caused by the impeller) is the main man.

Flow is proportional to impeller speed.

Differential pressure across an impeller is proportional to the square of the impeller speed.

Power absorbed by the impeller varies with the cube of the impeller speed.

Yes Turbos Suck and Blow but all relies on the dynamics of the impeller which creates small degree of compression. Turbos are also often called a centrifugal compressor, a dynamic compressor or even an aerodynamic compressor.

So u cant really call Turbos just "blowers" or "suckers" because they do both. The master here is the dynamics of the impeller (The director of Compresson if u will).

Now Superchargers.. who bloody cares. lol na correct me if im wrong but they rely on compression but concentrate more on the pushing (blowing) for its power.

That sound about right?

Edited October 9, 2008 by 1R34SON

[1R34SON]

first paragraph correction.. "constantly 'sucking'* and releasing"

[mad082]

both turbos and superchargers are compressors. and they both cause pressure in the same way. they both force air in and when it has nowhere to go the pressure increases. the only difference is how they are driven, which does mean that they have different properties. a turbo is driven by the exhaust, so the the throttle has to be open to create boost, as the engine needs to be pushing air out in order for the turbo to be forcing air in.

a supercharger on the other hand is driven by a pulley from the motor so they will create boost regaurdless of throttle opening. this is because they are forcing the air in even if the throttle is shut. however some superchargers won't create boost at idle. and i'm sure that with the right compressor and exhaust housing sizes you could make a turbo create boost at idle (without the use of an anti-lag system).

at 100% throttle the only thing causing restriction (which creates positive pressure) is the ratio of how much air the engine takes in compared to how much air is being forced by the compressor (either a turbo or a supercharger). the higher the ratio of air forced in to the air used determines the boost pressure.

also about the whole turbo sucking thing. a supercharger will suck the air once the throttle is opened. but at idle it isn't sucking in any more air because very little air is being used. at the same token that a turbo isn't really sucking any air at idle either. so once the throttle is opened, both a turbo and a supercharger will both suck and blow. a supercharger can't blow air into a motor without sucking the air in first. that would be like trying to blow up a balloon without taking a breath in first.