-1

Suppose that a generator is connected to the turbine. I have a large amount of compressed air which will be acting as the driving force for the turbine.

For the above case will I be only left with the turbine used in the thermal powerplants or is there any more efficient alternative for compressed air?

Tank
  • 97
  • 1
  • 8
  • Your second paragraph does not make much sense to me. I think you need to rewrite it to clarify the question. Also, how does your air pressure compare with the rated steam pressure for the turbines? – Transistor Oct 03 '20 at 21:59
  • 1
    The turbine will be efficient with the fluid at the pressure and temperature it was designed for. – Solar Mike Oct 03 '20 at 22:46
  • @SolarMike The variables you need to set to their design values to achieve the design efficiency will be the characteristic numbers of the fluid-turbine system, not dimensional quantities like pressure and temperature. The characteristic numbers will include specific speed and specific diameter, along with one or two extras to account for effects of fluid compressibility (rarefaction ratio and polytropic index?) Although one would need to sanity-check the dimensional pressure and temperature to make sure they won't melt the turbine or burst its casing. – Daniel Hatton Oct 03 '20 at 23:34
  • 2
    Compressed air is a reasonable approximation to an ideal gas. Steam is not. Whatever inlet conditions you use, your turbine will not be very efficient, but the nice feature of axial turbines is that they always "sort of work," unlike axial compressors which may not work at all if they choke or stall. – alephzero Oct 04 '20 at 00:24
  • 1
    How much air is available? What pressure? what power do you expect/need? Are you aware that pneumatic motors exist? What exactly do you want to achieve? – mart Oct 05 '20 at 09:50

1 Answers1

-1

Yes, but the efficiency will be low.

You can run a vehicle on air, efficiency will be low compared to electricity however. Mine shafts also use compressed air systems because they require less wiring. Also, they are able to work at high temperature and pressure without worrying about fragile electrical drives.

I am not aware of any power plants using this but it doesnt seem especially difficult. Comrpessed air lifts and similar systems have 30-50% efficiency in applications normal fuels have 60% or more efficient.

D J Sims
  • 1
  • 9