Design of self-regulated flow control mechanism for a turbocharger gas stand test facility.

Abstract

A turbocharger test facility is essential to evaluate the turbocharger’s performance by mapping the turbine and compressor operating conditions. This paper aims to design a self-regulated airflow control mechanism for the turbocharger test facility in UTM LoCARtic. Previously, the gas stand airflow was regulated manually. However, the vast variety of turbocharger design and operating conditions increase the difficulty to continuously and precisely regulate the airflow manually. In this paper, the valve and actuator selection, the mechanical design and the control loop design will be presented. Four valves model have been considered, namely globe type, ball type, butterfly valve and gate valve. The final selection was based on the flow coefficient (Kv), pressure drop, stability and accuracy. The actuation system is also one major consideration to obtain the best accuracy and response time. An electric actuator helps to achieve a self-regulated flow control mechanism. In conclusion, the globe type valve was chosen because of the flow accuracy, flow stability and the Kv value is close to the gas stand’s requirement.