Experimental Validation of Vanes with Reduced Vaneless Space to Improve Transient Behavior of Variable Geometry Turbines

To increase the efficiency of a Variable Geometry Turbine at low massflow rates the vaneless space of the vanes is reduced. It is researched if this modification can reduce turbo lag. A turbine with modified vane ring is installed in the exhaust of a naturally aspirated engine and wide open throttle accelerations are performed to test the turbine performance.

The new (reduced vaneless space) vane configuration induced a lower exhaust backpressure which allowed the engine to accelerate faster. The acceleration from 1500 to 3000 RPM was an average of 8 % faster for the new vane configuration. This in turn increased the massflow rate through the turbine which caused the power available to the turbine to be similar in compared vane rings. The initial turbine speeds was lower for the new vane configuration but it quickly caught up with the conventional configuration because the turbine acceleration was higher. The turbine efficiency was higher for the new vane configuration in most cases. The mean increase in turbine efficiency during the initial acceleration was 4 %. The turbine efficiency at the end of the acceleration was similar for both vane configurations.

These experiments indicate that it is probable that decreasing the vaneless space in a variable geometry turbine will increase turbine performance during vehicle acceleration.