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Turbopumps increase liquid or gas pressure to improve engine performance. They use rotor pumps with a driving turbine and are built in centrifugal or axial flow designs. Centrifugal pumps produce high pressure, while axial flow pumps are more efficient. Turbopumps can be difficult to design and operate at low efficiencies, with problems such as recirculation and backflow common. Careful consideration is required when using turbopump technology in precise machines such as rockets.
A turbo pump is a pump designed to increase the pressure of a liquid or gas with the aim of increasing engine power or performance. Applications for these pumps include car engines, rockets and high powered vehicles. Most turbopumps include some sort of rotor pump combined with a driving turbine. Nearly all turbopumps are built in either a centrifugal or axial flow design. Despite the many potential uses, they are often considered difficult to design, and loss of some efficiency is considered common.
While the specific internal workings of a turbopump depend on the application and design, the basic goal is the same. The gas or fluid is pumped into a chamber, where it is forced to a higher pressure by blades rotating along an axis. Many times pumps are designed with specific shapes to encourage higher pressure and the delivery of that pressurized material to a specific location. For example, pressurized fuel can be delivered in some engines to increase the efficiency of combustion within the engine.
There are generally two main designs used to create turbopumps. Most often, a turbopump will be based on the concept of a centrifugal pump. In these, the liquid is injected along an axis and the rotating rotors push the material to the edges of a progressively widening diffuser. These designs can often produce the highest pressures due to the relatively unrestricted flow of materials through the diffuser. As a result, a centrifugal pump might be seen more often in vehicles that require large horsepower, such as rockets and tanks.
An axial flow pump, on the other hand, usually produces lower pressure with greater efficiency. Fluid is still released at one end of a chamber, usually along an axis. The difference is that the rotating blades physically push the material to a specified location instead of relying on centrifugal forces. Often combined with other pumps, an axial flow pump is considered easier to design and use in machines that don’t require large amounts of horsepower or pressurized fuel.
In general, turbopumps can be difficult to design and often operate at low efficiencies. Depending on whether a turbopump is centrifugal or axial flow, problems such as recirculation and backflow can often be expected. Most of these problems are with fuel or other materials not reaching the desired pressure the first time through the chamber. With car engines and other low-powered machines, the loss of efficiency can be tolerated. In precise machines such as rockets, careful consideration is usually required when using turbopump technology.
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