How to Calculate Polytropic Efficiency | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/print/how_5393724_calculate-polytrop...

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How to Calculate Polytropic Efficiency

By Grant McKenzie, eHow Contributor

Polytropic
efficiency is a
value used to
describe the
efficiency of a
compressor. A
polytropic
process is more
difficult to
analyze than a
system under
the isentropic or
adiabatic
assumptions.
The difficulty
arises from the
fact that heat
flows in and out
of the system,
and this added
energy changes
some of the
basic gas
properties, specifically the ratio of specific heats. For air, this value is a constant equal to 1.4. For a
polytropic process, each new calculation requires a new value for this ratio.

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How to Calculate Polytropic Efficiency | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/print/how_5393724_calculate-polytrop...

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions
things you'll need:
Scientific calculator

1 Obtain the pressure ratio and density ration across the

compressor stage you are measuring. These can come from
measurements taken at inlet and outlet positions, or you can
calculate them based on your compressor's design
characteristics. These values are from compressibility tables,
just to illustrate the process:
p2/p1 = 4.5
rho2/rho1 = 2.667

2 Calculate the value for the polytropic ration of specific heats

by dividing the natural logarithm of the pressure ratio by the
natural logarithm of the density ratio. In this example, "n"
represent this ratio.
n = 1.504077/0.980954
n = 1.533927

3 Determine the value for the ratio of specific heats for the gas
you are using in your compressor. For air, the value is gamma
= 1.4.

4 Use "n" and gamma to calculate the polytropic efficiency, or

eta.
eta = (n(gamma - 1))/(gamma(n - 1))
eta = (1.533927*0.4)/(1.4*0.533927)
eta = 0.821

5 Convert the polytropic efficiency value to a percentage for

reporting purposes, or leave it as is if you intend to use it in
further calculations.
eta = 0.821*100
eta = 82.1 percent

Tips & Warnings

Keep as many decimal places as practical throughout all of the calculations in order to maintain
a high degree of accuracy.

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