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The Turbocharger Oil and Labyrinth

The document discusses the oil sealing system used in turbochargers. It uses a dynamic differential pressure sealing system. At the turbine end, spinning oil and piston rings prevent oil from leaving the center housing. At the compressor end designs vary but involve centrifugal force throwing oil outwards where it drops down.

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axon-tech
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54 views5 pages

The Turbocharger Oil and Labyrinth

The document discusses the oil sealing system used in turbochargers. It uses a dynamic differential pressure sealing system. At the turbine end, spinning oil and piston rings prevent oil from leaving the center housing. At the compressor end designs vary but involve centrifugal force throwing oil outwards where it drops down.

Uploaded by

axon-tech
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Turbocharger Oil and

Gas Sealing System


Many instances of oil leakage are wrongly blamed
on aperfectly functioning turbo. Understanding
how the sealing system works helps greatly in
diagnosing possible root causes on the vehicle and
will minimize wasted workshop time. Turbocharger
System Diagnostics Guide may help you through
the process.

The Oil Seals

Vehicles and engines use a variety of oil seals. The


most common of these is the lip type contact seal,
which are highly effective, working with rotating
shafts like the crankshaft. If one of these starts to
leak, it is relatively easy to diagnose and rectify the
problem, by replacing the seal. A turbo does not
use this type of seal, due to the high speed,
extremely high temperatures and the large shaft
clearances necessary for correct operation. If oil is
found to be leaking from a turbo, firstly it is more
complex to diagnose correctly and secondly there
is no pOssibility to just change a seal, like on a
crankshaft. Changing the turbo may not cure the
problem, as the oil leak is very often just a
symptom of some other problem on the vehicle.
Garrett
NGMOT

5
Oil Seals

Dynamic, Differential Pressure


Sealing System
Turbochargers use a dynamic, differential pressure
sealing system. Dynamic, because it utilizes the
rotation of the shaft and differential pressure
because it takes advantage of the normal pressure
differences between the three housings of the
turbo: under most running conditions, the pressure
in the turbine housing is higher than the center
housing and the pressure in the compressor
housing is higher than the center housing.

Garrett Garrett
Turbine End Sealing System
At the turbine end, the sealing system is simple.
After the oil has finished itswork in the bearings, it
travels along the shaft until it reaches the hub,
where the spinning oil thrower literally throws the
oiloutwards by centrifugal force and it meets the
inside face of the center housing where it drops
down under gravity to be collected by the oil drain
and returned to the engine sump. In addition to
that, one or twO piston rings are used which fit into
a very accurately machined "stepped bore". Unlike
the piston rings inside the engine cylinders, these
piston rings do not move. During the assembly
process, the piston rings are compressed and once
they are correctly located, the piston ring never
changes position.

A natural feature of any piston ring is that it can


never be a100% seal, because there must be a
running clearance at the two ends, plus clearances
all around the rectangular section of the ring.
However, in the turbo, this natural feature is used
to advantage as some of the high-pressure exhaust
gas from the turbine inlet passes behind the
turbine wheel head to provide a very effective
pressurized seal around the piston ring, to prevent
any oil from passing out of the center housing. The
tightly controlled piston ring clearances allow a
very small flowW of exhaust gas to pass from the
turbine housing into the center housing, further
helping to keep the oil where it should be. On
some turbos, we may use bleed holes in the heat
shroud to further increase the pressure in the
piston ring area.
Garrett
ADVANCING MOT IDN

Turbine End Sealing System


Compressor End Sealing System
At the compressor end, the sealing system is more
complex and there are many different designs to
work with specific turbo models and applications.

Garrett
ADVANcING HOTION

As the oil finishes its work in the journal bearing, it


spills out and is thrown outwards under centrifugal
force by the back face of the thrust collar, whilst
the oil from the thrust bearing is also thrown
outwards by the rotating thrust collar where it
again drops down under gravity to be collected by
the oil drain. The thrust collar may be a simple disc,
or it may be a combined thrust collar incorporating
an oil/air separator and thrust spacer inCorporating
one, two or even three piston rings depending on
the application for the turbo.

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