TYPES OF COMPRESSORS

The main types of compressors used in industrial refrigeration are screw,reciprocating, centrifugal, and rotary vane. Another type that is manufactured in large numbers is the scroll compressor, but so far these compressors are not available in the size normally encountered in industrial refrigeration

Styles of construction:
1. Open type compressor:
the shaft extends out of the compressor and is connected externally to the electric motor which drives the compressor. 2. Hermetically sealed compressor: the entire assembly is encapsulated and only the refrigerant lines and electrical connections penetrate the housing. 3. Semihermetic compressor: the heads of the compressors can be removed to gain access to the pistons and valves for servicing. Semihermetic compressors available on the market are generally limited to a maximum refrigeration capacity of about 150 kW (40 tons of refrigeration). In either a hermetic or semihermetic unit, the refrigerant is in contact with the windings of the motor, so halocarbon refrigerants which do not attack copper are used in this type of compressor. Since ammonia will react with copper, ammonia compressors are of the open type.

THE ROLE OF RECIPROCATING COMPRESSORS

The screw compressor might be run for 30,000 to 60,000 hours before overhaul (low cost of maintenance). Reciprocating compressors can be operated between 10,000 and to 20,000 hours before overhaul.

The efficiencies of the reciprocating and screw compressors are of the same order of magnitude at full load. In refrigeration capacities less than about 350 kW (100 tons of refrigeration) the reciprocating compressor is slightly more efficient. At part load, the reciprocating compressor with cylinder unloaders almost always enjoys a higher efficiency than the screw compressor. The first cost of a single reciprocating compressor is normally less than that of a screw compressor of the same pumping capacity. The first cost comparison switches in favor of the screw compressor in large sizes when one screw compressor can provide the capacity of multiple reciprocating compressors. The screw compressor can work against higher compression ratios than can the reciprocating compressor. The first cost of a single reciprocating compressor is normally less than that of a screw compressor of the same pumping capacity. The first cost comparison switches in favor of the screw compressor in large sizes when one screw compressor can provide the capacity of multiple reciprocating compressors. The screw compressor can work against higher compression ratios than can the reciprocating compressor. The maximum refrigeration capacity of the largest reciprocating compressor available on the market in a typical highstage application is approximately 900 kW (250 tons of refrigeration). One large screw compressor can deliver over 4000 kW (1200 tons). The owner of a largecapacity plant will achieve lower capital costs by choosing screw compressors, and accommodate the machines in much less space. If the refrigeration demand on the plant is greater than that capable of being provided by one reciprocating compressor, two units would be needed, which is more costly than one screw compressor, but the reciprocating compressor installation has the advantage of having one unit as a backup if the other is out of service.

HOW THE SCREW COMPRESSOR WORKS

A cross-sectional view of two pairs of rotational elements, called rotors, of the screw compressor with two different profiles is shown in Figure 5.1. The male rotor here has four lobes and the female rotor.six gullies, and this combination of numbers of lobe/gullies is most common. Other combinations, such 3/5 and 5/7 are sometimes available. Another view of the rotors presenting the third dimension is shown in Figure 5.2. Some of the popular nominal diameters1 of the rotors are 125, 160, 200, 250, and 320 mm. Manufacturers often offer two or three rotor lengths for each rotor diameter and the length-to-diameter ratios usually fall in a range of 1.12 to 1.70. The rotors slip into a housing as indicated by the exploded view, as shown in Figure 5.3, that also shows some of the main elements of the compressor.

FIGURE 5.1 Screw compressor rotors with (a) symmetric profile, and (b) asymmetric profile

FIGURE 5. Screw compressor rotors

The separate processes experienced by the vapor in passing through the compressor are (1) filling of a cavity with suction gas, (2) sealing of gas between the rotors and housing, (3) reducing the volume of the cavity to perform the compression, and (4) uncovering the discharge opening to expel the compressed gas to the discharge line. One way to picture these processes is by observing a side view of the screws in Figure 5.4 whose threads move to the right as the rotors turn. The suction vapor enters the top of the rotors, and as the rotors turn a cavity appears at 1. Cavity 2 is continuing to fill, and cavity 3 is completely filled. Cavity 4 has now trapped gas between its threads and the housing. Cavity 5 is in the compression process with the volume shrinking as the cavity bears against the end of the housing. When the thread of the rotor reaches the discharge

FIGURE 5.4 Visualization of the intake, compression and discharge processes of a screw compressor.

port, the compressed gas flows into the discharge line. A translation process is indicated in Figure 5.4, which is an interval occurring between the time the cavity is sealed until compression begins. This translation process takes up about 30 of the rotation of the rotor.

FIGURE 5.5

FIGURE 5.5 Pressures during intake, translation, compression, and discharge when (a) the dischargeline pressure equals, (b) when the discharge-line pressure is higher, and (c) the dischargeline pressure is lower than the built-in discharge pressure

FIGURE 5.6 (a) Over-compression and (b) under-compression shown on a pressure-volume diagram where the area under the curves indicate work applied to the refrigerant.

PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF A BASIC SCREW COMPRESSOR

To begin the explanation of why the screw compressor possesses its unique capacity, power, and efficiency characteristics, a basic machine will be analyzed. This compressor is assumed to be operating at constant speed and without the capacity control capabilities that will be introduced in Section 5.8. A fundamental characteristic of the basic screw compressor is its built-in volume ratio, vi, which is defined as follows:

In contrast to the reciprocating compressor, the screw compressor has no suction and discharge valves but accepts a certain volume of suction gas in a cavity and reduces this volume a specific amount before discharge. Some typical values of vi used by manufacturers are 2.6, 3.6, 4.2, and 5.0. For a given rotor diameter

each different vi is associated with a different rotor length. Each vi corresponds to a certain pressure ratio that varies from one refrigerant to another. Table 5.1 presents estimates of pressure ratios using the following equation that is applicable to an isentropic compression of a perfect gas:

where k=ratio of specific heats, cp/cv, which is approximately 1.29 for ammonia and 1.18 for R-22. If the pressure ratio against which the compressor pumps is precisely equal to that developed within the compressor, then the discharge port is uncovered at

TABLE 5.1 Pressure ratios corresponding to built-in volume ratios for ideal compression.

the instant that the pressure of the refrigerant in the cavity has been raised to that of the discharge line, and the compressed gas is expelled into the discharge line by the continued rotation of the screws. This situation is represented by Figure 5.5a, which shows the pressure changes in one cavity between the screws as rotation progresses. It is rare, however, that the developed pressure within the compressor precisely matches that prevailing in the discharge line. Figures 5.5b and 5.5c demonstrate what happens when the developed pressure is lower or higher, respectively, than the discharge-line pressure. In Figure 5.5b the compressed refrigerant has not yet reached the dischargeline pressure when the discharge port is uncovered, so there is a sudden rush of gas from the discharge line into the compressor that almost instantaneously increases the pressure. Thereafter, the continued rotation of the screws expels this gas as well as the refrigerant ready to be discharged. The third situation, as shown in Figure 5.5c, occurs when the discharge-line pressure is lower than that achieved within the compressor. At the instant the discharge port is uncovered there is a sudden rush of gas out of the compressor into the discharge line. Another picture of the drawbacks of the mismatch of the internally developed pressure and that in the discharge line is shown in the pressure-volume diagrams of Figure 5.6 which concentrate only on the compression and discharge processes. Since the area under a compression or expansion curve on the pressure-volume diagram indicates work done in the process, the horn in Figure 5.6a indicates nonproductive work in the process. Losses are caused by unrestrained expansions that are the result of gas under pressure venting freely from a high pressure to

a low pressure. Unrestrained expansions occur in both overcompression and undercompression, but the most penalizing of the two is in overcompression where a limited volume of gas in the compressor vents to the extensive volume of the discharge line. The losses are less in under- compression where the gas expands unrestrained from the extensive volume of the discharge line to fill the compressor cavity.

FIGURE 5.7 Adiabatic compression efficiency of ammonia screw compressors.

ADIABATIC COMPRESSION EFFICIENCY OF A SCREW COMPRESSOR

The compression efficiency of reciprocating compressors is strongly influenced by the pressure ratio, and for a screw compressor the additional influence is that of the built-in volume ratio, as shown in Figure 5.7. The pattern is that the efficiency reaches a peak at a certain dischargetosuction pressure ratio, and the pressure ratio for optimum a is a function of the built-in volume ratio. The mechanisms of how the screw compressor works now are used to explain some of the trends appearing in Figure 5.7. The ideal situation is where the pressure in the cavity during compression builds up at the instant the discharge port is uncovered to precisely the dischargeline pressure, as in Figure 5.5a. Table 5.1 predicted pressure ratios

corresponding to several built-in volume ratios for ammonia and R-22 and shows that the pressure ratio is higher than the volume ratio. The efficiency curves in Figure 5.7 reach their peaks at pressure ratios slightly higher than those shown in Table 5.1 for a given volume ratio.
Two reasons for the shifts from expectations are:

FIGURE 5.8 Selecting a compressor with its peak efficiency occurring lower than the design pressure ratio.

1. Some cooling is performed during compression rather than taking place adiabatically, and 2. There is some leakage of refrgierant so that the ideal pressure ratio is not Achieved

PRESSURE DROP BETWEEN EVAPORATOR AND COMPRESSOR

FIGURE 5.9 Effect of evaporating and condensing temperatures on the refrigerating capacity of an ammonia screw compressor. (Model RWB-II 222, Frick Company)

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TABLE 5.2 Comparison of refrigerating capacity and power of screw and reciprocating compressor with changes in evaporating and condensing temperatures. Values shown are percentages referred to the base evaporating temperature of 5C (41 F).

FIGURE 5.10 Effect of evaporating and condensing temperatures on the power requirement of an Ammonia screw compressor. (Model RWB-II 222, Frick Company)

short of capacity if its actual saturated suction temperature is -31C (-23.8F). When ordering a compressor, then, it is essential that the compressor be selected for a lower saturated suction temperature than the evaporating temperature.This requirement applies equally to screw and reciprocating compressors.

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CAPACITY CONTROL AND PART-LOAD PERFORMANCE

The most common device for achieving a variation in refrigerating capacity with a screw compressor is the slide valve, as illustrated in Figure 5.11. The slide valve is cradled between the rotors and consists of two members, one fixed and the other movable. The compressor develops full capacity when the movable portion bears on the fixed member.

FIGURE 5.11 A slid e valve for capacity control of a screw compressor: (a) its position relative to therotors, (b) slide at full-capacity position, and (c) slide at reduced-capacity position.

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For capacity reduction the movable portion of the slide separates from the fixed portion so that some of the gas that has filled the cavity during the suction process is not compressed. Instead, as Figure 6.12 illustrates, at the beginning of volume reduction in the cavity, the gap in the slide valve permits some of the gas to vent back to the suction. The slide valve permits a smooth, continuous modulation of capacity from full to 10% of full capacity. Even though the slide valve can provide smooth changes of capacity the method results in reduced efficiency at part load. This reduction in efficiency is shown in Figure 5.13 where the percent of full power is related to percent of full capacity2. The 45 line shown in Figure 5.13 represents the ideal where a given percentage of full capacity requires the same percentage of full power. The

FIGURE 5.12 Side view of the function of the slide valve at (a) full capacity, and (b) partial capacity.

curves show, however, that the percentage of full power always exceeds the percentage of full capacity. Two reasons for the drop in efficiency associated with opening of the slide valve are (1) the friction of the gas. venting back to the suction, and (2) the changing of the i of the compressor which is assumed to be properly matched to the external conditions at full load. The recommendation that plant operators draw from the data of Figure 5.13 is to operate screw compressors as close to full load as the mix of compressors allow. The percent capacity reduction does not vary linearly with the motion of the slide valve. The precise relation varies from compressor to compressor, but the general curve is as shown in Figure 5.14. The relationship shows that small changes of position of the slide valve at high capacity have a dominant influence on the capacity

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VARIABLE-SPEED DRIVE OF SCREW COMPRESSOR

FIGURE 5.13 Part-load power requirements of a screw compressor. The solid lines apply to constant condensing and evaporating temperatures, while the dashed lines reflect a drop in condensing temperature and increase in evaporating temperature at part load.

FIGURE 5.14 Variation in the compressor capacity as a function of the slide-valve position.

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FIGURE 5.15 The power-capacity curve of a screw compressor driven by a two-speed motor.

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VARIABLE VOLUME RATIO COMPRESSORS

Figure 5.7 showed that a given compressor with a fixed volume ratio is most efficient at one ratio of discharge-to-suction pressures. In a typical two-stage industrial refrigeration plant the high-stage compressor receives suction vapor from the intermediate pressure and discharges to the condensing pressure. The low-stage compressor pumps between the pressure of the low-temperature evaporators and the intermediate pressure. The only pressure of these three that is likely to vary is the condensing pressure due to changes in ambient conditions. The low-stage compressor can be selected with a built-in volume ratio as close as possible to that imposed by the combination of and intermediate pressures. The built-in volume ratio is determined at the time the compressor is manufactured by positioning the point at which discharge begins. For a high built-in volume ratio, for example, the discharge port is uncovered late in the compression in contrast to a machine with a low built-in volume ratio. The high-stage compressor in a two-stage system or the compressor in a singlestage system experiences variations in the compression ratio.

FIGURE 5.17 A variable vi device at the following operating conditions: (a) full load and low vi, (b) full load and high vi, and (c) part load and high vi

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