Scroll compressor

A scroll compressor (also called spiral compressor, scroll pump and scroll vacuum pump) is a device for compressing air or refrigerant. It is used in air conditioning equipment, as an automobile supercharger (where it is known as a scroll-type supercharger) and as a vacuum pump. Many residential central heat pump and air conditioning systems and a few automotive air conditioning systems employ a scroll compressor instead of the more traditional rotary, reciprocating, and wobble-plate compressors. A scroll compressor operating in reverse is a scroll expander, and can generate mechanical work. History Léon Creux first patented a scroll compressor in 1905 in France and the US (Patent number 801182). Creux invented the compressor as a rotary steam engine concept, but the metal casting technology of the period was not sufficiently advanced to construct a working prototype, since a scroll compressor demands very tight tolerances to function effectively. In the 1905 patent, Cr

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Compressor

A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor. Compressors are similar to pumps: both incre

Robust design using multiobjective optimisation and artificial neural networks with application to a heat pump radial compressor

Soheyl Massoudi, Cyril Picard, Jürg Alexander Schiffmann

Although robustness is an important consideration to guarantee the performance of designs under deviation, systems are often engineered by evaluating their performance exclusively at nominal conditions. Robustness is sometimes evaluated a posteriori through a sensitivity analysis, which does not guarantee optimality in terms of robustness. This article introduces an automated design framework based on multiobjective optimisation to evaluate robustness as an additional competing objective. Robustness is computed as a sampled hypervolume of imposed geometrical and operational deviations from the nominal point. In order to address the high number of additional evaluations needed to compute robustness, artificial neutral networks are used to generate fast and accurate surrogates of high-fidelity models. The identification of their hyperparameters is formulated as an optimisation problem. In the frame of a case study, the developed methodology was applied to the design of a small-scale turbocompressor. Robustness was included as an objective to be maximised alongside nominal efficiency and mass-flow range between surge and choke. An experimentally validated 1D radial turbocompressor meanline model was used to generate the training data. The optimisation results suggest a clear competition between efficiency, range and robustness, while the use of neural networks led to a speed-up by four orders of magnitude compared to the 1D code.

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS2022

Dimensionless correlations and performance maps of scroll expanders for micro-scale Organic Rankine Cycles

Luis Carlos Mendoza Toledo, Violette Mounier, Luis Eric Olmedo Ocampo, Jürg Alexander Schiffmann

In the endeavor towards distributed power systems, not seasonal-dependent micro-power generation technologies are expected to integrate the energy scenario in the years to come. In this context, the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) in the (1e10) KWe scale has chronically lacked a suitable expansion device, hindering its market attractiveness. As scroll expanders have been pointed out as strong potential candidates, performance correlations and pre-design maps based on a review and analysis of published experimental data are presented. A dimensionless approach based on the traditional Ns, Ds dimen-sionless numbers stemming from turbomachinery has been chosen for greater generality. In addition, the lubricating oil mass fraction effect on the scroll expander performance has been included. The generated maps contribute to accelerating the pre-design phases at the system and component level with beneficial effects for the overall development process. Basic geometry and size characteristics are considered as well, acknowledging their importance in micro-power embedded applications; these considerations are illustrated in a passenger car waste-heat recovery case study. Findings suggest that optimized scroll expanders may potentially reach very interesting nominal electric isentropic efficiencies (up to 80% for an oil lubricated scroll expander).

2018

Analysis of a Combined Absorption Cycle for Power and Cooling Production Using a Novel Oil-Free Co-Rotating Scroll Expander

Luis Carlos Mendoza Toledo, Jürg Alexander Schiffmann

This paper presents the integration of a novel scroll expander into a combined power and cooling cyclethat can be driven by low grade heat sources such as solar and waste heat. The scroll device used here is based on a co-rotating technology which allows to work without internal lubrication. The mathematical model adopted for the cycle incorporates a simplified semi-empirical model that predicts the performance of the scroll expander. Ammonia-water has been selected as the working fluid because of its nature-friendliness. Some operating parameters such as the heat source (155-205°C), sink (16-34°C) and chilled water (8-18°C) temperatures have been varied to investigate the behaviour of the cycle. The results show that increasing the heat source temperature is beneficial to power generation but detrimental to cooling production. However, increasing the sink temperature is favourable for both power and cooling modes. Increasing the chilledwater temperature is detrimental to both outputs. It was found that at the nominal conditions of heat source, sink and chilled water temperatures of 180°C, 27°C and 7°C respectively and an expander rotational frequency of116.7 Hz; the cycle generated 87 kW of net mechanical power and 562 kW of cooling while the effective first law and exergetic efficiencies were 18.6 and 58.8% respectively.

2016

ME-459: Thermal power cycles and heat pump systems

This course aims at studying thermal power cycles, heat pumping technologies, and equipment.

ME-451: Advanced energetics

Methods for the rational use and conversion of energy in industrial processes : how to analyse the energy usage, calculate the heat recovery by pinch analysis, define heat exchanger network, integrate heat pumps and cogeneration units and realise exergy analysis of energy conversion systems.

ME-409: Energy conversion and renewable energy

This course presents an overview of (i) the current energy system and uses (ii) the main principles of conventional and renewable energy technologies and (iii) the most important parameters that define their efficiency, costs and environmental impacts.