Refrigeration And Air Conditioning (Lab)

Topic :
Types Of Compressor

Types Of Compressor

Introduction:

A compressor is a mechanical device used to increase the pressure of a gas or vapor.

Compressors are an important part of the process industries. Compressors increase the pressure of
gases and vapors so they can be used in applications that require higher pressures. For example, they
can be used in a wide variety of applications like compressing gases such as carbon dioxide,nitrogen
and light hydrocarbons or providing the compressed air required to operate instruments or
equipment.

What's the difference between a pump and a compressor?

Sometimes the words "pump" and "compressor" are used interchangeably, but there is a
difference:

 A pump is a machine that moves a fluid (either liquid or gas) from one place to another.
 A compressor is a machine that squeezes a gas into a smaller volume and (often) pumps it
somewhere else at the same time.

While pumps can work on either liquids or gases, compressors generally work only on gases. That's
because liquids are very difficult to compress. The atoms and molecules from which liquids are
made are so tightly packed that you can't really squeeze them any closer together.

What are its applications?

Compressors have many everyday uses, such as in :

 Air conditioners, (car, home)

  Home and industrial refrigeration
 Hydraulic compressors for industrial machines
 Air compressors for industrial manufacturing

Types of Compressors
Several types of compressors are used in the process industries. The most common
however, are positive displacement and dynamic.
Dynamic compressors use impellers or blades to accelerate a gas and then convert that velocity
into pressure. Dynamic compressors are more commonly used than positive displacement
compressors because they are less expensive, more efficient, have a larger capacity and require
less maintenance.
Positive displacement compressors use pistons, lobes & screws to reduce a fixed volume of gas
through compression and deliver a constant volume.
All compressors require a drive mechanism such as an electric motor or turbine to operate, and all
are rated according to their discharge capacity and flow rate. Most compressors require auxiliary
components for cooling, lubrication, filtering, instrumentation, and control. Some compressors
require a gearbox between the driver and compressor to increase the speed of the compressor.

Dynamic Compressors

Dynamic compressors are non positive displacement compressors that use centrifugal or axial
force to accelerate and convert the velocity of the gas to pressure (as opposed to positive
displacement compressors, which use a piston,lobe,or screw to compress gas).
Under the dynamic compressors, we have
1. Centrifugal compressors
2. Axial flow compressors
 1) Centrifugal Compressors:
Centrifugal compressors are a dynamic type compressor in which the gas flows from the inlet
located near the suction eye to the outer tip of the impeller blade. In a centrifugal compressor, the
gas enters at the low pressure end and is forced through the impellers by the rotation of the shaft.
As the gas moves from the center of the impeller toward the outer tip,the velocity is greatly
increased. When the gas leaves the impeller and enters the volute,the velocity is converted to
pressure due to the slowing down of the molecules.
Centrifugal compressors are used throughout industry because they have few moving parts,
are very energy efficient and provide higher flows than similarly sized reciprocating compressors.
Centrifugal compressors are also popular because their seals allow them to operate nearly oil free
and they have a very high reliability. They are also effective in toxic gas service when the proper
seals are used and they can compress high volumes at low pressures.
Centrifugal compressors are more suited for continuous duty applications such as ventilation fans,
air movers, cooling units and other uses that require high volume but relatively low pressures.

In a centrifugal compressor,there is a direct relationship between impeller speed, velocity,

pressure and flow. As the impeller speed increases, velocity increases. As velocity
increases,pressure increases.As pressure increases flow increases. Centrifugal compressors may
be single stage or multistage.

2) Axial Compressors:
Axial compressors are dynamic type compressors in which the flow of gas is axial (in a straight
line along the shaft). A typical axial compressor has a rotor that looks like a fan with contoured
blades followed by a stationary set of blades called a stator. Rotor blades attached to the shaft
spin and send the gas over stator blades, which are attached to the internal walls of the compressor
casing. These blades decrease insize as the casing size decreases. Rotation of the shaft and its
attached rotor blades causes flow to be directed axially along the shaft building higher pressure
toward the discharge of the unit.
Each pair of rotors and stators is referred to as a stage. Most axial compressors have a number of
such stages placed in a row along a common power shaft in the center. The stator blades are
required to ensure efficiency. Without these stator blades, the gas would rotate with the rotor
blades resulting in a large drop in efficiency. Each stage is smaller than the last because the volume
of air is reduced by the compression of the preceding stage. Axial compressors therefore generally
have a conical shape, widest at the inlet.
The main components of an axial compressor include the housing (casing), inlet and outlet, rotor
and stator blades, shaft and inlet guide vanes. Axial compressors are very efficient compressors;
however, they are not as frequently used in industry as reciprocating and centrifugal
compressors because of the high initial and maintenance costs.

Positive Displacement

A positive displacement compressor is a system which compresses the air by the displacement of a
mechanical linkage reducing the volume (since the reduction in volume due to a piston in
thermodynamics is considered as positive displacement of the piston).
Positive displacement compressors can be further divided into Reciprocating and Rotary
compressors.

1. Reciprocating compressors
It is a positive-displacement compressor that
 Uses pistons driven by a crankshaft to deliver gases at high pressure.
 The intake gas enters the suction manifold, then flows into the compression cylinder.
 It gets compressed by a piston driven in a reciprocating motion via a crankshaft.
 Discharged at higher pressure.

2. Rotary Compressors:
These compressors are not of reciprocating nature,
therefore does not have any pistons and crankshaft.
Instead, these compressors have screws, scrolls, and other devices which rotate and thus compress
air. The rotary compressors are classified into screw type, lobe type, scroll type and other types.

The Rotary Compressors are divided into

a) Scroll Compressor
b) Screw Compressor
c) Lobe Compressor
a) Scroll Compressor
 The Scroll type compressors are having scrolls driven by the prime mover. The scrolls outer
edges trap air and then as they rotate, the air travel from outwards to inwards thus getting
compressed due to the reduction in the area. Thus the compressed air is delivered through the
central space of the scroll to the delivery air line.

b) Screw Compressor

The screw compressors are efficient in low air pressure requirements. Two screws rotate
intermeshing with each other, thus trapping air between the screws and the compressor casing
forming pockets which progressively travel and gets squeezed and delivering it at a higher pressure
which opens the delivery valve. The compressed air delivery is continuous and quiet in operation
than a reciprocating compressor.

c) Lobe Compressor
The Lobe type air compressor is very simpler type with no complicated moving parts. There are
single or twin lobes attached to the drive shaft driven by the prime mover. The lobes are displaced
by 90 degrees. Thus if one of the lobes is in horizontal position, the other at that particular instant
will be in vertical position. Thus the air gets trapped in between these lobes and as they rotate they
get compressed and delivered to the delivery line.