Compressor Profile Optimization Based on Hybrid Intelligent Algorithm

In order to improve the working characteristics of the scroll compressor, according to the scroll profile of the compressor, the energy efficiency ratio (EER) of the scroll compressor is taken as the objective function, and the number of scroll turns N and knots are determined based on the genetic annealing algorithm. The distance p, the height of the scroll body h, and the thickness of the scroll profile t are optimized. In the optimized solution set, three sets of optimized profile and initial profile are selected for theoretical calculation of thermodynamic characteristics and volume characteristics, and the specific influence of scroll compressor profile parameters on compressor characteristics is explored in detail, and compared with the unoptimized scroll. The initial parameters of the rotary compressor are compared with the theoretical performance. The results show that the pitch p has a significant effect on the energy efficiency ratio and discharge volume of the scroll compressor, and the number of scroll turns N has a significant effect on the characteristic of suction volume. Three kinds of optimized scroll profile parameters S2, S3, S4 are selected in the optimal solution set. Compared with the initial value S1, the working characteristics are improved. The energy efficiency ratio was increased by 38.10%, 42.58%, and 50.26%; the suction volume was increased by 66.1%, 82.3%, and 73.9%; the exhaust volume was increased by 21.1%, 29.6%, and 50%; the internal volume ratio was increased by 36.4%. 40.9%, 27.3%. It is proved that the use of genetic annealing algorithm achieves the purpose of improving the compressor's operating characteristics.

Experimental Measurement of Oil Droplets Size and Velocity Above the Rotor/Stator in a Rotary Compressor

Hundreds of millions of Air conditioning (AC) systems are produced each year. Many of them, especially small AC appliances, use rotary compressors as the system’s heat pump due to their simple structure and high efficiency in a small system. Lubricant oil is used in the rotary compressor to lubricate the moving parts, such as the crankshaft and the rolling piston, and to seal the clearance between the sliding parts, e.g., the clearance between the rolling piston and the cylinder, and the vane and the cylinder. As the compressed refrigerant vapor is discharged from the cylinder through the discharge port, part of lubricant oil in the cylinder would be carried by the vapor and atomize into small droplets in the lower cavity during the discharge process, which is complicated and highly-coupled. Some of these oil droplets would ultimately be exhausted from the compressor and enter other parts in the system, reducing the compressor reliability and deteriorating the heat transfer of the condenser and the evaporator in the system. Our previous research studied the atomization of the lubricant oil during the discharge process in the compressor’s lower cavity. However, the oil droplets’ behavior downstream of the lower cavity is unknown. Thus, studying the oil droplets’ behavior after passing through the rotor/stator can help understand how the rotor/stator would affect the droplet size distribution and movement, thus controlling the flow rate of escaped oil droplets. In this study, a hot gas bypass test rig is built to run a modified rotary compressor with sapphire windows right above the rotor/stator. The oil droplets’ size distribution and movement along the radial direction are obtained at the shaft’s rotating frequency of 30 and 60 Hz by shadowgraph. It is found that droplet size at 30 and 60 Hz varies little in the inner region of the rotor/stator clearance and would increase sharply above the clearance and keep increasing in the outer region of the clearance. More importantly, droplet velocity has a downward velocity component at the inner region and an upward velocity component at the outer region of the rotor/stator clearance. With the result of droplet size distribution and droplet velocity above the rotor/stator, we propose the model of the oil droplet’s path above the rotor/stator, which can be understood as the coupling of a swirling jet and a rotating disk.

Flow Characterization in the Upper Cavity of a Rotary Compressor

As hundreds of millions of Air conditioning (AC) systems are produced each year, and many of them use rotary compressors as the heat pump, optimizing the flow inside the rotary compressor to improve its reliability and efficiency becomes a key issue of the manufactures. Since the invention of the rotary compressor, its internal flow has been studied numerically with real models. However, a rotary compressor’s internal flow can be extremely complicated due to the complex internal structures’ geometry and high-speed moving parts, making it difficult to interpret the result by CFD simulation and repeat the simulation in different models. In our experiments for observing lubricant oil droplets above the rotor/stator in a rotary compressor, droplets’ movement reveals that two major effects control the gas flow in the compressor’s upper cavity. One is the swirling jet produced by the high-speed rotating rotor with no-slip condition on its sidewall. The other one is the rotating disk effect induced by the top of the high-speed rotating rotor. Either of them has been studied individually in different areas. For example, the swirling jet is often used in combustors while the rotating disk is applied in the viscous pump. However, the coupling of these two effects in the rotary compressor with different velocity ranges, size scales, and fluid properties has not been studied according to our best knowledge. In our simulation, a model that only consists of a simplified rotor, simplified stator, sidewall, and discharge tube (outlet) is built. Thus, the effect by small parts, such as the balance block and coils, is excluded. The rotor is set to rotate at 30, 60, and 90 Hz. Uniform velocity calculated with the theoretical flow rate and ambient pressure conditions are given at the inlet (rotor/stator clearance) and outlet, respectively. No-slip conditions are defined at other walls. Steady-state K-ω SST turbulence models are applied, and the cases are computed with OpenFoam. The CFD results show an inner recirculation zone above the rotor that creates a downward velocity component above the rotor and an outer circulation zone above the stator. The CFD result meets the observation of the droplets’ movement above the rotor/stator. With the CFD results and the experiment’s observations, we propose the model of the oil droplet’s path in the rotary compressor’s upper cavity, which can help reduce the exhausted lubricant oil droplets from the compressor.