Development and Design of Energy Efficient Oil-Flooded Screw Compressors

It is estimated that about 17% of the world's generated power is used for compression. Thus all, even minor improvement of the efficiency of compressors will substantially reduce CO2 emission. This paper presents development of family of energy efficient oil-flooded screw compressors for Kirloskar Pneumatic Company Ltd. The developmental techniques adopted to improve efficiency such as introduction of superior 'N' rotor profile, rotor clearance management, performance calculation using 3D CCM (Computational Continuum Mechanics), direct parametric interface to CAD (Computer Aided Design), which contains bearing selection for complete 3D solid modelling. Also, contemporary prototyping and experimental investigation is supported by the fully computerised data acquisition and processing. The cumulative improvement of all these elements of the design process resulted in a very efficient machine which guarantees the competitive position of Kirloskar Pneumatic Company Limited in the screw compressor market

Analysis of rolling bearing power loss models for twin screw oil injected compressor

The mechanical losses inside a screw compressor limit the performance of the compressor in terms of efficiency. These losses arise due to relative motion between elements inside the screw compressor. The estimation of mechanical losses predicted in the literature is around 10-15% of the total shaft power. One of the elements which contribute significantly to these losses is rolling element bearings. There are numerous mathematical models available which predict power losses in the rolling bearings. The objective of this paper is to study different models to predict power loss for rolling bearings and to predict the power losses for the bearings used for oil injected, twin screw compressor. A comparison between different power loss models for different operating conditions of compressor is also presented in this paper and results of analysis are compared with available experimental observations. The analysis helps to determine suitable power loss model for different operating conditions and more realistic predictions of the power losses. This allows designers for more accurate estimation of the performance of screw compressors

Grid deformation strategies for CFD analysis of screw compressors

Customized grid generation of twin screw machines for CFD analysis is widely used by the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry today, but is currently not suitable for topologies such as those of single screw, variable pitch or tri screw rotors. This paper investigates a technique called key-frame re-meshing that supplies pre-generated unstructured grids to the CFD solver at different time steps. To evaluate its accuracy, the results of an isentropic compression-expansion process in a reciprocating piston cylinder arrangement have been compared. Three strategies of grid deformation; diffusion equation mesh smoothing, user defined nodal displacement and key-frame remeshing have been assessed. There are many limitations to key-frame re-meshing. It requires time consuming pre-processing, has limited applicability to complex meshes and leads to inaccuracies in conservation of calculated variables. It was concluded that customized tools for generation of CFD grids are required for complex screw machines

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Pressure Losses at Suction of a Twin Screw Compressor

Rotary twin screw machines are used in the wide range of industrial applications and are capable of handling single and multiphase fluids as compressors, expanders and pumps. Concentration of liquid in the inlet flow can influence the performance of the machine significantly. Characteristics of the multiphase flow at the suction of a screw compressor depend on the local flow velocities and concentration. Local flow velocity measurements inside the screw compressors are difficult to obtain. However other flow properties such as local pressures are easier to attain. It is therefore useful to carry out experiments with local pressure variations in the suction which can be used to validate the 3D numerical Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) models that could help in studying the single and multiphase flow behaviour in screw compressors. This paper presents experimental efforts to measure the local pressure losses inside the suction plenum of the screw compressor. Pressure variations are measured at 23 locations in the suction port at various operating conditions and compared with 3D CFD model. The grid generator SCORGTM was used for generating numerical mesh of rotors. The flow calculations were carried out using commercial 3D solver ANSYS CFX. It was found that the local pressure changes predicted by the CFD model are in the good agreement with measured pressures. This validated the use of CFD for modelling of the single phase flows in suction of screw machines

Normal Rack Grid Generation Method for Screw Machines with Large Helix Angles

Improving the efficiency of the screw machine is highly significant for industry. Numerical simulation is an important tool in developing these machines. The 3D computational fluid dynamic simulation can give a valuable insight into the flow parameters of screw machines. However, it is currently difficult to generate high quality computational grids required for screw rotors with large helix angle. This is mainly due to the excessively high cell skewness of the rotors with large helix angel, which would introduce errors in numerical simulation. This paper presents a novel grid generation algorithm used for the screw rotors with large helix angel. This method is based on the principles developed for the grid generation in transverse cross-section. Such mesh is generated by SCORGTM using normal rack grid generation method which means numerical meshes are generated in a plane normal to the pitch helix line. The mesh lines are then parallel to the helix line and thus an orthogonal mesh will be produced. The main flow and leakage flow directions are orthogonal to the mesh, potentially reducing numerical diffusion. This developed algorithm could also be employed for single screw machines

Identification and analysis of screw compressor mechanical losses

Screw compressors are compact machines, used for a wide range of applications where gases or vapours are required to be delivered at moderate pressures with high efficiency and reliability. They are most effective when the compressed medium requires power inputs, approximately in the 10 kW - 1-2 MW range. At lower inputs alternatives such as reciprocating and scroll compressors are preferable and at higher inputs turbo-compressors are more suitable. In industrialised countries, compressors absorb 15-20% of the total electrical power generated. Hence there is a continuing demand to improve their efficiency. This is normally expressed as the specific power consumption, which is the power required to compress unit mass of gas delivered. There already exist mathematical models to assist in the design of such machines and to estimate their performance, which include the estimation of the dynamic loads acting on the rotors and bearings and these loads determine their mechanical efficiency. However, these models do not estimate the magnitude of the mechanical losses, which are only guesstimated as an additional increment to the power required to compress the gas. Such an approximation does not enable the optimum selection of bearings and lubricating oil to minimise the frictional power losses. The aim of the study, described in this paper, was to estimate the effect of the individual parameters responsible for mechanical power loss in oil injected screw compressors and is focussed on the losses incurred in the gear box, bearings and shaft seals. It was found that in the gearbox, meshing, bearing and seal losses all increase both with speed and gear ratio. In the main rotors, it was found that sliding friction losses in the bearings are not significantly affected by the radial load, nor are rolling friction losses significantly dependent on the axial load. However, both axial and radial loads have a significant effect on the total frictional power loss. Lubricant viscosity affects the frictional power losses but the oil level does not

Experimental validation of the screw compressor oil drag model for various rotor profiles

Injecting oil inside the compressor chambers of the oil-flooded, twin-screw compressors has several advantages. Oil cools the compressing fluid upon mixing with it and hence the compression process is brought nearer to the ideal isothermal compression process. The oil also serves as a lubricant between the meshing rotors and other clearance gaps in the compressor. The thin film of oil formed in the clearance gaps prevents internal leakages too; enhancing the volumetric efficiency of the compressor. Among these desirable effects of injecting oil in screw compressors, there is an undesirable effect too. The interaction (friction) of oil films formed in various clearance gaps with the rotors leads to a drag power loss. Recent studies such as Abdan et al. have proposed more detailed and accurate methods to estimate the oil drag losses in screw compressors. These methods enable the modelling of the effect of even minor changes in rotor profile on the drag loss power. Predictions of this model were hence used to tweak the screw rotor profiles with an objective to reduce the oil drag losses. Such profiles were then retrofitted in the existing machines and tested. Comparing the differences in power consumption of these machines, the component of oil drag loss was deduced. The experimental results show close agreement with the oil drag loss prediction model. The reduction of oil drag losses through profile modifications led to an improvement in the specific power of oil-flooded screw compressor

Antibiotics Residues as Limiting Factor of Honey Quality

Residues of veterinary drugs represent a significant risk to the health of honey consumers. Antibiotics can get into honey by using the antibiotics for treatment and prevention of bees diseases but also through the plant nectar and pollen. In Serbia, the use of antibiotics in beekeeping for bacterial diseases treatment is prohibited and accordingly there is no prescribed maximum permissible concentration for them in honey. The aim of this paper is to monitor the presence of antibiotic residues in honey which necessarily indicate their illegal and uncontrolled use. The presence of antibiotic residues in honey was screened for microbiological method "Modified method 4 plates" (EUR 15127-EN). The total of 135 samples of different honey types has been examined. Five of them (3.7%) were positive to antibiotic residues. The presence of antibiotic residues was found in the acacia honey (0.31%), linden honey (0.33%), sunflower honey (0.19%), mixed honey (0.17%) and honeydew honey (0.10%). Such unprofessional, unconscionable and unlawful use of antibiotics leads to their presence in honey and other bee products, as well as in the highly desirable and valuable products making them unusable