Abstract
A thermodynamic model of a water-lubricated single-screw air compressor was established to examine the impact of water injection parameters on performance. Heat transfer and leakage between humid air and water was considered by analyzing the impacts of rotation speed, discharge pressure, the rate of water injection, and diameter of droplets on the performance of a compressor. The discharge temperature could be reduced by increasing the rate of water injection, resulting in the compression procedure moving towards an isothermal state. The increase in the rate of water injection under rated conditions from 60 L/min to 80 L/min resulted in a reduction in the compressor discharge temperature, increased the volume efficiency, and increased adiabatic efficiency by 11.1 K, 1.5 %, and 2.8 %, respectively. Water injection atomization increased the area of transfer of heat between humid air and water and improved the performance of compressor.
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Abbreviations
- C :
-
Flow coefficient
- c :
-
Specific heat, J/(kg·K)
- c r :
-
Correction coefficient of helically coiled tube
- d :
-
Diameter, mm; Humidity ratio of humid air
- f :
-
Slip factor
- h :
-
Specific enthalpy, J/kg
- k :
-
Heat convection coefficient, W/(m2·K)
- L :
-
Length, m
- m :
-
Mass of fluid, kg
- Nu :
-
Nusselt number
- n :
-
Rotation speed of screw rotor, rpm
- P :
-
Power, W
- Pr :
-
Prandlt number
- p :
-
Pressure, Pa
- Q :
-
Heat transfer quantity, J
- Re :
-
Reynolds number
- r 1 :
-
Radius of the screw rotor, m
- r 2 :
-
Radius of the gate rotor, m
- r o :
-
Outside radius of rotor, m
- r i :
-
Inside radius of rotor, m
- r l :
-
Latent heat of water, J/kg
- S :
-
Area, m2
- T :
-
Temperature, K
- q v :
-
Volume flow of fluid, m3/s
- u :
-
Specific internal energy, J/kg
- V :
-
Volume, m3
- v :
-
Velocity, m/s; Specific volume, m3/kg
- W :
-
Work, J
- z :
-
Potential head, m
- α :
-
Void fraction
- β :
-
Kinetic energy correction factor
- ζ :
-
Atomization rate
- θ :
-
Rotation angle of screw rotor, rad
- λ :
-
Thermal conductivity, W/(m·K)
- μ :
-
Dynamic viscosity, N·s/m2
- ρ :
-
Density, kg/m3
- X :
-
Mass fraction of gas
- ω :
-
Angular velocity of screw rotor
- a :
-
Dry air
- ad :
-
Adiabatic compression
- c :
-
Control volume
- d :
-
Discharge
- e :
-
Evaporation
- g :
-
Gas mixture
- in :
-
Inflow of control volume
- inj :
-
Water injection
- l :
-
Water
- lea :
-
Leakage of fluid
- out :
-
Outflow of control volume
- real :
-
Real value
- th :
-
Theoretical value
- v :
-
Saturated water vapor
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge research funding provided by the Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation (No. 3181001).
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Yanan Li got her Master’s degree from Yanshan University, China, in 2011. Now she is a Post-graduate student at Beijing University of Technology. Her research interests in water-lubricated single-screw air compressor.
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Li, Y., Wang, J., Wu, Y. et al. Influence of water injection parameters on the performance of a water-lubricated single-screw air compressor. J Mech Sci Technol 36, 445–456 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-021-1242-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-021-1242-4