Conference Year
2021
Keywords
scroll compressor performance, energy consumption characterization, energy consumption correlation
Abstract
This paper presents the analysis of the energy consumption of scroll type compressors. The study has included the data of several AHRI reports: (especially AHRI-11 and AHRI-21) as well as data from other source. A total of 8 different scroll compressors, of different size, some of them tested with various refrigerants (R134a, R32, R410A, R404A…) have been considered in the study. The values of the compressor consumption, and of the corresponding compressor efficiency, and the shape of the corresponding response surfaces, for all the studied compressors and refrigerants, have been analyzed with the objective of understanding better the dependence of the energy compressor consumption on the operating conditions and the refrigerant. The analyzed data include tests following different superheat control, i.e. constant superheat or constant return temperature, so the effect of the inlet temperature on the energy consumption and efficiency are also discussed. The paper includes the analysis of the compressor consumption as dependent of the temperatures of the tested points, and alternatively as dependent of the corresponding pressures, and as a result it will be shown that the representation as a function of pressures is more universal than the one made with temperatures. Two simple correlation polynomials, based on suction and discharge pressures, are presented, which require less empirical information and have better interpolation-extrapolation characteristics than the AHRI standard correlation.