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(1) To address issues such as a low compression ratio and severe leakage in uniform wall thickness vortex compressors, this paper adopts a new scroll compressor model with a variable diameter double arc combined profile, which has a larger pressure ratio and smaller leakage than the scroll compressor with equal wall thickness that can bring new ideas and methods to the research in the field of scroll compressors. (2) This paper determines the theoretical equation of the variable diameter dual circular arc vortex profile and the combined profile, and infers mathematical models for the leakage line length, working chamber volume, and gas leakage per unit rotation angle of the vortex compressor, followed by simulation. (3) The results show that compared to the uniform wall thickness involute profile, the variable diameter dual circular arc combined profile model reduces the leakage line length by 25%, increases the average total pressure at the working chamber outlet by 2.38%, and decreases the leakage amount by 3.2%, consistent with theoretical analysis. (4) The tangential leakage caused by the radial gap in the variable diameter dual circular arc combined profile model has a significant impact on the uneven distribution of temperature and velocity fields in the working chamber of the vortex compressor, but a smaller impact on the pressure field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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(1) To address issues such as a low compression ratio and severe leakage in uniform wall thickness vortex compressors, this paper adopts a new scroll compressor model with a variable diameter double arc combined profile, which has a larger pressure ratio and smaller leakage than the scroll compressor with equal wall thickness that can bring new ideas and methods to the research in the field of scroll compressors. (2) This paper determines the theoretical equation of the variable diameter dual circular arc vortex profile and the combined profile, and infers mathematical models for the leakage line length, working chamber volume, and gas leakage per unit rotation angle of the vortex compressor, followed by simulation. (3) The results show that compared to the uniform wall thickness involute profile, the variable diameter dual circular arc combined profile model reduces the leakage line length by 25%, increases the average total pressure at the working chamber outlet by 2.38%, and decreases the leakage amount by 3.2%, consistent with theoretical analysis. (4) The tangential leakage caused by the radial gap in the variable diameter dual circular arc combined profile model has a significant impact on the uneven distribution of temperature and velocity fields in the working chamber of the vortex compressor, but a smaller impact on the pressure field.

Tangential leakage loss is the primary factor that significantly affects the output performance of oil-free scroll expanders. A scroll expander can function under different operating conditions, and the flow of tangential leakage and generation mechanism is different. This study employed computational fluid dynamics to investigate the unsteady flow characteristics of the tangential leakage flow of a scroll expander with air as the working fluid. Consequently, the effects of different radial gap sizes, rotational speeds, inlet pressures, and temperatures on the tangential leakage were discussed. The tangential leakage decreased with increases in the scroll expander rotational speed, inlet pressure, and temperature, and decreased with decrease in radial clearance. With an equal-proportional increase in radial clearance, the flow form of the gas in the first expansion and back-pressure chambers became more complicated; when the radial clearance increased from 0.2 to 0.5 mm, the volumetric efficiency of the scroll expander decreased by approximately 5.0521%. Moreover, because of the large radial clearance, the tangential leakage flow maintained a subsonic flow. Further, the tangential leakage decreased with increase in rotational speed, and when the rotational speed increased from 2000 to 5000 r/min, the volumetric efficiency increased by approximately 8.7565%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tangential leakage loss is the primary factor that significantly affects the output performance of oil-free scroll expanders. A scroll expander can function under different operating conditions, and the flow of tangential leakage and generation mechanism is different. This study employed computational fluid dynamics to investigate the unsteady flow characteristics of the tangential leakage flow of a scroll expander with air as the working fluid. Consequently, the effects of different radial gap sizes, rotational speeds, inlet pressures, and temperatures on the tangential leakage were discussed. The tangential leakage decreased with increases in the scroll expander rotational speed, inlet pressure, and temperature, and decreased with decrease in radial clearance. With an equal-proportional increase in radial clearance, the flow form of the gas in the first expansion and back-pressure chambers became more complicated; when the radial clearance increased from 0.2 to 0.5 mm, the volumetric efficiency of the scroll expander decreased by approximately 5.0521%. Moreover, because of the large radial clearance, the tangential leakage flow maintained a subsonic flow. Further, the tangential leakage decreased with increase in rotational speed, and when the rotational speed increased from 2000 to 5000 r/min, the volumetric efficiency increased by approximately 8.7565%.

Tangential leakage loss reduction has great significance on improving the performance of scroll compressors. In this study, the flow field of a scroll compressor working with CO2 was numerically investigated. The development characteristics of the tangential leakage flow in different working chambers were carried out, which was obtained by analyzing the field quantities distributions. The impacts of the radial clearances and sidewall roughness on the tangential leakage were also taken into consideration, in order to explore the feasible method of the flow control for the tangential leakage in scroll compressors. Results showed that the tangential leakage flow had various characteristics in the suction and compression chambers due to the different interactions between the tangential leakage flow and mainstream. Owing to little reverse pressure gradient, the tangential leakage flow maintained the typical jet form in the suction chambers. By contrast, the mixing of the tangential leakage flow and mainstream induced the passage vortex and secondary flows in the compression chamber. The secondary flow was the primary factor that results in the occurrence of localized high temperature region rather than the tangential leakage. With the increase of the radial clearance, the volumetric efficiency declined and the discharge temperature increased rapidly. In terms of flow control of the tangential leakage, the increase of sidewall roughness by 2 µm could achieve the same effect as the decrease of the radial clearance by 4 µm, while the volumetric efficiency increased by almost 5% and average discharge temperature decreased by 5 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Numerical predictions for radial and tangential leakages in scroll compressors. • Study covering a wide range of operating conditions and geometric parameters through dimensional analysis. • New correlations for radial and tangential leakages are proposed. • Validation through comparisons with experimental data from the literature. Scroll compressors are positive displacement machines of orbital motion that compress a gas by means of two interfitting spiral-shaped scroll members. Gas leakage is an important source of inefficiency in scroll compressors and it therefore needs to be estimated. Currently, correlations for leakage required in simulation models are based on simplified flow conditions. Thus, a high degree of uncertainty is associated with leakage predictions for the wide range of operating conditions found in actual applications. This paper reports a numerical analysis of radial and tangential leakage in scroll compressors considering different gases, operating conditions and geometries expressed as dimensionless parameters. Numerical models were developed to analyze the aforementioned phenomena in detail, including the geometry of the wraps. Based on the predicted values, correlations for the radial and tangential leakage of gas particularly suitable for comprehensive simulation models were developed and validated through comparison with experimental data and other models available in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]