Thermodynamic Modeling and Parametric Study of an Isothermal Reciprocating Compressor

Isothermal compressors hold great promise for enhanced efficiency across a wide variety of areas and are of great interest on both microscale and macroscale. Analytical models based on thermodynamic postulates is a common approach used to appreciate the time-dependent evolution, which can be evaluated from a system dynamics point of view on an industrially relevant scale. In this study, we provide a comparison of an isothermal reciprocating compressor from an analytical viewpoint. The analytical approach is suited for system dynamic and control studies via a single variable. Initially, a model is developed based on conservation of mass and energy plus the constitutive relations. The resulting differential equations and corresponding initial and boundary conditions are solved by MATLAB using the Runge-Kutta approach. Finally, we evaluate the effect of design and operation parameters on the performance of compressor via a parametric study. The parametric study carried out using the proposed model showed that reducing the dead volume, cooling the cylinder and reducing the compressor speed can reduce the specific work. Also by studying the geometry effect, a trade-off between effective work and friction work was found and an optimum stroke to diameter ratio was determined.

کلیدواژه ها:

Compressed Air Energy ، Conservation of Energy ، Isothermal Process ، Reciprocating compressor