Experimental assessmet of leakage in compressor valves

Gustavo C Rezende¹; Ernane Silva¹; Cesar J Deschamps¹

¹ Federal University of Santa Catarina

doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-2614

Resumo

Refrigeration compressors commonly adopt automatic valves, which open and close due to the pressure difference between the compression and suction/discharge chambers. The specification of such valves is critical in the design of a high efficiency compressor. In addition to reliability issues, incomplete valve sealing due to surface irregularity or misalignment gives rise to gas leakage, which significantly reduces the compressor volumetric and isentropic efficiencies. This paper reports an experimental setup developed to characterize leakage in valve designs typically adopted in hermetic reciprocating compressors.

Palavras-chave: Compressor valves; Leakage; Compressor efficiency