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International Compressor Engineering Conference School of Mechanical Engineering

1988

Screw Compressors Control of Vi and Capacity

'The Conflict
David N. Shaw
United Technologies Carrier

Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/icec

Shaw, David N., "Screw Compressors Control of Vi and Capacity 'The Conflict" (1988). International Compressor Engineering
Conference. Paper 627.
http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/icec/627

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 SCREW COMPRESSORS

CONTROL OF Vi AND CAPACH'Y

"THE CONFLICT"

By

David N. Shaw, P.E.

United Techn ologie s Carrje r

syracu se, New York

ABSTRACT
Air Condi tionin g and
Signi fican t confu sion exists within the
the real impac t of vi or
Refrig eratio n Indus try v1i th regard to mance . Add to this the
volum e Ratio on screw compr essor perfor s and the confu sion gets
effec t on Vi as a screw compr essor unload
have variab le
worse . Sever al newer design s of screw compr essors does varyin g the
does this mean and what impac t
Vi as Hell. What on our abilit y to vary
capac ity of a partic ular compr essor have
does this mean in terms of overa ll compr essor
its Vi? What
effici ency in actua l applic ations ?
essors with regard
The theor etical limjta tions of screw comprl only after the
above areas are discus sed in detai
to the The
neces sary fundam entals have been exten sively covere d.
this impor tant subje ct to
intere st herein is to help clarif y n
responsibl~ membe rs of the Air Condi tionin g and Refrig eratio
better
that screw compr essors will be
Indus try ;Ln order
under stood and applie d.

NOMENCLATURE
to the closed chamb er
Vi as it is used in this paper refers ing of the rotor
volum e existi ng at the beginn
(trappe d)_ volum e remain ing in this
compress;~_on proce ss divide d by the
ng expos ure to the rotor
closed chamb er at the point of startisly referr ed to as volum e
housin g discha rge port. It is variou
volum e reduc tion ratio ,
ratio, volume reduc tion ratio, closed In all cases , it means
effec tive volum e reduc tion ratio, etc. ing of the compr ession
the trappe d volume existi ng at the beginn
existi ng at the point of
proce ss divide d hy the reduce d volum<':'
initia l expos ure to the d;~_scharge port.
herein refers to the
Capac ity contr ol as the term· is used side of the compr essor
bypas sing of vapor (gas) back to the inlet
djscha rge port.
before it has exited the rotor housin g
the surfac e of
Radia l discha rge port.in g is locate d within
ecting cylind ers that close ly surrou nd the out!>i de diame ter
inters
of the rotors .
in the discha rge end
Axial discha rge portin g is locate d of the rotors and in
which is perpe ndicu lar to the axes
plane
very close proxim ity there to.

236
 IN'rHODOC'!'ION
This paper deals with the fundam entals of twin screw
ccmpJce ssors in such a "'""n"r that beth the
r;crew compre ssion
prcc,•ss along with the inherr,n t geomet r.icul
luntati (ms of the
process within th" actual compre ssor can be better
unclerst ·ood.
Tho common method s of capacit y contro l and compre
control that are in use today arc also discuss ssion ratio
ed along with their
inheren t l1mitat ions as well.

At full oapaci ty output, twin screw refrige rant

are realist ically limited to maximum closed compre ssors
ratio (Vi's) in t.he vicl.ni ty ,,£ 5. 5 to l volume reductl .cn
because of the rapid
decreas e 1n geome trically availab le axial
di~charge port area
when higher volume red\wt.i on ratios are attemp
ted. At part load,
the maximum possib le clOS<'d volume reduct1 on
propor tionall y less as well; i.e,, 5.5 at. full ratios are
capacit y becomes
2.75 at 50% capa~ity.

If a typical refrige ration applic; otion calls

ratio (Vi) of 5. 5 to 1 or greate r, then tl"'"' for a volume
reason or possib ility left to vary this ra tic .ts certain ly no
since 5. 5 is t.he
maximum we can realj o;t.ical ly design into t·h<'
compre ssor in the
first place.

The only common method of varying Vi today is

through
a rotor housing slide valve which varies only the use of
dischar ge porting while the axial porting remains radial
highes t possib le value. fixed at the
At full lead Vi's of greater than 4.5 to
1 or so, there is essenti aJ.Jy no radial dischar
ge pert areale ft
so the real possib ility of full capaci ty output
Vi variati on is
now from 4.5 on down.

To restate the point: If the applica tion calls for a Vi of

4.5 or greate r at full load, a fixed Vi axial
port is the only
choice as there is no possib ility of achievi
ng a perform ance
improve ment with variabl e Vi even at full load.

Vi variati on is only useful when relativ

reducti on ratios are called fer by the actual ely lew volume
applica tion in
questio n; and even then, when compre ssor capacit
y falls to 50% or
so, all theore tical benefi t is gone. This paper attemp ts to
explain why this is so along with the penalty
utiliza tion of a (moving unloadi ng stop type) associa ted with
variab le Vi machin e
whenev er it is not clearly JUStifi ed by
questio n. the applica tl.On in

BASIC COMPRESSOR OPERATION

The genera l operati on of a twin screw compre
underst ood by viewing Figure l and Figure 2. ssnr can be
Fl.gure 1 looks at
the compre ssion/d ischarg e sides of a typi<'a l
compre ssor. twin screw
In Figure l, the male rotor (left.
clockw ise and the female rotor rotates counter side) rotates
studyin g the diagram , it can be recogni zed clockw ise. By
that l!lult_ip le volume
chamb<' rs exist and these chambe rs reduce in
volume to>lil.rds the
right side of the diagram as the rotors revolve
. For clarity , no
rotor housing has )Jeen shown but the disuhar ge
end plate is shown
di.agram ma tically in a shaded fashion . Also shown is the axial
dischar ge porting which would exist for a
full J.oacl Vi of 5. 5
along with an outline of the radial porting
possib ilities that
exist fer a full load Vi of 2. 7 5. One can not." that the v; in

237
quec;tio n is the maximum closed volume associa ted with a given
volume chamber starling compres sion divided by the volume
remainin g in that CJ,amb~r volume upon initial exposur e to the
discharg e port in questio n.
a more
Figure / shows the operatio n of the compres sor in
diagram matic fashion and, as noted, starts the process of
unwrapp ing the volume chamber s in order that the general
compres sor coperatio n can be better understo od. Note that the
ed in order
first closed chamber on the diagram has been unwrapp reductio n
that its true volumo may be visualiz ed. Also note theed by these
in volume as the axial dlscharg e po.-t is approach
moving chamber s as they reduce in volume.
volume
Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 track one unwrapp ed and meshed ion
chamh•~r from the start of compres sion to the essenti al complet
of dischar ge/intak e. Note that the complet e unwrapp ed compres sor
to improve
has been depicted on the diagram for clarity ; although
chamber as
understa nding, we are tracking only one meshed volume
the compres sor rotates . Obvious ly all other volume chamber s are
undergo ing similar and simultan eous process es. Also note that as
discharg e
the rotors revolve and the seal line moves towards the
between the
end of the compres sor, compres sion is taking place place in
seal line and the discharg e end while intake is taking
seal line.
the dashed volume chamber s appearin g in back of the at the
(Intake is taking place underne ath the rotors when looking
in this
compres sion side and therefo re is shown by dashed lines
diagram .)
) an
Figures 7, 8, and 9 add (to the basic unwrapp ed diagram
set up for a
outline of a convent ional unloadin g type slide valve
full load Vi of 2. 0. As this slide valve is moved towards
see that the
discharg e in corder to unload the compres sor, one can
remains is
discharg e port advance s in position until all thattiated after
axial discharg e pc•rting . Unloadi ng is usu~ l.ly J_n i
has been
approxim ately a 20% reductio n in maximum chamber volume
accompl ished through bypass back to suction . Therefo re, initial
n ratio
unloadin g tends to reduce the effectiv e volume reductio antly
somewha t because the radial port does not advance signific has now
in position although the effectiv e closed volume chamber Vi is
reduced to 80% of ~ts initial value. This means that the
also only essenti ally 80% of its initial value. Also note that
porting left
at about 50% capacity , there ~s no radial discharg e the fixed
and therefon e, the volume ratio i;;; now determi. ned by full load
axial port and th~ degree of unloadin g. If we had a
and the
axial Vi of 5.0 and are now on axial porting only Vi is now .5
compres sor capacity J.S only 50%, then the effectiv e
times 5.0 or 2.5. St-udy of this diagram will clearly demonst rate
what happens afl t:(lnvent ional slide valve type compres sor is
e
unloads~. A teductio n tc 25% capacity now reduces the effectivof
Vi to .25 x 5.0 or 1.25 act.uaJ. Therefo re, the effectiv e Vi
then rose
the compres sor went down as unloadin g was initiate d and
somewha t and th~n fell again.
movable
F_igures 10, ll, and 12 add an outllne of a typical
ed diagram
unload j ng stop type of' varIable Vi to th8 basic unwrapp
load Vi is
and demons tretes what happens wheneve r the full compres sor
.tncrease d to the maximum value of 5. 0 and then th<> by
unloads . Because lhe full load Vi variatio n was accompl ished
int.o the
allo<Ji.n g the u11l oi'ldi.ng stop position to move deeper
work has to
compres sion zone, it lS obvious that more compres sion
. Note
be done on th~ g~s that ~s to be bypaRse d back to suction
varying the
that this lH a penalty associa ted with th~s method of
full load Vi.

238
 CONCLUSIONS
With the movable stop type of slide valve, the
compre ssion process where unloadi ng bypass is point in the
towards dischar ge as the full load Vi is increas initiat ed moves
higher compre ssion losses in the bypasse d gas ed thus causing
when unloade d as
compare d to the conven tional unloadi ng type 'sl~de
valve.
The "confli ct" arises here because of the
sensiti vity of the (movabl e unloadi ng stop) variab applica tion
to the variabl e Vi questio n. le Vi approac h
If the compre ssor involve d is to
spend signfii cant time in the unloade d state,
then the "variab le
Vi" becomes a liabili ty in that more work is
prior to unloadi ng bypass. done on the gas
Furthe r to that, if a typical
refrige ration applica tion calls for a relativ ely
first place (greate r than 4.5), a compre ssor withouhigh Vi in the
should be selecte d because the greater unloadi ng t variab le Vi
be presen t in the "variab le Vi" machine because loss will always
of the operati ng
positio n of the movable stop.

It becomes necessa ry to totally underst and the

involve d if one is to make truly effecti ve use tradeo ffs
unloadi ng stop type of variabl e Vi. of the movable
If the applica tion calls for
a Vi of less than 4.5 and a high percent age of
will be in the highly-- -rDaded state, then the the operati ng time
variabl e Vi could
have an advanta ge. Howeve r, the conflic t exists and all
applica tion factors must be very clearly analyze
decisio n to utilize a "variab le Vi" machine d before making a
over a "fixed Vi"
machine because as one can see, fundam ental geomet
within the compre ssor design itself severe ly ric limitat ions
limit the true Vi
"varia bility" of the machin e.

Serious consid eration of these inheren t

the conclus ion that the screw compre ssor in limitat ions leads to
genera l cannot have
very good part load perform ance when used in
applica tions that
call for volume !'educti on ratios from about
indeed is the case yet they are being used morefour on up. This
of other charac teristic s that make them very and more because
end user of refrige ration equipm ent. attract ive to the

From an overall efficie ncy standp oint, it would

to use variab le speed screws combine d with variabl be desirab le
way, the inheren t adapta bility of the compre e Vi. In this
speed could mate very well with some degree of ssor to variabl e
variabl
more efficie nt variabl e capacit y operati on at various e Vi for
ratios. An additio nal alterna tive compre ssion
(which is already used
somewh at) would be to use multip le screw compre
ssors for a given
applica tion in order to insure that a high
total capacit y require d is always being efficiepercent age of the
fully loaded compre ssors. ntly deliver ed by

In conclu sion, the basic purpose of this

enhance the underst anding of state-o f-the-a rt paper has been to
screw compre ssion
in genera l, with the goal in mind of better
manufa cturer's existin g produc t offerin gs as well utiliza tion of
food for though t as to what might happen in as adding some
manufa cturing costs of both variab le speed the future if
compre ssors become low enough to allow it. drives and screw

239
 TYPICAL VIEW LOOKING AT COMPRESSION I DISCHARGE f]G.
SIDES OF PAIRED ROTORS

r---
1

I
I

I
I

AXIAL DISCHARGE
PORT FLOW
TYPICAL VIEW LOOKING
AT COMPRESSION SlOE OF
PAIRED ROTORS WITH FIRST
CLOSED CHAMBERS UNWRAPPED FIG. 2

240
 DISCHARGE SIDE FIG. 3

DISCHARGE SIDE FIG. 4

DISCHARGE I INTAKE BEING COMPLETED

~~ -/--/- ----;r-- ~ -.. .~,- ---:::---T-7-..-l
I / "'\:-·:.<._ // / $UCTibN_ .... .... \, /'.'./.... .... ....
/ / ,\_.'.'.'.{ ," ~ INWCE ""~ .... / '_._. -.-, ' '
"-.'.'.'.~ ',~ .'.'.'.'f ' ,
1 / / / //~.;<·~·
"-.. .·. -:-\ /.\/// ///1'l ' ' /-- ·/ ' ' ' , \j
/ / //,' / I'

',, /:-:·)'-.. ', '-,

',,
/1' /// ///
I
'\:.'.'." ',
t // / //
/ / // /
/~·.·.·
......
/
_.... , ' '- ' ', ' ', '\,
/ ..../'.'.'/
. .,"/ t '··--(
I
/
/
/ /
/
/
-.;---~/·~--- c;EA-L l TNf5
'- ' '
/ / // / // )·.-::_ :::: ' ~ ' ..,;. ,r
/ / / / '\,·····~ , , , I
-'" ~·-~: JSC'H~RG,E
1
1 -' "
"- - - - -<--- - - - -
/
"DIS£ H'AR""'
9" ~Jf!!lf f'·....i\'@1;,.""1!!
:. .t '
...--=···
' ....
"' " ' '- ' '
·····~ _,__ ~ ___:... ~ - - _,
DISCHARGE SIDE FIG. 6

241
DEPICTION OF CONVENTIONAL SLIDE VALVE SET
UP FOR A FULL CAPACITY Vi ~ 2.0

Dl SCHARGE END

/
/
/
/

""""--''-- --"- -~/- ~-

FIG. 8
Dl SCHARGE END

RADl~L
DISCHARGE
PORT

Dl SCHARGE END

242
,--· ---- ---- ---- ·--- ····- ---- ---
MOVABLE UNLOADING STOP FULL CAPACITY
VARIABLE Vi FROM 2 MINIMUM TO 5 MAXIMUM

'
''
''
- __ ' '---'-
'_, -' --"~- ...
DI SCH~RGE END

FIG. 11

243