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Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 937–944

10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning, ISHVAC2017, 19-
22 October 2017, Jinan, China

Energy Impact of Air Pre-cooling on Screw Air Compressor

a, * a a a
Da Guo , Zhixian Ma , Jili Zhang , Mingsheng Liu
a
Institute of Building Energy, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian116024 China

Abstract

Air compressors are widely used in a variety of industries. The energy consumed by air compressors comprises a significant portion of the
overall energy consumption in industrial plants. Both theoretical and experimental studies were conducted to investigate the impacts of air pre
-cooling on the energy consumption of air compressor. Experiments were performed on a 11 kW screw air compressor. The paper presents the
details of the modelling as well as the measured results. The results indicate that the energy consumption decreases by 0.65% for every 1 ℃ drop
in suction temperature. The energy consumption decreases 0.243% for every 1% drop in suction relative humidity. Significant compressor energy
consumption can be reduced by pre-treating or pre-cooling suction air.

© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and
Air Conditioning.

Keywords: screw air compressor, energy consumption; suction temperature; suction relative humidity

Nomenclature

T1 air suction temperature, ℃

T2 air exhaust temperature, ℃
p1 absolute air pressure before compression, MPa
p2 absolute air pressure after compression, MPa
n polytropic index
R air constant
v1 specific volume of air before compression, m 3/kg
v2 specific volume of air after compression, m3/kg
w energy consumption of a mass unit of air, kW/kg
V1volume of air before compression, m
3
V2 volume of air after compression, m3
pq partial vapor pressure of wet air, Pa
pq•b saturation vapor pressure, Pa
B atmospheric pressure, Pa
φ relative humidity, %

ρ
density of compressed air, kg/m3

* Corresponding author. Tel: 0411-84707753

E-mail address: guoda@mail.dlut.edu.cn

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and
Air Conditioning.
10.1016/j.proeng.2017.10.147
938 Da Guo et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 937–944

3
Qi air produced by the air compressor, m /min
qi average energy consumed per kilogram of compressed air, kWh/(kg/min)
Pair air power of compressed air, kW
η overall efficiency of compressed air
z compression series of the air compressor
qv air production of the air compressor under standard conditions, Nm3/min
pv absolute pressure of compressed air, MPa

1. Introduction

Compressed air is an air source that is pollutant free, easy to transport, innocuous and has low flammability among other
defining characteristics. Screw air compressors are widely used to produce the compressed air in industries ranging from the
machinery, metallurgy, and electric power industries to the chemical and transportation industries. Ninety-six percent of the
energy consumed by industrial compressors currently derives from compressed air systems [1]. At present, the energy
conservation measures are compressor structure improvement, speed modulation, heat recovery, pipe flow restriction, and air
leakage prevention [2-5]. The inlet air pre-treatment or cooling was also proposed by a number of researchers [6-7]. However,
suction air pre-treatment or cooling has not yet been thoroughly explored experimentally. This work intends to fill this gap. In this
paper, the principles of the screw compressor are briefly discussed. Then, an energy model of screw compressors is presented.
Finally, experiment results are presented.

2. Screw Compressor Model

2.1. Energy Model

There are many types of air compressors available on the market. Examples include positive displacement compressors,
reciprocating compressors, and centrifugal compressors. This paper focuses on the screw air compressor. A screw compressor is a
type of positive displacement compressor. The working process of the screw compressor involves four main processes:
suctioning air, compressing air, fuel injection, and exhausting air [8]. In this study, a screw air compressor with a rated power of
11kW is selected as the research object. The performance parameters are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Performance parameters of screw air compressor.
Volume flow rate Rated discharge pressure Rated power Input specific power
[m3·min−1] [MPa] [kW] [kW/m3/min]

1.35 1.0 11 9.9

Figure 1 shows the theoretical compression p-V diagram of the screw compressor, in which the 4-1 process is the suction
process line, and the 2-3 process is the exhaust process line. The thermal state of these two processes does not change. The 1-2
process is the compression process line. During the compression process, the air from the p1, T1 state is compressed to the final p2,
T2 state. The compression process of the actual compressor is considered a polytropic compression process. The energy required
to complete the compression of the air can be divided into two parts: one is the compression work consumed in the process of 1-2
compression, the other is the flow work of suction and exhaust. The theoretical energy consumption of the air is defined by the
area shown within points 1-4 in Figure 1.

Fig. 1. The theory process indicator diagram.

An equation for the theoretical calculation of the energy consumption of a screw air compressor is as follows:
 Da Guo et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 937–944

w = n ( p v -p v ) = n RT [( p2 ) n
n -1 -1]
n -1 1 1 2 2 n -1 1 p
 939
(1)

where T1 is the air suction temperature, p1 is the absolute air pressure before compression, p2 is the absolute air pressure after
compression, n is the polytropic index, R is the air constant, v1 is the specific volume of air before compression, v2 is the specific
volume of air after compression. w is the energy consumption of a mass unit of air.
According to the compression polytropic process and the ideal air state equation, the pressure, temperature, and volume have
the following relationships:

T1 = ( p2 ) n -1 = ( V1 )n-1
n (2)
T2 p1 V2

p1v1n = p2 v2n (3)

pv1 = RT1 (4)

Where T2 is the air temperature after compression, V1 is the volume of air before compression, and V2 is the volume of air after
compression.

2.2. Pre-cooling Model

Compressed air comes from the atmosphere. However, the state of the atmosphere is of course in a continual process of
change. Different suction parameters will have different impacts on an air compressor system.
Figure 2 shows the impact of reducing the suction temperature on the overall energy consumption of the air compressor. Since
the specific volume decreases as air temperature decrease, the suction state moves from 1 to 5. Because the slope of the 1-2 (5-6)
line denoting the polytropic compression process is -np/v, the compression process line 5-6 is steeper than the 1-2 line after
cooling.

Fig. 2. Impact of suction temperature on energy consumption.

Figure 3 shows the impact of the suction relative humidity on the energy consumption of the air compressor. The suction state
is moved from 1 to 5 since the specific volume decreases as the relative humidity decreases. Also, a reduction in the relative
humidity will lead to a decrease in the air constant R. The shaded area in Figure 2 and Figure 3 represents the amount of
compression energy saved.
940 Da Guo et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 937–944

Fig. 3. Impact of suction relative humidity on energy consumption.

The potential compressor power can be reduced by 7.6% if the inlet temperature is reduced from 30 ℃ to 7℃ (assume same
relative humidity).

w' Pv '-P v ' T ' 280 K

1 1 2 2 1
(5)
=
w Pv -P v = T =303K = 92.41%
1 1 2 2 1

If the suction relative humidity is high, the condensed water generated in the device will usually be adsorbed on the wall of
the flow channel, narrowing the channel and increasing the flow resistance. This in turn will affect the operating efficiency.
Air consists of dry air and water vapor. According to Equation 1, the parameters that impact how much energy an air
compressor consumes are mainly the suction temperature T 1, the air constant R, and the wet air mass m of the air compressor.
The air quality is reduced when the water vapor in the wet air is removed, reducing the energy consumption of the air
compressor. The equation for calculating the air constant of wet air is as follows:

R= 287 = 287 (6)

pq ϕp q•b
1-0.378 1-0.378
B B

where pq is the partial vapor pressure of wet air, pq•b is the saturation vapor pressure, B is the atmospheric pressure, and φ is
the relative humidity.
The air constant increases when the relative humidity of the suction air increases, thus leading to an increase in energy
consumption of the air compressor consumes.
In summary, reducing the suction temperature and suction relative humidity can effectively reduce the energy consumption of
the air compressor.

3. Experiment

3.1. Instrumentation

The testing facility consists of a screw compressor, sensors for pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and
flow. Air is first compressed by the air compressor so that it reaches a high temperature and pressure. The
compressed air is then transported to the air storage tank through the pipeline, and then conveyed to the air end
upon reaching a set pressure point. During the test, the pressure of the compressed air is ensured by adjusting the
size of the opening of the outlet valve of the air storage tank, and ensuring the amount of air produced is stable.
The suction temperature, suction relative humidity, electricity consumption, exhaust pressure, exhaust
temperature, and air production is measured when the system operation is stable. A schematic diagram detailing
the components of the compressor system in the experiment is shown in Fig. 4.
 Da Guo et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 937–944 941

Fig. 4. Experimental schematic diagram.

The electricity consumption, air state parameters, and the amount of air produced by the screw air compressor is tested using
an absolute exhaust pressure of 0.6MPa. The variance in the specific energy and the overall efficiency of the air compressor is
obtained when the suction parameters change. The control variable method is used in this paper to test and analyze the amount of
air produced and electricity consumed by the screw air compressor.

3.2. Energy consumption analysis method

In this paper, the energy consumption index of a screw air compressor is determined based on the overall
efficiency and specific energy. Specific energy refers to the energy consumed by the actual volume flow under a
given operating condition and at a specific exhaust pressure. However, the compressed air condition is not stated.
The compressed air in the tank may have different temperature. The impact of the temperature must be correct if
they are different. In other words, the specific energy must be compared for each kg air compressed, or each
specific volume of air under the same pressure and temperature conditions. The specific power value is different
under differing suction state parameters. The smaller the specific power value, the higher the efficiency of the air
compressor. The equation used to find the specific energy is as follows:
qi = P (7)
ele

ρQi

where Pele is the electricity consumption, ρ is the density of compressed air, Qi is the air produced by the air compressor, and qi
is the average energy consumed per kilogram of compressed air.
The overall efficiency is used to judge whether the air compressor operates efficiently. and the equation used to
find the overall efficiency is as follows:
P (8)
air
η=(P ) ×100%
ac

where Pair is the air power of compressed air, Pac is the actual air power of compressed air.
Air power is defined as the work-producing potential of compressed air [9]. The equation used to find the air power is as
follows:

pair = z × 103 × B × qv ×ln( pv ) (9)

B
where z is the compression series of the air compressor, qv is the air production of the air compressor under standard
conditions, and pv is the absolute pressure of compressed air.

4. Test Data Analysis

4.1. Energy consumption analysis of the compressor under differing suction temperatures

The authors test the air production and electricity consumption of the air compressor under various suction temperatures at a
suction relative humidity of 34.4%. The specific energy and overall efficiency of the air compressor are obtained, and the
electricity fees calculated according to the industrial electricity price (0.72yuan·kWh −1) in Dalian, China. The results are
shown in Table 2.
 942 Da Guo et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 937–944
Table.2 The test parameters at differing suction temperatures when the suction relative humidity is 34.4%.

Suction Daily average power Air production Specific energy Electricity fees Overall efficiency
temperature consumption 3 −1 -1 −1 [%]
[m ·h ] [kWh·kg ] [yuan·kg ]

[℃] [kWh]

-1.38 247.85 4.994 0.249 0.180 18.10

-0.39 255.89 5.120 0.252 0.182 17.89

6.19 273.60 5.216 0.269 0.193 16.81

6.91 273.12 5.122 0.271 0.195 16.67

7.68 272.88 5.063 0.277 0.200 16.29

13.07 273.36 5.041 0.282 0.203 16.04

Fig.5 Specific Energy change trend when the suction relative humidity Fig.6 Overall efficiency change trend when the suction relative
is constant humidity is constant

The following conclusions can be drawn based on this data: More electricity was used in the production of 1kg compressed air
at higher suction temperatures and at a higher specific energy. Higher electricity consumption equates to increased costs and
lowers the overall efficiency. Figures 5 and 6 indicate that the suction temperature range of the air compressor is 16 ℃. The
specific energy increased from 0.249kWh/kg to 0.282kWh/kg, accounting for 13.25% of the original value, while the overall
efficiency reduced from 18.1% to 16.04%, accounting for 11.38% of the original value. The suction temperature of the
compressor increased by 1℃. The production of 1kg of compressed air will cause the electricity consumption to increase by
0.1029kWh, the energy consumption to increase by 0.89%, the electricity cost to increase by 0.00187 Chinese Yuan, and the
overall efficiency to lower by 0.1215%.

4.2. Energy consumption analysis under differing suction relative humidity values

The air production and electricity consumption of the air compressor is tested under differing suction relative humidity values
when the suction temperature is 5.84℃. The specific energy and overall efficiency of the air compressor is obtained. The results
are shown in Table 3.
 Da Guo et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 937–944 943
Table.3 The test parameters at differing suction relative humidity values when the suction temperature is 5.84℃.

Suction relative Daily average power Air production Specific energy Electricity fees Overall efficiency
3 −1 -1
humidity consumption [m ·h ] [kWh·kg ] [yuan·kg−1] [%]

[ [kWh]

32.6 272.16 5.119 0.272 0.196 16.58

38.2 273.12 4.997 0.276 0.199 16.35

39.1 271.68 4.963 0.280 0.201 16.14

44.1 271.68 4.871 0.283 0.204 15.96

76.1 273.84 4.598 0.306 0.220 14.76

Fig.7 Specific energy change trend when the suction temperature is Fig.8 Overall efficiency change trend when the suction temperature is
constant constant

Through an analysis of the above data, we can draw the following conclusions: More electricity was used in the production of
1kg compressed air at higher suction temperatures and at a higher specific energy. Higher electricity consumption equates to
increased costs and lowers the overall efficiency. Figures 7 and 8 show that the suction relative humidity range of the air
compressor is 45%. The specific energy increased from 0.196kWh/kg to 0.22kWh/kg, accounting for 12.24% of the original
value. The overall efficiency is reduced from 16.58% to 14.76%, accounting for 10.98% of the original value. The suction
relative humidity increases by 1%. The production of 1kg of compressed air will cause the electricity consumption to increase by
0.0009kWh, the energy consumption to increase by 0.283%, the electricity costs to increase by 0.00065 Chinese Yuan, and the
overall efficiency to lower by 0.033%.

5. Conclusions

Through an analysis of the theoretical energy consumption, the suction temperature and relative humidity will affect the
energy consumption of the air compressor. The energy consumption can be reduced by reducing the suction temperature and
relative humidity effectively.
The production of 1kg of compressed air will result in a 0.1029kWh reduction in electricity consumption, a 0.89% reduction
in energy consumption, an reduction in electricity costs of 0.00187 Chinese Yuan, and an increase in the overall efficiency by
0.1215% for nearly every 1℃ drop in the suction temperature when the suction relative humidity is kept constant.
The production of 1kg of compressed air will cause the amount of electricity consumed to be reduced by 0.0009kWh, the
amount of energy consumed to reduce by 0.283%, the cost of electricity to lower by 0.00065 Chinese Yuan, and the overall
efficiency to increase by 0.033% for nearly every 1% drop in the suction relative humidity when the suction temperature is kept
constant.

Acknowledgment

This work is supported by National Key Research and Development Project of China No. 2017YFC0704100 (entitled New
generation intelligent building platform techniques) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51606029).
944 Da Guo et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 937–944

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