1) Reciprocating compressor

Reciprocating compressor is the workhorse of the refrigeration and air conditioning industry.

Reciprocating compressors consist of a piston moving back and forth in a cylinder, with suction
and discharge valves to achieve suction and compression of the refrigerant vapor.

Work in Reciprocating Compressor

For a reciprocating compressor, the skeleton diagram of the cylinder and piston mechanism and
the p-v diagram for the machine cycle of is given below.

When the piston is in the extreme left position of the inner dead center (IDC) (top dead center
(TDC)), the volume occupied by the gas is V c= V3 called the clearance volume, i.e., the volume
between the IDC position of the piston and the cylinder head.

As the piston moves outward, till the extreme right position of the outer dead center (ODC)
(bottom dead center (BDC)) is reached.
The clearance gas expands to 4, where the pressure inside the cylinder is equal to the pressure at
the suction flange of the compressor. The suction valve S opens and the vapour from the
evaporator is sucked.

At this point the volume occupied by the gas is V1. The stroke or swept volume or piston
displacement is

Where D - is the bore or diameter and

L - is the stroke, i.e., the distance travelled by the piston between I.D.C.
and O.D.C. of the cylinder.

At 1, the suction valve closes as the piston moves inwards and the compression begins.

At 2, the pressure in the cylinder is equal to the pressure at the discharge flange of the
compressor. A further inward movement of the piston results in the pressure in the cylinder
exceeding the condenser pressure. This opens the discharge valve D and the vapour from the
cylinder flows into the condenser till the piston again reaches the IDC position.
Gas equal to the clearance volume Vc remains in the cylinder and the cycle is repeated

The work done for compression for the machine cycle is given by the cyclic integral of Pdv.
Hence