Working of single acting single

cylinder reciprocating compressor

INTRODUCTION

The single-acting air compressor is a famous

type of positive displacement compressor from
the category of reciprocating air compressors.
 A single-acting compressor uses compressed air
to push the piston in one direction and the spring
force to send the piston back to its primary
position. It can work in the direction of pneumatic
actuators.
Working
This reciprocating compressor consists of an
intake valve, an exhaust valve, a cylinder,
valves, and a piston. As the piston moves in a
downward direction, then the air pressure in
the compressor cylinder drops lower than the
pressure of the atmosphere..
This pressure variation opens the inlet valve and draws
air into the cylinder until the piston is completed its
downward stroke. As the piston moves up, the
pressure builds up, and ultimately it touches the
exhaust pressure. At this point, the outlet valve is
opened for discharging the air. Then the air is sent to
the storage tank
At the end of the delivery stroke, a certain amount of
high-pressure air remains in the clearance area.
When the piston stops the suction stroke, then the
air in the clearance area increases until the air
pressure drops below the pressure of the
atmosphere. At this moment, the fresh air enters in
the cylinder, the intake valve opens, and this cycle
repeats.
Since the single-acting air compressor only has one
valve at the top of the cylinder. And there is only one
compression cycle for each revolution of the
crankshaft.
 Single acting air compressor P-V diagram

1) Suction Stroke (d-a):

First of all, the air is
sucked into the
compressor cylinder at
constant pressure Pa and
the volume of the air
increases during this
process. The line d-a
represents this process
in the above-given figure.
2) Compression Stroke (a-b):
After completing the suction stroke, the air
compression starts. During this process, the air
pressure increases from Pa to Pb, and the volume
decreases from Va to Vb. At this point “b”, the
pressure Pb is marginally more than delivery
pressure. The line a-b represents this process.

3) Delivery stroke (b-c):

At point “b,” the compression stroke completes, and
then the delivery stroke starts. During this process,
the air pressure remains constant (Pb) while the
volume increases. So, at this stage, the outlet valve
opens and discharges the compressed air. The line
b-c of the above-given diagram represents this
4) Repeating Process (c-d):
After completing the delivery stroke, the piston
comes again for the suction stroke, again sucks
air, and at this stage, the cylinder pressure will be
Pa. This process repeats according to our
requirements. And also, the work done during this
process represents through a-b-c-d