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3.1 Classification of air compressor - Construction and working of single stage and
two stage reciprocating air compressors with P-V. diagram. Necessity of multi-
staging and inter cooling. Construction and working of rotary compressors i)
Centrifugal compressor ii) Axial flow compressor iii) Screw compressor, Comparison
of various compressors.
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3.2 Air compressor terminology like i) Free air delivered, ii) Capacity of Compressor,
iii) Piston displacement, iv) I. P., v) B. P., vi) Volumetric efficiency, vii) Isothermal
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efficiency, viii) Overall Isothermal or Compressor efficiency. (Only definitions),
Factors affecting volumetric Efficiency of reciprocating air compressors.
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3.3 Applications of compressed air: construction and working of i) Rock drill, ii)
pneumatic torque wrench
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AIR COMPRESSOR :
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1) It is a power absorbing or energy convergent device used to raise the pressure of
air by reducing its volume.
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2) It is of two types i) Reciprocating and ii) Rotary compressors.
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Normally Reciprocating compressor with inlet and exhaust valves, and rotary with
inlet and exhaust port.
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Here Prime-mover like steam engine, I.C. engine, electric motor are needed to run
compressor.
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There are main two categories of air compressors i) Reciprocating ii) Rotary
compressor. But according to Geometry and operational characteristics features
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i) Vertical
ii) Horizontal
D) According to drive compressor :
i) Motor driven
ii) Engine driven
iii) Steam/Gas turbine driven
E) According to cooling medium :
i) Air cooled
ii) Oil cooled
iii) Water cooled
F) According to portability condition :
i) Portable compressor
ii) Stationery compressor
G) According to type of displacement :
i) Positive displacement
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e.g. Roots blower, vane type, mono screw; twin screw
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Reciprocating – piston type & diaphragm type.
ii) Non-positive displacement
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e.g. Centrifugal (or) radial flow & axial flow.
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AIR COMPRESSOR TERMINOLOGY :
1) Single acting compressor :
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Here suction, compression & delivery of air takes place on one side of piston
only.
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Here we get one delivery stroke after one complete revolution of crank shaft.
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2) Double acting compressor :
Here suction, compression and delivery of air takes place on both sides of
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piston.
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Here we get two delivery stroke after one complete revolution of crank shaft.
3) Single stage compressor :
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In this compression of air from initial pressure to final pressure is carried out
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When compression of air from initial pressure to final pressure is carried out
in more than one cylinder.
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7) Discharge pressure :
It is the absolute pressure of air at the outlet of compressor.
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L = Length of piston stroke.
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9) Capacity of compressor :
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It is the volume of air delivered by compressor and is expressed in m 3/min.
(or) m3/sec.
10) Free air delivery : (F.A.D.)
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It is the volume of air delivered under the condition of temperature and
pressure existing at compressor intake. When free air conditions are not
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given, these are taken as S.T.P. condition i.e. pressure 1.0135 bar &
temperature 15oC.
11) Volumetric efficiency : ,K
It is the ratio of volume of free air delivered per stroke to the displacement of
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compressor.
12) Isothermal efficiency / compressor efficiency :
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It is the ratio of work (or) power required compressing the air isothermally to
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the actual work required to compress the air for the same pressure ratio.
14) Indicated power (I.P.) (or) Air power :
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15) Brake power (B.P.) (or) Shaft power :
It is the power required to drive the compressor (or) power delivered to the
shaft of compressor.
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Single stage reciprocating air compressor consist of the following main components.
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While with clearance volume there are four strokes i) Expansion ii) suction iii)
compression iv) Delivery.
When piston moves from T.D.C. to B.D.C.,Pressure inside the cylinder falls
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Now the piston moves upwards from B.D.C. to T.D.C. pressure inside the
cylinder goes on increasing till it reaches the discharge pressure. At this stage
delivery valve gets opened and air is delivered to container. When compression
stroke is taking place both suction and delivery valve are closed.
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P-V diagram for working of single stage, single acting reciprocating air compressor
without clearance volume are given below :
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4-1– Represents suction of air at pressure p1.During this operation inlet valve
remains open.
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1-2 -Represents the compression of air polytropically. During this operation ,inlet
and delivering valves remain closed.
2-3 –Represents the discharge of air to the receiver at a pressure p2.The outlet
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P-V diagram for working of single stage, single acting reciprocating air compressor
with clearance volume are given below :
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Here at the end of delivery stroke, the high pressure air is left in the clearance
volume and the suction for the second cycle starts only when the air pressure
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In above fig. shows two stage reciprocating air compressor with water cooled
intercooler.
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1) First of all fresh air is sucked from atmosphere in low pressure (L.P.) cylinder
during its suction stroke at inlet pressure p1 and Temperature t1.
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Temperature t2 to t3.
4) After that air is sucked in high pressure (H.P.) cylinder during its suction
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stroke.
5) Finally air after further compression in H.P. cylinder (i.e. second stage) from 3
to 4 is delivered by the compressor at pressure p3 & Temperature t4.
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6) P-V diagram for two stages reciprocating compressor with intercooler is given
below :
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3) At the end of compression temperature of air is too high. It may heat-up the
cylinder head (or) burn the lubricating oil.
4) So, to overcome above difficulties two (or) more than two cylinders are
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When we use multistage compression there is necessity of intercooler
between stages.
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We know, air is sucked in first cylinder then compress it after compression
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temperature of air increases.
If it does not pass through intercooler and directly send to second stage because of
increase in temperature volume of air increases. So amount of air taken in cylinder
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decreases so atomically pressure is decreased, so volumetric efficiency decreases.
If Intercooler is placed between cylinders then temperature of air decreases and it is
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maintained at temperature of atmospheric temperature without decreasing pressure
of air.
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So volumetric efficiency increases and input of compressor decreases (i.e. electricity
used to drive compressor).
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6) If fresh air comes in contact with hot valves it gets expended; which
decreases the charge taken in therefore volumetric efficiency decreases.
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7) Overheating of air by contact with hot cylinder wall.
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8) Inertia effect of air in suction pipe.
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In rotary air compressor the air is entrapped between two sets of engaging
surface and pressure of air is increased by squeezing action.
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Centrifugal air Compressor :
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In above figure shows simplest form of centrifugal compressor which consist of rotor
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The casing of compressor is made by cast iron and designed in such away that,
kinetic energy of air is converted into pressure energy Before it leaves the casing.
The mechanical energy is provided to rotor from external source. As the rotor
rotates, it sucks air through its eye and increase its pressure due to centrifugal force
and forces the air to flow over diffuser (not shown in fig). The pressure of air is
further increased during its flow over the diffuser.
Finally, the air at a high pressure is delivered to receiver. The air enters the
impeller axially and leaves vanes radially.
Advantages of Centrifugal Compressor :
1) Speed of compressor is high.
2) It handles large volume of air.
3) Free from vibrations and noise.
4) It can be directly coupled to motor (or) prime mover.
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5) Efficiency is high.
6) Only few parts required lubrication.
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Disadvantages of Centrifugal Compressor :
1) Multi stating is difficult.
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2) Pressure ratio is smaller.
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Applications :
1) Used as air blower in smithy operation.
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In Turbocharger on vehicles.
In furnace for combustion process. ,K
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4) In saloon shop for hair drier.
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The blades are made of aerofoil section to reduce the loss caused by
turbulence and boundary separation.
The mechanical energy is provided to rotating shaft which rotates the drum
(i.e. rotor).
The air enters from left side of compressor. As the rotor rotates air flows
through alternately arranged fixed and moving blade.
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As air flows from one set of fixed and moving blade to another it gets
compressed thus successive compression of air in all sets of fixed blade and moving
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blade; the air is delivered at high pressure at outlet.
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Here total number of stages from : 5 to 15.
It handles air upto 30,00 m3/min.
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Pressure rise in each stage is 10 -15%.
It is used in gas turbine power plant, in turbo jet, turbo prop engines.
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Screw Compressor :
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a casing. Out of two rotors male rotor is driver and female rotor is driven.
Male rotor has four lobes and female rotor has six flutes. During rotation
both rotors are rotates exact opposite to each other (i.e. here driver in clockwise
direction and driven rotor in anticlockwise rotation) and air enters and takes place
between male and female rotor.
Here air traps and moves axially and radially with rotation of rotors and gets
compressed due to volume reduction.
Then this air though outside from upward direction speed of rotor is different
due to different number of lobes and flutes.
It handles 3.5 to 300 m3/min. and
Maximum pressure ratio of 20
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This system requires lubrication. This compressor is noisy in operation used in
refrigeration industry.
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Advantages of screw compressor :
1) Uniform and continuous air flow is obtained.
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2) There is absence of suction and discharge valve eliminates pressure drop.
3) Directly coupled to prime mover.
4) It is perfectly balanced.
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5) It is simple; durable.
6) High volumetric efficiency is obtained.
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Comparison of Reciprocating & Rotary Air Compressor :
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3 They are suitable for low discharge 3 They are suitable for high
and high pressure. discharge and low pressure.
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running cost. running cost.
3 It required low starting torque. 3 It required high starting torque.
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4 It is not suitable for multi stating. 4 It is suitable for multi stating.
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5 Eg. Air blower in furnace, In shops 5 Eg. In gas turbine power plant, In
for smithy operation, In turbojet ,turbo prop engine.
turbocharger, in hair dryer etc.
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Single Stage Compressor & Multi Stage Compressor :
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Single Stage Compressor
Compressor in which single cylinder 1
is used is called as single stage
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Multi Stage Compressor
Compressor in which more than
two cylinders are used then called
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compressor. as multistage compressor.
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compressor. compressor.
4 Required heavy and bigger cylinder. 4 Required small cylinder.
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8 Air is compressed from intake to 8 Two (or) more than two cylinders
delivery pressure in one cylinder. are used to compress air from
intake to delivery pressure.
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10) Refrigeration industry depends on compressor only.
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11) It is used in gas turbine power plants.
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12) It is used to run air motors.
13) Operating brakes on buses, trucks and trains.
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14) In tyre tubes of vehicles.
15) For drying wet products.
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16) Excavating.
17)
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For automation purpose in pneumatic system, for material handling in shops.
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Generally in all pneumatic rotary tools, rotary vane motor is used which is
nothing but a rotary actuator, with the help of compressed air it provide rotary
motion to spindle. (Speed up to 25000 rpm)
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Construction :-
In fig shows Pneumatic drill. It is having cast iron body in which air motor
(vane type) is used. The motor shaft is attached to 3 gear train and gear housing,
this arrangement is similar to epicyclic gear train used in automobiles. Drill chuck is
attached to spindle of gear train which transfer power developed by air to drill.
There is a air supply pipe and flow of air is controlled by air flow control valves.
Working :-
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When flow control valves similar to trigger of pistol is pressed the pressurized
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air will pass over the vanes of air motor, as shown by arrows near each vane and
rotor will rotate is clockwise direction. This rotary motion will transfer to 3 gear train
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and thus drill will rotate.
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ii) Pneumatic torque wrench :-
The working principle of pneumatic torque wrench is similar to that of
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pneumatic drill. Only difference is that instead of drill, here we use spindle on which
we can fit box spanner set. according to need we replace it very quickly.
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This power tool generally used for fitting (or) removing nuts from body. for
assemble (or) dismantle the parts. in shops, Garages etc.
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provision of control valves.
Generally such type of power tools are connected to air compressor by
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flexible pipe (or) hose pipe along with F.R.L Unit which are shown below.
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Setup for power tools
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6 Briefly explain the different methods adopted for increasing isothermal
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efficiency of reciprocating air compressor. 2 m.
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7 Define i) Volumetric efficiency, ii) Isothermal efficiency of an air 4 m.
compressor, iii) Overall efficiency, iv) Capacity of compressor, v)
Indicated Power
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8 Define air Compressor terminology. 4 m.
i ) Free air delivery ii) Capacity of compressor
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iii) Piston displacement iv) Volumetric efficiency.
4 m.
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10 Write classification of air compressor (any 4 pts ) 4 m.
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motion
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air compressor.
17 Compare merits & demerits of reciprocating compressor with rotary
compressor. 8 m.
18 Differentiate between Reciprocating and rotary air compressor. 8 m.
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