Performance Analysis of Reciprocating Refrigerant Compressor

In this work, a performance analysis of the compression cycle of a reciprocating compressor for domestic refrigeration was carried out. A numerical simulation model of a refrigerant reciprocating compressor has been developed in MATLAB Simulink R2009a. An advantage of numerical simulation model of a reciprocating compressor is for the design, development, improvement and optimization of the elements constituting the compressor circuit. A specific numerical simulation model of the whole vapour compression refrigeration system has been developed coupling different simulation models for each element (i. e. , evaporator, compressor, condenser and expansion valve), more detailed mathematical models has been incorporated in the simulation model of the compressor and adaptability to different configurations without changing the program. Also, to match with the actual working condition of a reciprocating compressor, different losses such as pressure drop, leakage losses etc. is also incorporated in the simulation model of the compressor. Result presented show the influence of different aspects (speed, l/d ratio, geometry, working conditions) on the basis of meaningful non-dimensional parameters, which describe the compressor behavior (volumetric efficiency, coefficient of performance). The refrigerants taken for the analysis in this paper is R134a, but any refrigerants would be considered for the analysis. The idea of this paper is to give a better understanding of the performance behavior under different aspects to improve the design of this equipment.