• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.337-342
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• 2004

One of the serious challenges in developing rotary compressor with HFC refrigerant is the prediction of scuffing times and wear amounts between vane and roller surfaces. In this study, the tribological characteristics of sliding surfaces using vane-roller geometry of rotary compressor were investigated. The sliding tests were carried out under various sliding speeds, normal loads and surface roughness. During the test, friction force, wear depth, time to failure and surface temperature were monitored. Because severe wear occurred on vane surface, TiN coating was applied on sliding surfaces to prolong the wear life of vane-roller interfaces. From the sliding test it was found that there was the optimum initial surface roughness to break in and to prolong the wear life of sliding surfaces. Depending on the load and speed, the protective layers, which were composed of metallic oxide and organic compound, were formed on sliding surfaces. Those would play an important role in the amounts of friction and wear between roller and vane surfaces.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.29-37
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• 2008

Air supply is required to the cathode of fuel cells for the provision of oxygen to produce electricity through chemical reaction with hydrogen in the cell, and supplied air should be free of impurities such as oil mist and tiny particles separated from sliding surfaces. Hence, air compressor for fuel cell air supply must be oil-less type and have no severe sliding surfaces inside. This paper introduces the concept of single-vane type rotary air compressor whose structure is particularly suitable for the fuel cell application: sliding action of the vane against the cylinder wall, which causes severe friction in the conventional vane rotary compressors, is made to be prevented by attaching the vane to the driving shaft with the compliant device between the vane and the rotor in this new design. For 2 kW fuel cell application, preliminary design has been carried out, and its performance has been estimated by using computer simulation program: for discharge pressure of 2 bar, the volumetric, adiabatic, and mechanical efficiencies are calculated to be 82.5%, 92.5%, and 96.3%, respectively.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.904-909
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• 2009

In this paper, a rolling piston rotary compressor having a combined vane and roller unit has been introduced. In a conventional rotary compressor, sliding motion takes place between the vane nose and roller. By combining the vane and the roller in one unit, gas leakage through a clearance between the vane nose and the roller can be eliminated, and the frictional loss between them can also be reduced to almost nought. Compressor model with the combined vane and roller has been fabricated and tested in a compressor calorimeter and computer simulation program has been developed to confirm merits of the new mechanism. In a test, cooling capacity has been found to be increased by 1.4%, and the compressor input decreased by 0.3%, resulting in 1.7% increased in EER. Simulation program confirmed the calorimeter test results and the merits of the new model as mentioned above.

• KSTLE International Journal
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• v.9 no.1_2
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• pp.17-21
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• 2008

The rolling piston type rotary compressor has been widely used for refrigeration and air-conditioning systems due to its compactness and high-speed operation. The present study is one of studies to maximize the advantages of refrigerant compressors. In addition, because friction characteristics of the critical sliding component is essential in the design of refrigerant compressors, the present study also analyzed the lubrication characteristics of a rotary compressor used for refrigeration and air-conditioning systems. In order to measure the friction force between the vane and the rolling piston, an experimental apparatus known as the Pin-on-Disk was used. Load is applied by the hydraulic servo valve controlling the pressure of the hydraulic cylinder. The results showed that the rotational speed of the shaft, the operating temperature, and the discharge pressure significantly influenced the friction force between the vane and the rolling piston.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.351-358
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• 2006

This paper presents analytical results of a rotary vane compressor performance when the compressor is used for air supply from underwater. Compression characteristics such as pressure and temperature in a compression chamber are analyzed. Volumetric and adiabatic efficiencies are calculated. Vane dynamics are also performed to give reaction forces on the vane from the cylinder inner surface and from vane slots. Compressor efficiency is about 34.9%, and about 55% of the compressor loss is produced by the friction between the vane nose and the cylinder wall. Volumetric efficiency is about 79.5%, and indicated efficiency is about 77.1%, which are comparable to other displacement type compressors. When roller was introduced between housing inner wall and vane tips, mechanical efficiency could be improved by as much as 24.9%, depending on the roller friction.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.62-69
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• 1997

Rapid increase of refrigeration and air-conditioning systems 9r & a systems) in modern industries brings attention to the urgency of research & development as a core technology in the area. And it is required to the compatibility problem of r & a systems to alternative refrigerant for the protection of environment. The, it is requested to study the lubrication characteristics of refrigerant compressor which is the core technology in the r & a systems. The study of lubrication characteristics in the critical sliding component is essential for the design of refrigerant compressor. Therefore, theoretical investigation of the lubrication characteristics of rotary compressor for r & a systems is studied. The newton-Raphson method is used for the EHL analysis between vane and rolling piston in the rotary compressor. The results show that the rotational speed of a shaft and the discharge pressure influence significantly the friction force between vane and rolling piston. This results give important basic data for the further lubrication analysis and design of a rotary compressor.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.12-19
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• 2015

As a means of improving cycle performance of a R410A air-conditioning system, a combined structure of compressor and expander was introduced. A vane rotary type expander was designed to share a common shaft with twin type rolling piston rotary compressor in a housing. Numerical simulation on the performance of the combined compressor and expander was carried out. At ARI condition, the volumetric and total efficiencies of the designed vane expander were 69.37% and 30.23%, respectively. With the application of this expander, the compressor input was reduced by 3.91%, and the cooling capacity was increased by 3.98%. As a result, COP of the air-conditioning system was improved by 8.2%. As the pressure difference between the condenser and the evaporator becomes large, COP improvement increases unless the mass flow rate in the expander exceeds that in the compressor.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.2429-2433
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• 2008

A rotary vane blower was developed as an air supply system for fuel cell application. As one way of improving the blower efficiency, a roller was adapted between vanes and cylinder housing. The performance of blower was investigated experimentally. The blower power input was about 115W to compress the air at normal atmospheric condition to 0.2 bar with the flow rate of 140 NLPM, resulting in the blower overall efficiency of 43%. After 400 hours of operation, the performance of blower was not changed. The result showed that developed blower was confirmed to be suitable for fuel cell application.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.107-115
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• 2018

A design combining the use of a compressor and expander was introduced in order to improve the cycle performance of a $CO_2$ automotive air conditioning system. Both the compressor and expander used were of rotary vane type and were designed to share a common shaft in a housing. Numerical simulation was carried out to evaluate the merit of the combined unit. In a typical automotive air conditioning operating conditions, the COP of the system was improved by 8.7% by the application of the combined unit. The compressor input was reduced by 5.2% through use of the expander output. In addition, about 3.06% increase in the cooling capacity was obtained through isentropic expansion in the expander. Our study noted that, as the pressure difference between the gas cooler and the evaporator becomes larger, the COP of the system improved increases unless the mass flow rate in the expander exceeds that in the compressor.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2009

Relatively low cycle performance of a conventional $CO_2$ system is partly due to significant increase in friction loss in the expansion process, since the pressure drop across the expansion device is considerably large compared to a conventional refrigeration cycle. To recover friction loss and increase refrigeration effect by providing isentropic expansion, a rotary vane type expander has been designed. Performance of the designed expander has been investigated by numerical simulation. With the pressure condition of 9 MPa/4.5 MPa and inlet temperature of $35^{\circ}C$, volumetric, isentropic, and mechanical efficiencies of the expander are calculated to be 58.1%, 101.1%, and 78.8%, respectively, resulting in total expander efficiency of 46.3%. With this expander, COP of a $CO_2$ refrigeration cycle is estimated to be improved by about 14%.