Research on the reliability of a scroll compressor in a heat pump system

Abstract

The scroll compressor is used in heat pump and refrigeration system equipment because of important features such as its compact size, high efficiency, low vibration and noise level, etc. In the refrigeration cycle the scroll compressor runs smoothly and perfectly, but in the heat pump cycle some problems appear because of deterioration in the working condition. The effect of different factors such as atmospheric condition, electric voltage fluctuation, the configuration of the scroll compressor, etc., on the running reliability of the heat pump system are discussed in this paper, thermodynamic behaviour is examined and some basic design concepts for running reliability of the scroll compressor in the heat pump system are pointed out. Experimental results show that the temperature difference is about 10 K between the gas discharged from the outlet of the compressor and the wound wire of the motor in a high-pressure shell compressor. Calculated and test results show good agreement. The wound wire temperature of the motor in a low-pressure shell is much lower than that in a high-pressure shell scroll compressor. Hence, the low-pressure shell scroll compressor has higher running reliability than the high-pressure one.