September 28, 2015
ADVANCE Distinguished Lecture Series presents Eckhard Groll
Eckhard Groll, professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University, will present "Novel Compression Concepts for Heat Pumping, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Applications" at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, in mechanical and nuclear engineering Senior Design Room, 3034 Rathbone Hall.
Groll's lecture is part of the ADVANCE Distinguished Lecture Series and Melanie Derby, assistant professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering, is Groll's host.
The lecture abstract:
The phase-out of CFC and HCFC refrigerants, combined with advances in compressor technology, such as reduced noise and vibration and mechanical capacity control, has motivated the development of novel compression concepts for the vapor compression cycle. This presentation provides an overview of several new compressor developments for refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pumping applications, including three novel compressors called the rotating spool compressor, bowtie compressor and Z-compressor. The rotating spool compressor provides reduced friction and low manufacturing cost compared rolling piston compressors. The bowtie compressor offers an integrated method of capacity modulation for use in domestic refrigerators/freezers. It modulates the cooling capacity by changing the piston stroke without changes of the clearance volume for better thermodynamic efficiency. The compressor is called bowtie compressor due to its two sector-shaped, opposing compression chambers forming a bowtie. The Z-compressor is a dual-chamber hermetic rotary compressor with opposing upper and lower compression chambers separated by Z-shaped blade. The compressor offers significantly lower noise and vibration levels than a conventional rolling piston compressor. In addition to presenting these new compressor types, research on liquid-flooded compression and refrigerant vapor-injected compression will also be presented. Both of these compression technologies have the potential to significantly increase the operating range of compressors and improve vapor compression system performance.