Analysis of the oil supply system of a high-pressure shell scroll compressor

Abstract

The supply of lubrication oil has a great influence on the reliability and efficiency of a scroll compressor, because oil plays a role in lubrication, sealing, and heat transfer in the compressor. In this work, a comprehensive steady and transient analysis on the oil supply system of a high-pressure shell scroll compressor was carried out using a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program. Various parameters, including pressure difference, compressor rotation speed, oil temperature, bearing clearance, and diameter of the oil gallery, were investigated to find the relations with oil flowrate. Among them, oil temperature and bearing clearance are indicated as the most sensitive, and pressure difference follows. Compressor rotation speed and diameter of the oil gallery are insensitive. Some hydrodynamic parameters can also be obtained in detail, such as pressure drop and oil flow velocity. This CFD analysis has proved to be helpful for the design and optimization of an oil supply system in a scroll compressor.