Experimental Study on Output Characteristics of Scroll Expander Used as Air Powered Vehicle Engine

Abstract

An experimental study was carried out on a prototype of a scroll expander used as the air-powered vehicle engine. The speed characteristic was tested based on the test system at the constant suction temperature and pressure. The results show that the air mass consumption rate and the output power both increase with the rotating speed. The maximum air mass consumption rate is 800kg/h and the maximum power achieves 8.112 kW. The effective efficiency increases with the rotating speed but the increment decreases. The maximum efficiency is only 0.26 due to the low manufacturing and assembly accuracy of the expander.