Flow computation inside a scroll compressor based on open-source code

Abstract

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is an essential tool for improving the performance of positive displacement machines, which are commonly adopted in vapour compression applications. The numerical analysis of such machines is characterized by several modelling challenges. Firstly, the relative motion of the wraps and the presence of particularly small gap sizes need to be considered during the implementation of a reliable meshing strategy. In addition to that, the operating conditions are close to the saturated-vapour line, requiring a real gas equation of state for the determination of fluid thermophysical properties. In this work, a commercial scroll compressor has been simulated at three different operating conditions. The geometrical modelling, meshing strategy and compression process have been obtained thanks to a set of libraries built in OpenFOAM-v2006. The results have been compared with experimental data of the pressure evolution in the compression chambers. Furthermore, a complete fluid flow analysis is presented to assess the capabilities of the developed tool when applied to a compressor operating with R410a.