Reciprocating Compressor – useful equations

𝜋 2
𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 = 𝐷 𝐿, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐷
4
= 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷 = 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟

𝜋 2 𝑁
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 𝐷 𝐿∗ , 𝐹𝑂𝑅 𝑆𝐼𝑁𝐺𝐿𝐸 𝐴𝐶𝑇𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝐶𝑂𝑀𝑃𝑅𝐸𝑆𝑆𝑂𝑅
4 60
𝜋 2 𝑁
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 𝐷 𝐿∗ ∗ 2, 𝐹𝑂𝑅 𝐷𝑂𝑈𝐵𝐿𝐸 𝐴𝐶𝑇𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝐶𝑂𝑀𝑃𝑅𝐸𝑆𝑆𝑂𝑅
4 60
𝑃𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 = 2𝐿𝑁 𝑚/𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒

Single stage Compressor, Equation for work input/cycle without clearance volume
𝑛−1
𝑛 𝑃2 𝑛
𝑊=� � 𝑃1 𝑉1 �� � − 1�, n = polytropic index
𝑛−1 𝑃1

𝑛−1
𝑛 𝑃2 𝑛
𝑊=� � 𝑚𝑅𝑇1 �� � − 1� For double acting
𝑛−1 𝑃1
air compressors
𝑛 multiply the
𝑊=� � (𝑃2 𝑉2 − 𝑃1 𝑉1 )
𝑛−1 work input by 2
This is also known as indicated work input per cycle.

For polytropic process replace ‘n’ by ‘ 𝛾’

𝑛−1
𝑛 𝑃2
− 1�*N/60 , V1 volume in m3/cycle
𝑛
Indicated Power = � � 𝑃1 𝑉1 �� �
𝑛−1 𝑃1

𝑃
For isothermal process, W = 𝑃1 𝑉1 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑒 � 2 �
𝑃1

Least work input is for isothermal process

Mean Effective Pressure (Pm)

𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒 (𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒)
𝑃𝑚 =
𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟

Indicated power (IP) = 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒 ∗ 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
 𝑁
= 𝑃𝑚 ∗ 𝐿 ∗ 𝐴 ∗ ∗𝑛
60
‘n=1 for single acting compressor, ‘n=2 for double acting compressor

Or
𝑁
IP = 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 ∗ ∗ 𝑛, 𝑛 = 1 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛 = 2 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔
60

Mechanical Efficiency

𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
=
𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
Isothermal efficiency

𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡

=
𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡

Single stage Compressor, Equation for work input with clearance volume

𝑛−1
𝑛 𝑃2 𝑛
𝑊=� � 𝑃1 (𝑉1 − 𝑉4 ) �� � − 1�, n = polytropic index
𝑛−1 𝑃1

𝑉𝐶
Clearance Ratio, 𝐶 =
𝑉𝑆

Volumetric efficiency of reciprocating air compressor

Use only this equation for finding out
the dimensions of the cylinder. Do
not use volumetric efficiency
corresponding to FAD for that.
 1
𝑃2 𝑛
= 1+𝐶−𝐶� �
𝑃1

Or

𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑉1 − 𝑉4

= =
𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑉1 − 𝑉3

Free Air Delivery (FAD)

𝑃𝑎𝑚𝑏 (𝑉1 − 𝑉4 )𝑎𝑚𝑏 𝑃1 (𝑉1 − 𝑉4 )

� � = � �
𝑇𝑎𝑚𝑏 𝑎𝑡𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐
𝑇 1 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

𝑃1 𝑇𝑎𝑚𝑏 (𝑉1 − 𝑉4 )
(𝑉1 − 𝑉4 )𝑎𝑚𝑏 =
𝑃𝑎𝑚𝑏 𝑇1
1
𝑃1 𝑇𝑎𝑚𝑏 𝑃2 𝑛
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 (𝐹𝐴𝐷) = �1 + 𝐶 − 𝐶 � � �
𝑃𝑎𝑚𝑏 𝑇1 𝑃1

Multistage Compression

For single acting, 2 stage compressor, Work done/cycle = WLP +WHP

𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑊 = 𝑊𝐿𝑃 + 𝑊𝐻𝑃

 𝑛−1 𝑛−1
𝑛 𝑃2 𝑛 𝑛 𝑃3 𝑛
𝑊= 𝑃1 𝑉1 �� � − 1� + 𝑃2 𝑉4 �� � − 1�
𝑛−1 𝑃1 𝑛−1 𝑃2

𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑾 = 𝑾𝑳𝑷 + 𝑾𝑯𝑷 , 𝑻𝟐 = 𝑻𝟏

𝑛−1 𝑛−1
𝑛 𝑃2 𝑛 𝑛 𝑃3 𝑛
𝑊= 𝑃1 𝑉1 �� � − 1� + 𝑃2 𝑉2 �� � − 1� , 𝑃1 𝑉1 = 𝑃2 𝑉2 = 𝑚𝑅𝑇1
𝑛−1 𝑃1 𝑛−1 𝑃2

For minimum work input to the compressor of a two stage air compressor, Pressure ratio in
each stages are same,

𝑃2 𝑃3
= 𝑜𝑟 𝑃2 = �𝑃1 𝑃3
𝑃1 𝑃2

Minimum Work input to a multistage compressor

For 2 stage,
𝑛−1
2𝑛 𝑃2 𝑛
𝑊= 𝑃1 𝑉1 �� � − 1�
𝑛−1 𝑃1

Or
𝑛−1
2𝑛 𝑃3 2𝑛
𝑊= 𝑃1 𝑉1 �� � − 1�
𝑛−1 𝑃1

General Equation for x stages

𝑛−1
𝑥𝑛 𝑃2 𝑛
𝑊= 𝑃1 𝑉1 �� � − 1�
𝑛−1 𝑃1

𝑛−1
𝑥𝑛 𝑃𝑥+1 𝑥𝑛
Or 𝑊= 𝑃𝑉 �� � − 1�
𝑛−1 1 1 𝑃1