Compressor Partition Plate Oil Drain and Pulsation Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
In compressors, lubricant separation and accumulation on partition plates lead to lubricant discharge outside the compressor, causing poor lubrication and impaired heat exchange performance due to pressure pulsation.
Innovation Solution
A compressor design featuring a partition plate with a gas passage hole and an oil drain hole, where the lubricant separates and falls through the oil drain hole, reducing atomization and external emission, and incorporating features like a discharge muffler and Helmholtz muffler to manage pressure pulsation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a partition plate with a center opening is provided to reduce standing wave generation, then pressure pulsation is reduced, but lubricant accumulates on the partition plate surface and is discharged outside the compressor
Solution Approach 1:
The partition plate is segmented into multiple functional openings: a gas passage hole for refrigerant flow and an oil drain hole positioned at a lower level for lubricant drainage. This segmentation allows the plate to simultaneously address pressure pulsation reduction while preventing lubricant accumulation and discharge through separate drainage pathways.
Solution Approach 2:
The oil drain hole acts as an intermediary element that intercepts lubricant before it can be discharged outside the compressor. By providing a dedicated drainage path through the partition plate, the lubricant is redirected back into the compressor system, preventing its harmful discharge while maintaining the pressure pulsation reduction function.
2Loss of substance
If lubricant is discharged outside the compressor with the refrigerant, then the oil level in the compressor is lowered, but this causes poor lubrication in sliding portions
Solution Approach 1:
The partition plate with the oil drain hole enables the lubricant to self-drain back into the compressor through gravity and pressure differential. The lubricant that accumulates on the partition plate automatically flows through the oil drain hole and returns to the compressor, creating a self-service system that maintains adequate oil levels without external intervention.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If lubricant accumulates on the partition plate surface, then it falls through the opening and is atomized by rotor collision, but this impairs heat exchanger performance when discharged
Solution Approach 1:
The oil drain hole extracts lubricant from the accumulation point on the partition plate surface, removing it from the path where it would otherwise fall through the center opening and be atomized by rotor collision. This extraction prevents the formation of atomized lubricant droplets that would be discharged with the refrigerant and impair heat exchanger performance.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design effectively reduces lubricant emission, maintains oil levels, prevents poor lubrication, and minimizes heat exchanger impairment while reducing pressure pulsation and noise.
Implementation Method 1
The standing wave is generated by a pressure wave, of a low frequency component, which is contained in a discharge gas discharged from the compression mechanism and which travels from the first space to the second space, and by the reflection of the pressure wave reflected on an upper end plate of the compressor and returns to the first space.
Implementation Method 2
The lubricant accumulated on the upper surface of the partition plate falls downward through the opening formed in the center portion of the partition plate.
Implementation Method 3
The lubricant that has fallen off the partition plate turns to droplets as it collides against a rotating rotor, and the droplets are blown toward the periphery by a swirling flow and atomized as they collide against a coil of a stator or a wall surface of the casing.
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 4
AI summary
Disclosed is a compressor including: a compression mechanism (20) disposed below an electric motor (30); and a partition plate (50) reducing pressure pulsation and disposed above the electric motor (30) in a casing (10). The partition plate (50) is provided with an oil drain hole (53) formed at a lower level than an open end of a gas passage hole (51) and located radially outside an outer peripheral surface of a rotor (32) of the electric motor (30).