Reciprocating Compressor Suction Segmentation for Fine Capacity Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multi-cylinder reciprocating compressors have a crude and limited adjustment system for varying refrigerating capacity and flow rate, leading to significant intervals in capacity variation, especially when the number of cylinders is low.
Innovation Solution
A multi-cylinder reciprocating compressor design with at least one group of three cylinders, featuring separate suction chambers and partialization devices with independent valves to control fluid suction, allowing for finer adjustments in refrigerating capacity and flow rate by selectively excluding one, two, or three cylinders from each group.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional partialization devices are used to close suction in the suction chamber of the pair, then the refrigerating capacity can be adjusted discretely, but the variation intervals are very high and the adjustment is very limited
Solution Approach 1:
The suction chamber is divided into multiple separate suction ports, each associated with individual cylinders. By providing independent valves for each suction port, the system can selectively close individual ports to exclude specific cylinders from operation. This segmentation enables fine-grained control over the number of active cylinders, achieving precise capacity variation intervals (e.g., 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%) rather than coarse discrete adjustments.
2Device complexity
If a low number of cylinders is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the adjustment system becomes particularly rough with very high variation intervals
Solution Approach 1:
The cylinder group is segmented into sub-groups, each with its own suction port and independent valve control. This allows a small number of cylinders (e.g., 3 or 4) to provide multiple capacity adjustment levels by selectively activating or deactivating individual cylinders or sub-groups, thereby achieving fine adjustment precision without increasing the total cylinder count.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates dynamically controllable valves that can be actuated in real-time to open or close individual suction ports. This dynamic control mechanism enables flexible and precise adjustment of the number of active cylinders, allowing the compressor to adapt its capacity in fine intervals without requiring a large fixed number of cylinders.
3Productivity
If multiple pairs of cylinders are used to increase flow rate, then the operation becomes more stable, but the partialization device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The suction chamber is segmented into multiple independent suction ports, each serving specific cylinders. This segmentation allows for simplified valve placement and control, where each valve manages a specific suction port rather than requiring complex mechanisms to control multiple cylinders simultaneously. The segmented structure naturally scales with the number of cylinders, maintaining simplicity even as flow rate increases.
Data Source
AI summary
A multi-cylinder reciprocating compressor for cooling systems and/or conditioning systems and/or heat pumps, comprising a casing, in which at least one first group of at least three cylinders is provided, in which cylinders respective suction/compression pistons for sucking/compressing the cooling fluid in said cylinders being adapted to slide, and at least one first head tightly connected to said casing above said at least one first group of at least three cylinders, suction and delivery chambers for the fluid being defined on said at least one head that are associated with the at least three cylinders of said at least one first group of cylinders, at least one partialization device being provided for partializing the fluid sucked by said at least one first group of cylinders so as to vary the flow rate of the fluid sucked through the first head, with which the first group of cylinders is associated, said at least one first head comprising at least one first suction chamber and one second suction chamber, separated from each other and provided with respective suction ports, wherein each chamber is connected to a respective sub-group of cylinders of a respective first group, and wherein the partialization device comprises at least one first valve and at least one second valve that are adapted to close/to open the suction port of said first chamber and said second chamber respectively.