Study of the discharge pressure pulsation within twin screw compressors

Even in the absence of valves, flow through the discharge port of a screw compressor is oscillatory in nature. This unsteady but periodic flow variation at the discharge port excites the pressure pulsation. In this paper, the one-dimensional unsteady gas flow equations describing the discharge pressure pulsation are established, which allow for the effects of the viscosity friction and heat transfer between the gas and the pipe, and the boundary conditions of discharge pressure pulsation are considered. With Two-Step Lax-Wendroff scheme used, the one-dimensional unsteady gas flow equations are solved. In order to verify the theoretic analysis, the discharge pressure pulsation at variable working conditions is measured. It is shown that the model established in this paper is valid for getting a better understanding of the mechanism governing the behavior of the pressure pulsation in discharge pipe. It is found that the most important factor that affects the discharge pressure pulsation is the pressure difference between the actual discharge pressure and the design discharge pressure.