Research Trend in Screw Compressor Development

스크류 압축기의 연구개발 동향

The screw compressor is first invented by a Swedish engineer, Alf Lysholm in 1934. Since then, the development of the screw compressor idea for industrial applications has been continued by the Swedish research organization Svenska Rotor Maskiner, often identified by its initials SRM. The first industrial application of the machine was marketed as an air compressor in the 1950s. The screw compressor which is a positive displacement type compressor compresses gases by the rotation of a pair of mating rotors. The operation of this compressor is entirely rotary and dynamically in balance. Also there is no need for any valve mechanism and there exists less mechanical wear between the parts compared to the conventional reciprocating compressors. Due to these prominent features, the screw compressor has been rapidly spread into the air compressor market replacing the conventional reciprocating compressors and begun to be applied as a refrigerant compressor since the 1960s. In this work, the operation principle of the screw compressor is described in brief and the major design parameters affecting the compressor performance are classified. The international research trend in screw compressor development is introduced and the current situation in our country is described.