• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.12-19
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• 2015

As a means of improving cycle performance of a R410A air-conditioning system, a combined structure of compressor and expander was introduced. A vane rotary type expander was designed to share a common shaft with twin type rolling piston rotary compressor in a housing. Numerical simulation on the performance of the combined compressor and expander was carried out. At ARI condition, the volumetric and total efficiencies of the designed vane expander were 69.37% and 30.23%, respectively. With the application of this expander, the compressor input was reduced by 3.91%, and the cooling capacity was increased by 3.98%. As a result, COP of the air-conditioning system was improved by 8.2%. As the pressure difference between the condenser and the evaporator becomes large, COP improvement increases unless the mass flow rate in the expander exceeds that in the compressor.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2009

Relatively low cycle performance of a conventional $CO_2$ system is partly due to significant increase in friction loss in the expansion process, since the pressure drop across the expansion device is considerably large compared to a conventional refrigeration cycle. To recover friction loss and increase refrigeration effect by providing isentropic expansion, a rotary vane type expander has been designed. Performance of the designed expander has been investigated by numerical simulation. With the pressure condition of 9 MPa/4.5 MPa and inlet temperature of $35^{\circ}C$, volumetric, isentropic, and mechanical efficiencies of the expander are calculated to be 58.1%, 101.1%, and 78.8%, respectively, resulting in total expander efficiency of 46.3%. With this expander, COP of a $CO_2$ refrigeration cycle is estimated to be improved by about 14%.