A study on discharge gas pulsations in a three stage single acting reciprocating compressor

The growing demand in the market for highly efficient, more reliable and less expensive compressors have activated the manufacturers to develop state-of-the-art analytical tools to predict, evaluate and optimize the existing as well as creating the new designs. Reciprocating action of piston and intermittent flow of gas induced by suction and discharge phases give rise to pressure pulsations and oscillations. Development of an analytical tool for predicting the pressure pulsations and oscillations saves considerable time and reduces the unnecessary number of prototypes as well as the development costs. In the present study, a mathematical model of a W type three stage single acting reciprocating compressor is developed to predict the discharge gas pulsations in the piping system of the compressor. An experimental setup is prepared and the analytical model prepared for simulation of the discharge gas pulsations is initially tested in limited experiments for validation. The model results are compared with the experimental findings and good agreement was observed.