APPLICATION PROBLEM: EXPANSION AND COMPRESSION OF FLUIDS

(due date: 21/09/2018)

We have been requested to design a test bench for air vacuum pumps, both under transient
conditions and steady-state periods. The basic propose is shown bellow

Tanks A and B are well insulated, each with a volume of 0.1 m3. The vacuum pump will take suction
from A and discharges into B. Between the pump and B there is a heat exchanger to cool the gases
to a constant temperature of 300 K.

Initially, both tanks A and B are charged with air at 1 bar and 300 K. The vacuum pump is started
and gas flows through the heat exchanger into B until the pressure in B reaches 1.6 bar. At this time
valve C automatically opens and vents gas from B to A, always keeping the pressure in B equal to
1.6 bar.

Main assumptions:

a. Air is an ideal gas with constant Cp (25°C)

b. The volumes of the connecting lines and pump are negligible compared to the volumes of
tanks A and B
c. The vacuum pumps are adiabatic and reversible.

We need your answers to the following:

1. Just at the time the pressure in B reaches 1.6 bar, what is the temperature in both A and B,
and what is the pressure in A?
2. After the system has been running for a long time, with pB=constant= 1.6 bar, what is the
temperature of B and what is the pressure in A?
3. What is the work supplied to the vacuum pump from the start of the test until the pressure
in B just reaches 1.6 bar? **Bonus
4. Suggest improvements, including instrumentation, in the system to measure efficiencies of
real vacuum pumps.
5. Write down a protocol (operation and calculation) to evaluate efficiencies of real pumps
using the improved system of point 4.