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[International Conference on Advances in Material Research-2019]

Uncertainty Analysis on Performance of Double Stage

Reciprocating Air Compressor with Inter cooler.
Subramaniyan Ca, Prakash KBb1, Vinoth kumar J b2, Amarkarthik Ab3, Kumaresan Gb4
a
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam-638401, India
b1,2
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam-638401, India
b3,4
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam-638401, India

Abstract

Air compressors are originating an extensive variety of situations for many processing industries, manufacturing
industries and power sector. Also the compressor is the main device in energy consumption point of view in many industries. So
it is necessary to identify and understand the performance of compressor based on the requirement conditions at different
applications. For analysing the performance of the air compressor it is mandatory to measure the working parameters such as
pressure, temperature, mass flow rate of air, speed of the compressor and electrical input power. Since the measurementation and
instrumentation is playing a vital influence on the performance of air compressor. Therefore investigating the error on
instrumentation and its influence on performance of air compressor is compulsory to regulate the eminence of experimental set-
up. And these error factors will designate the effect of the uncertainty cause on the performance of air compressor. Uncertainties
are significant in all experimental dealings and must be measured throughout the various points of an experimental analysis. In
this research work, a study on uncertainty analysis were done in a double stage reciprocating air compressor with inter cooler
setup which is located in sathyamangalam, Tamilnadu, India. The mandatory output for numerous applications were taken for
this analysis of double stage reciprocating air compressor with inter cooler with the local ambient conditions. The pressure ratio
is varied from 3 to 7 in the selected experimental setup for the fixed mass flow rate in a double stage reciprocating air compressor
with inter cooler. For the corresponding pressure ratios the uncertainty on the performance of air compressor based on the first
law and second law analysis were mathematically modelled. Based on the model the uncertainty on the performance of
compressor were found for the error of 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%, 1%, 2% in all the instruments and it was discussed in the
result.

Keywords: Energy; uncertainty, First law efficiency; second law efficiency; Pressure ratio; Work done

Nomenclature

P Pressure, bar
T Temperature, Kelvin
P1 Air inlet Pressure, bar
P2 Air Pressure after first stage of compression, bar
P4 Air Pressure after second stage of compression, bar
T1 Air inlet Temperature, Kelvin
T2 Air Temperature after first stage of compression, Kelvin
T3 Air Temperature before second stage of compression after intercooler, Kelvin
T4 Air Temperature after second stage of compression, Kelvin
WIn Electric power input, Watt
WOut Air power output, Watt
N Compressor speed, rpm
hW Water manometric head
Va Actual volume, m3
Vs Swept volume, m3
UWIn Uncertainty in Electric power input, Watt
UWOut Uncertainty in Air power output, Watt
UN Uncertainty in Compressor speed, rpm
UhW Uncertainty in Water manometric head
UVa Uncertainty in Actual volume, m3
UVs Uncertainty in Swept volume, m3
R Gas constant, kJ/ kg K
L Length of compressor, meter
D Diameter of compressor, meter
Cd Coefficient of discharge, 0.62
Specific heat capacity of air
γ Adiabatic index, 1.4
n Polytrophic index
Density of air, kg /
m Mass flow rate , kg / s
WIso Isothermal work input, Watt
UW Iso Uncertainty in Isothermal work input, Watt
ηvol Volumetric efficiency, %
Uη vol Uncertainty in Volumetric efficiency, %
ηI First law efficiency of compressor, %
ηII Second law efficiency of compressor, %
ηI Uncertainty in First law efficiency of compressor, %
ηII Uncertainty in Second law efficiency of compressor, %
1. Introduction

Air compressors are the main energy consuming device in many processing and manufacturing industries.
Since the major energy consumption leads various research towards the energy conservation and management on
compressor and its utilities. So the researchers are focusing on evaluating and enhancing the performance of
industrial compressors in many ways. The result from some of the works significantly shows that we can improve
the performance of compressor by reducing the intermediate temperature between the multistage compressions [1].
Utilizing the coolant to extract the thermal energy from the compresses air in between the multistage compressions
is also an efficient way to reduce the power consumption [2]. Optimization of the heat exchangers are also be done
on the intercoolers for further reduction on the energy consumption of the compressors [3]. The energy and exergy
analysis on the hybrid hydro -compressed air energy storage system were also done for evaluating the performance
of the compression system [4]. The exergy rate of compressed air energy storage system with phase change
materials for recovering the waste heat from the different applications were modelled and studied [5]. It is also
necessary to understand the error propagation of the measurement errors and instruments error on the performance
of the system. Since the minor error will leads to a major performance deviation on the evaluation. Some researchers
were focused on this uncertainty analysis on industrial energy conservation [6-7].

2. Experimentation and its error:

For the uncertainty analysis a double acting reciprocating air compressor laboratory setup were taken. The
air inlet temperature and pressure is measured before the first stage of compression and the volume rate of the air at
first stage of suction is measured through the orifice meter. After second stage compression the air final pressure and
temperature is also noted. The main measurement devices used in this experimentation are thermocouple, pressure
gauge, orifice manometer, power meter and tachometer. The corresponding experimental values are shown in the
Table. 1.

Table. 1. Experimental parameters.

S. No P1 P2 P4 N T1 T2 T3 T4 hw

o o o o
bar bar bar rpm C C C C mm
1 1.01325 2 3 500 30 66 62 64 8
2 1.01325 2 4 500 30 74 70 75 8
3 1.01325 2 5 500 30 75 72 87 8
4 1.01325 2 6 500 30 76 73 98 8
5 1.01325 2 7 500 30 78 75 111 8

The corresponding errors are taken from 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%, 1%, 2% in all the instruments and it was
further used in the uncertainty analysis.

3. Analyzing methods:

3.1. Uncertainty on first law efficiency:

Power input given to the compressor is denoted by WIn and uncertainty on output from the compressor is given by
following equation (Eq. (1)).
= (%) (1)

Power output from the compressor is denoted by Wout and uncertainty on output from the compressor is given by
following equation (Eq. (2)). Uncertainty on isothermal work input (WIso ) is similar to the uncertainty on actual
work output Wout.
 = ̇ ̇ + + (2)

Uncertainty on compressor volumetric efficiency is given by (Eq. (3)).

ɳ ɳ
ɳ = + (3)

Where, uncertainty on swept volume and actual volume of compressor is given by (Eq. (4) & (5)) respectively,

= (4)

= 2 (5)

Where, uncertainty on orifice manometer head is given by (Eq. (6)).

= + (6)

The uncertainty mathematical modelling for first law efficiency of compressor is given by (Eq. (7)).

= Wout + (7)
Wout

3.2. Uncertainty on second law efficiency:

The uncertainty mathematical modelling for second law efficiency of compressor is given by (Eq. (8)).

= WIso + (8)
WIso

4. Result and Discussion

The corresponding uncertainty on work done on the compressor for isothermal and actual process with
respect to the pressure ratio of 3 to 7 on the double stage reciprocating air compressor were calculated and the graph
was plotted on the (Figure.1 & 2) respectively. The figure shows that the uncertainty on work done of isothermal
and actual process is nonlinearly increasing due to the error propagation. At the same time the uncertainty on work
done for the various pressure ratio was compared and the significant increment on the uncertainty was identified for
the different error values. The uncertainty on the electrical input power is also calculated for various pressure ratios
and error values. The result is plotted as a graph and it is shown in (Figure.3)
 0.1% 0.5% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5%
250

200
UWIso
150

UWin (W)
100

50

0
2 3 4 5 PR 6 7 8
Figure.1: uncertainty on work done of isothermal process
0.1% 0.5% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5%
180

150

120 U Wout
U Wout

90

60

30

0
2 3 4 PR 5 6 7 8

Figure.2: uncertainty on work done of actual process

0.1% 0.5% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5%
40

UWIn
30
UWin (W)
20 10
0

3 4 5 PR 6 7 8

Figure.3: uncertainty on work input

The corresponding uncertainty on first law and second law efficiencies of the compressor for isothermal
and actual process with respect to the pressure ratio of 3 to 7 on the double stage reciprocating air compressor were
calculated and the graph was plotted on the (Figure.4 & 5) respectively. The figure shows that the uncertainty on
first law and second law efficiencies of isothermal and actual process is nonlinearly increasing due to the error
propagation. At the same time the uncertainty on first law and second law efficiencies for the various pressure ratios
was compared and the significant increment on the uncertainty was identified for the different error values. The
uncertainty on first law efficiency is varies from 0.001 % to 3.46 % for the corresponding error value of 0.1 to 5%.
The uncertainty on second law efficiency is varies from 0.001 % to 3.42 % for the corresponding error value of 0.1
to 5%.

0.1% 0.5% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5%
4

3
UηI -%
UηI -%

0
2 3 4 PR 5 6 7 8
Figure.4: uncertainty on first law efficiencies

0.1% 0.5% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5%
4

3
U ηII -%
U ηII -%

0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
PR
Figure.5: uncertainty on second law efficiencies

5. Conclusion

In this work the uncertainty analysis on the first law and second law efficiencies of the double acting
reciprocating air compressor were studied. The result shows that difference between the uncertainty analysis on the
first law and second law efficiencies for the corresponding error percentage of 5% is very high around 3.4 % for
both the efficiencies. It seems to be the error propagation is nonlinear with respect to the error percentage on the
instrumentation. The high precision instrumentation leads to very less uncertainty on the first law and second law
efficiencies of the double acting reciprocating air compressor.
References

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