The application of economisers to refrigerating and air conditioning systems is well known. Due to the thermodynamic characteristics of refrigerants, the higher the pressure ratio the more beneficial are the effects of utilizing an economiser.

Our industry is applying increasing numbers of air-cooled systems and heat pumps utilizing compressors in the twenty to two hundred ton range. These higher pressure ratio applications could well benefit from employing economisers.

In the past, there have existed both technical and commercial barriers to utilizing economisers in these applications.

This paper presents the application of a centrifugal separator in combination with a control valve (centrifugal economiser), which has been applied as an integral part of an ail-injection-free single-screw compressor.

This centrifugal economiser component can be applied to screw compressors with expected capacity improvement of 26% and efficiency improvement of 12% (R-22 at pressure ratio of 6). The centrifugal economiser can be added to a single screw compressor virtually at no additional cost since its cost is offset by the compressor size reduction.

Units: Dual