Numerical investigations on unsteady flow of a scroll expander for compressed air energy storage

doi:10.12028/j.issn.2095-4239.2018.0178

Abstract

Abstract: T This study aims to provide a theoretical basis for the design of a scroll expander for a micro-compressed air energy storage (micro-CAES) system, by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to obtain temperature, pressure and velocity fields in the working chambers. The effects of inlet temperatures on the performance of the scroll expander and the flow fields of the working chambers were investigated. The results showed that the output power per unit mass flow increased with increasing inlet temperature. The axial force acting on the orbiting scroll increased with decreasing inlet temperature, and the tangential and radial forces decreased with decreasing inlet temperature. The temperature distributions of the working chambers were not always increasing along the radial direction of the scroll plate. There existed energy losses in the backpressure chambers, and the temperature of the backpressure chambers can be higher than that of the exhaust chambers.

Key words: micro-CAES, scroll expander, unsteady flow, numerical simulation

CLC Number:

TH45

LIU Zhen, WU Huawei, ZHANG Jin, KUANG Yong. Numerical investigations on unsteady flow of a scroll expander for compressed air energy storage[J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2019, 8(2): 357-364.

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