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Tiny Gaps: Using CFD To Study Rotary Screw Compressors

Screen-Shot-2014-10-29-at-1.31.35-PMThe rotary screw compressors we use today were invented by the Swedish engineer Alf Lysholm. This unique design uses a rotary type positive displacement mechanism that reduces the pulsation of flow, or surging, that is common in the more traditional piston compressors. Rotary screw compressors are used everywhere from large industrial applications to small power tools. The typical whining sound associated with a pneumatic grinder is a great reference to this unique constant positive displacement of air.

While power tools and large industrial applications are common uses for the rotary screw compressor, the automotive industry uses them as well; they are referred to as “blowers” or supercharges. Whatever the application, rotary screw compressors have one commonality:, they all have very tight clearances and rotate at very high speeds. This poses a challenging problem when trying to understand airflow and efficiencies at their operating speed of ~15,000 RPM with a typical clearance of 20-150 microns.

Read more in this case study: Tiny Gaps: Using CFD To Study Rotary Screw Compressors

About Convergent Science

Founded in 1997 in Madison, Wisconsin, Convergent Science is a global leader in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. Its customers include leading automotive and commercial vehicle manufacturers, tier one suppliers, and professional motorsport teams.
Its flagship product, CONVERGE, includes groundbreaking technology that eliminates the user-defined mesh, fully couples the automated mesh and the solver at runtime, and automatically refines the mesh when and where it is needed. CONVERGE is revolutionizing the CFD industry and shifting the paradigm towards predictive CFD.
Published October 29, 2014