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The flow inside a reciprocating compressor valve can be very complex. The slots on the valve, the limited flow area and the inherent aerodynamic losses complicate the problem. Most valves operate in high flow rate and high pressure environments. Poor flow aerodynamics in the valve can have a significant effect on its performance and hence on the overall system. Quite often the gas upstream of the valve can be discontinuous and non-uniform. This can, at times, create a distorted pressure profile on the valve which can have a severe effect on the valve life and hence its performance. Although all the factors affecting the performance of the valve are well known, there is still a need to fully understand the inner workings of the valve aerodynamics. In this study, a new simplified approach is presented to capture some of the factors contributing to the aerodynamic performance of a reciprocating valve. Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics is used to facilitate this study. A two-fold methodology is used to analyze the transient nature of the flow approaching a valve. At first the compressor and discharge stroke inside the cylinder are modeled. This part of the problem is transient in nature; a moving computational mesh approach is used to accurately capture the sinusoidal motion of the stroke. From this part of the analysis the pressure and velocity profiles near the suction and discharge valves are obtained. The second part of the study analyzes both the suction and discharge valve in a quasi-transient nature. The pressure and velocity profiles obtained from the cylinder analysis are applied as boundary conditions to the valve only analysis. Here the valves are modeled as a steady state problem at various opening positions: 25% open, 50% open, and 100% open. The pressure loss across the valve at the various opening positions is assessed as a function of the velocity/pressure profiles obtained from the transient cylinder analysis. This provides a good insight i
Your Price $195.00
List Price $195.00