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Article | REF: BE9741 V1

Industrial refrigerating machines - Compressors

Author: Georges VRINAT

Publication date: April 10, 2009

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ABSTRACT

When they were first designed, refrigerating compressors were heavy, horizontal, monocylindrical steam engines. Over the decades, manufacturers have reduced their weight, made improvements and have adapted them to the available refrigerant fluids. Spiral and helical compressors were then created, the yield of which is constantly improving remaining the most reliable and simplest means in which to produce cold under the best technical and economic conditions. This article details the main types of compressors currently used in refrigerating circuits, their specificities as well as their main applications.

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AUTHOR

  • Georges VRINAT: Engineer from the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers and the Institut français du froid industriel - Member of the French Refrigeration Association – Expert frigoriste

 INTRODUCTION

Refrigeration compressors were created in the mid-19th century by engineers working on steam engines, then in full expansion [4] . Refrigeration needs, hitherto met by natural ice harvested from lakes and mountains, called for higher production levels, for beer production and the transport of fresh foodstuffs from the east to the west of the USA, for example. The refrigeration industry took off in the early 1900s. The first international refrigeration congress held in Paris in 1908 bears witness to this. More and more inventive manufacturers developed machines that gradually moved away from the heavy, single-cylinder, horizontal steam engines and, over the decades, improved, lightened and diversified to adapt to all available refrigerants.

Since then, their development has continued, and new types of compressors have gradually appeared, such as helicoidal and spiral compressors. Their efficiency is improving all the time, thanks to advanced studies supported by computer technology. Their development may not yet be complete, and other systems may well replace them [5][6] . These machines, combined with new heat exchangers within high-performance circuits, as we shall see in the following sections [BE 9 742][BE 9 743] and [BE 9 744] , currently remain the safest and simplest way of producing cold under the best technical and economic conditions.

In the "To find out more" section, readers will find bibliographical references, standardization, regulations, manufacturers-suppliers-distributors and economic data.

Readers are also referred to the articles on Fans. Compressors

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