Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Punjab Engineering College
(Deemed to be University)
Subject: Applied Thermodynamics (MEN-209) Instructor: Prof. R K Dang & Dr. Mahesh Yadav
Assignment #1: Reciprocating Compressors Due date: February 14, 2022 (Monday)
Note: 25% marks penalty per week on late submission. No submission after 2 weeks of due date.
1 A reciprocating air compressor has cylinder with 24 cm bore and 36 cm stroke. Compressor
admits air at 1 bar, 17°C and compresses it up to 6 bar. Compressor runs at 120 rpm.
Considering compressor to be single acting and single stage, determine mean effective
pressure and the horse power required to run compressor when it compresses following the
isothermal process and polytropic process with polytropic index of 1.3. Also find the
isothermal efficiency when compression is of polytropic and adiabatic type.
Answer mep: 179.18 kPa for isothermal, 221.89 kPa for polytropic process.
HP required: 7.825 HP for isothermal, 9.69 HP for polytropic process.
𝜂𝑖𝑠𝑜 : 80.75% for polytropic process, 76.57% for adiabatic process.
2 A single stage single acting reciprocating air compressor has air entering at 1 bar, 20°C and
compression occurs following polytropic process with index 1.2 up to the delivery pressure of
12 bar. The compressor runs at the speed of 240 rpm and has L/D ratio of 1.8. The
compressor has mechanical efficiency of 0.88. Determine the isothermal efficiency and
cylinder dimensions. Also find out the rating of drive required to run the compressor which
admits 1 m3 of air per minute.
Answer 𝜂𝑖𝑠𝑜 = 80.72 %, Cylinder dimensions D = 14.34 cm, L = 25.812 cm,
Rating of drive = 7.82 HP.
3 A reciprocating compressor of single stage, double acting type delivers 20 m3/min, when
measured at free air condition of 1 bar, 27°C. The compressor has compression ratio of 7 and
the conditions at the end of suction are 0.97 bar, 35°C. Compressor runs at 240 rpm with
clearance volume of 5% of swept volume. The L/D ratio is 1.2. Determine the volumetric
efficiency and dimensions of cylinder and isothermal efficiency taking the index of
compression and expansion as 1.25. Also show the cycle on P-V diagram.
Answer 𝜂𝑣𝑜𝑙 = 76.8%, D = 28.05 cm, L = 33.66 cm, 𝜂𝑖𝑠𝑜 = 81.33%.
4 A reciprocating compressor of single stage and double acting type is running at 200 rpm with
mechanical efficiency of 85%. Air flows into compressor at the rate of 5 m3/min measured at
atmospheric condition of 1.02 bar, 27°C. Compressor has compressed air leaving at 8 bar with
compression following polytropic process with index of 1.3. Compressor has clearance
volume of 5% of stroke volume. During suction of air from atmosphere into compressor, its
temperature rises by 10°C. There occurs pressure loss of 0.03 bar during suction and pressure
loss of 0.05 bar during discharge passage through valves. Determine the dimensions of
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cylinder, volumetric efficiency, and power input required to drive the compressor, if stroke to
bore ratio (L/D) is 1.5.
Answer Power input = 37.33 HP, Cylinder dimensions D = 24.20 cm, L = 36.3 cm, 𝜂𝑣𝑜𝑙 = 75.08%.
5 In a reciprocating air compressor, the air is compressed at the rate of 4 m3/min at 1 bar, 27°C
up to the pressure of 8 bar following index of compression as 1.2. The compression occurs in
two stages with intercooling at optimum intercooler pressure and perfect intercooling.
Compare the work input required if the same compression occurs in single stage. Also
compare the work input if same compression occurs in two stages with imperfect intercooling
up to 30°C at the optimum intercooling pressure.
Consider Cp = 1.0032 kJ/kg K, and R = 0.287 kJ/kg K.
Answer % saving in work when compression occur with perfect intercooling as compared to single
stage compression = 8.69%.
% excess work to be done when two stage compression occurs with imperfect intercooling as
compared to two stage compression with perfect intercooling: = 0.636%.
6 A reciprocating air compressor has four stage compression with 2 m3/min of air being
delivered at 150 bar when initial pressure and temperature are 1 bar, 27°C. Compression
occur polytropically following polytropic index of 1.25 in four stages with perfect
intercooling between stages. For the optimum intercooling conditions, determine the
intermediate pressures and the work required for driving compressor.
Answer Intermediate pressures: 3.5 bar, 12.25 bar, 42.87 bar, Work input = 2972.11 HP.
7 In a two stage reciprocating air compressor running at 200 rpm, the air is admitted at 1 bar,
17°C and discharged at 25 bar. At low pressure stage suction conditions, the rate of air flow is
4 kg/minute. The low pressure cylinder and high pressure cylinders have clearance volumes
of 4% and 5% of respective cylinder stroke volumes. The index for compression and
expansion processes in two stages are same as 1.25. Considering an optimum and perfect
intercooling in between two stages, determine the power required, isothermal efficiency, free
air delivered, heat transferred in each cylinder and the cylinder volumes.
Answer Power required = 28.25 HP, 𝜂𝑖𝑠𝑜 = 84.77%, FAD = 3.33 m3/min, Heat transfer in HP cylinder
= 190.21 kJ/min, Heat transferred in LP cylinder = 190.21 kJ/min, HP cylinder volume =
3.907 × 10-3 m3, LP cylinder volume = 0.019926 m3.
8 A two stage double acting reciprocating air compressor running at 200 rpm has air entering at
1 bar, 25°C. The low pressure stage discharges air at optimum intercooling pressure into
intercooler, after which it enters at 2.9 bar, 25°C into high pressure stage. Compressed air
leaves HP stage at 9 bar. The LP cylinder and HP cylinder have same stroke lengths and equal
clearance volumes of 5% of respective cylinder swept volumes. Bore of LP cylinder is 30 cm
and stroke is 40 cm. Index of compression for both stages may be taken as 1.2. Determine,
(i) heat rejected in intercooler, (ii) bore of HP cylinder, (iii) power required in HP cylinder.
Answer Heat rejected in intercooler = 734.68 kJ/min, Bore of HP cylinder = 17.62 cm, Horse power
required to drive HP stage = 29.14 hp.
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9 During an experiment on reciprocating compressor, following observations are being taken:
Barometer reading = 75.6 cm Hg, Manometer reading across orifice = 13 cm Hg.
Atmospheric temperature = 25°C, Diameter of orifice = 15 mm.
Coefficient of discharge across the orifice = 0.65, Take density of Hg = 0.0135951 kg/cm3.
Determine the volume of free air handled by compressor in m3/min.
Answer Free air delivery = 1.183 m3/min.
10 During a trial on single acting single stage compression, following observations are made:
Dimensions of cylinder: 10 cm bore and 8 cm stroke, Speed of rotation: 500 rpm.
Barometer reading: 76 cm Hg, Atmospheric temperature: 27°C.
Delivery air temperature = 130°C, Free air delivery = 15 m3/hr.
Spring balance of dynamometer type (electric motor) reading: 10 kg.
Radius of arm of spring balance: 30 cm, Take mechanical efficiency = 0.90.
Determine the volumetric efficiency, shaft output per m3 of free air per minute.
Answer 𝜂𝑣𝑜𝑙 = 79.62% Shaft output = 82.64 hp per m3 of free air per minute
11 Determine the minimum number of stages required in an air compressor which admits air at 1
bar, 27°C and delivers at 180 bar. The maximum discharge temperature at any stage is limited
to 150°C. Consider the index for polytropic compression as 1.25, and perfect and optimum
intercooling in between the stages. Neglect the effect of clearance volume.
Answer Number of stages: 3 stages.
12 In a triple stage reciprocating compressor of single acting type the air enters at 1 bar, 27°C.
The compressor has low pressure cylinder with bore of 30 cm and stroke of 20 cm. Clearance
volume of LP cylinder is 4% of the swept volume. The final discharge from compressor takes
place at 20 bar. The expansion and compression index may be taken uniformly as 1.25 for all
the stages. The intercooling between the stages may be considered to be at optimum
intercooling pressure and perfect intercooling. Determine, the inter-stage pressures, effective
swept volume of low pressure cylinder, temperature and volume of air delivered in each
stroke, and the work done per kg of air.
Answer Intermediate pressures = 2.714 bar, 7.366 bar, Effective swept volume of LP cylinder =
0.01345 m3, Temperature and Volume of air delivered = 366.31 K, 8.2115 × 10-4 m3,
Work done = 285.44 kJ/kg of air.
13 A double-acting single cylinder reciprocating air compressor has a piston displacement of
0.015 m3 per revolution, operates at 500 rpm and has a 5% clearance. The air is received at
1 bar and delivered at 6 bar. The compression and expansion are polytropic processes with
n = 1.3. Determine,
(i) volumetric efficiency, (ii) power required
(iii) heat transferred and its direction, during compression, if inlet temperature of air is 20°C.
Answer 𝜂𝑣𝑜𝑙 = 85.16%, Power required = 2829.21 kJ/min, Heat rejected = 571.78 kJ/min.
