Smart control of screw compressors in industrial conditions

Jacques Guilpart (1)

1 Lafset - Laboratoire du froid et des systèmes énergétiques et thermiques

The compressors of a machinery room in food industries are often designed on the maximum refrigeration capacity required for the process, even if it is well known that this maximum requirement is effective a very scarce time fraction. Therefore, the compressors often run at partial charge. This situation lead to poor energy efficiency of compressors, and especially of screw compressors controlled with slide valves. To partially solve the problem, the use of variable speed devices are recommended, guessing important energy savings. This paper compares different control strategies of screw compressors in a machinery room of a dairy industry requiring 1 MW refrigeration and composed of 1 to 3 screw compressors of different size and models. It will demonstrate that a smart management of cascade and slide valve control delivers interesting results with a reduced investment cost. The interest of adding variable speed device on a selected compressor will be highlighted.

Mots clés: industrial application; screw compressor; capacity reduction; slide valve; variable speed; control

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]

Jacques Guilpart. Smart control of screw compressors in industrial conditions. 25th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration, Aug 2019, Montreal, Canada. ⟨hal-03106582⟩