Experimental Investigation of a Scroll Expander for Power Generation Part of a Resorption Cogeneration

AbstractFor power generation systems, the expansion machine is one of the most crucial components. In this work, a scroll expander test rig has been constructed and tested to simulate the performance in a resorption cogeneration under similar working conditions. The relationship between the inlet pressure and the volume flow rate has been experimentally achieved and the volume ratio is around 2.80 under the tested conditions. A minimum start state to generate electricity from the scroll expander has been investigated, which is at least 145kPa. The isentropic efficiency of the scroll expander is around 0.6. Meanwhile the electrical efficiency achieved by this system is around 0.35 and 0.40 under the supply pressure at 238.0kPa and 333.5kPa, respectively