Development of a Mechanistic Chamber Model of a Novel Peristaltic Compressor for Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Applications

The air-conditioning and refrigeration industry are constantly searching for efficiency improvements to vapor compression refrigeration systems. A valve-less compressor with variable volume ratios can significantly increase efficiency and add flexibility to these systems. The novel peristaltic compressor is introduced, which has the ability to operate at variable volume ratios and without valves. This compressor operates by means of a progressively actuated diaphragm that compresses vapor and stimulates flow through a cylindrical chamber. In this study, we will present a discretized thermodynamic model of a peristaltic compressor by splitting the mechanism into a series of conjoined segments. Mass and energy balance equations for each compression segment analyzed to create a mechanistic chamber model of the compressor with the segments interacting through flow of mass between them. This model includes a geometric model of the compression chamber created by the interface between the flexible diaphragm and the cylinder. The geometric model is coupled with the mass and energy balance to predict the compressor performance metrics. The preliminary model results show that the peristaltic compressor presents unique attributes that will be explored in future work