Development of High Speed Inverter Rotary Compressor for the Air-conditioning System

In order to meet the various operating loads of an air-conditioning system, an inverter compressor with a wide operational range is necessary. One of the ways to achieve a wide operation range is to drive a small capacity compressor at high speed. Moreover, it is possible to maximize the efficiency in part-load operation condition close to actual operating conditions and to reduce the cost by compact design of a small capacity compressor. In addition, the shortage of maximum capacity, due to the small rated capacity, is covered through high speed operation. However, in general, if the compressor operates at high speed, problems occurs such as reduced efficiency due to friction, increased noise, increased amount of oil discharge and decreased durability of the main components. In order to solve these problems the following have been investigated: optimized dimension parameters of the compression chamber, enhanced shaft design and the structure for the reduction of oil discharge and noise at high speed operation. Finally the high speed inverter rotary compressor with high efficiency and more compact size has been developed as compared with the conventional rotary compressor.