An experimental study on oil discharge ratio at inverter-driven high shell pressure scroll compressor using R410A/PVE

In this study, the oil discharge characteristics of a high shell pressure scroll compressor, which uses R410A as the refrigerant and PVE as the oil, were measured according to the conditions for oil management. The measurement of oil discharge ratio (ODR) in the system is very important to secure the operational reliability. It was made in real time through the refractive index sensor. ODR was greatly influenced by the mass flow rate and the dynamic viscosity of the refrigerant. As the rotation frequency of the compressor became higher, ODR increased rapidly. ODR at 120 Hz was 4.22 times higher than that at 60 Hz. At the same rotation frequency of the compressor, the increase of the suction pressure also played a role in increasing the ODR. In addition, in the zone where the ODR increased rapidly, the compressing efficiency of the compressor decreased significantly.