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Performance Analysis of Low Head Hydraulic Air Compressor
Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering at Rabigh, King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Mechanical Power Department, High Institute of Energy, South Valley University, Aswan, Egypt
Egyptian Electricity Holding Company, Aswan, Egypt
- 1 Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering at Rabigh, King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- 2 Mechanical Power Department, High Institute of Energy, South Valley University, Aswan, Egypt
- 3 Egyptian Electricity Holding Company, Aswan, Egypt
Smart Grid and Renewable Energy·Volume 01 (2010)·Pages 15–24·Published 31 May 2010·DOI10.4236/sgre.2010.11003
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Abstract
Hydraulic Air Compressor (HAC) is a device which converts hydraulic energy to energy of compressed air. A better exploitation of this hydraulic resource is currently investigated. The aim of the current work is to analyze a low head open type HAC in terms of compression ratio and HAC efficiency. The performance of HAC is both experimentally and theoretically investigated for various air admission system parameters (air tube length and diameter), downcomer length and hydraulic head. The results are both presented and discussed. Variation of the mean diameter of air bubbles in the downward flow in the downcomer is both determined and investigated. The losses in the whole system are classified, investigated and its impact on HAC is discussed.
KeywordsExperimentalHydraulic Air CompressorPerformance
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