A 

compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume.

An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor.
Compressors are similar to pumps: both increase the pressure on a fluid and both can transport
the fluid through a pipe. As gases are compressible, the compressor also reduces the volume of a
gas. Liquids are relatively incompressible; while some can be compressed, the main action of a
pump is to pressurize and transport liquids.
Types of compressorsEdit

The main and important types of gas compressors are illustrated and discussed below:

Positive displacementEdit
A positive displacement compressor is the system which compresses the air by the displacement
of a mechanical linkage reducing the volume (since the reduction in volume due to a piston in
thermodynamics is considered as positive displacement of the piston).[vague]
Put another way, a positive displacement compressor is one which operates by drawing in a
discreet volume of gas from its inlet then forcing that gas to exit via the compressor's outlet. The
increase in the pressure of the gas is due, at least in part, to the compressor pumping it at a mass
flow rate which cannot pass through the outlet at the lower pressure and density of the inlet.

Reciprocating compressorsEdit
Main article: Reciprocating compressor
A motor-driven six-cylinder reciprocating compressor that can operate with two, four or six cylinders.

Reciprocating compressors use pistons driven by a crankshaft. They can be either stationary or

portable, can be single or multi-staged, and can be driven by electric motors or internal
combustion engines.[1][2][3] Small reciprocating compressors from 5 to 30 horsepower (hp) are
commonly seen in automotive applications and are typically for intermittent duty. Larger
reciprocating compressors well over 1,000 hp (750 kW) are commonly found in large industrial
and petroleum applications. Discharge pressures can range from low pressure to very high
pressure (>18000 psi or 180 MPa). In certain applications, such as air compression, multi-stage
double-acting compressors are said to be the most efficient compressors available, and are
typically larger, and more costly than comparable rotary units.[4] Another type of reciprocating
compressor, usually employed in automotive cabin air conditioning systems,[citation needed] is the
swash plate or wobble plate compressor, which uses pistons moved by a swash plate mounted on
a shaft (see axial piston pump).
Household, home workshop, and smaller job site compressors are typically reciprocating
compressors 1½ hp or less with an attached receiver tank.

A linear compressor is a reciprocating compressor with the piston being the rotor of a linear
motor.
Ionic liquid piston compressorEdit
Main article: Ionic liquid piston compressor

An ionic liquid piston compressor, ionic compressor or ionic liquid piston pump is a hydrogen

compressor based on an ionic liquid piston instead of a metal piston as in a piston-
metal diaphragm compressor.[5]
Rotary screw compressorsEdit

Diagram of a rotary screw compressor

Main article: Rotary screw compressor

Rotary screw compressors use two meshed rotating positive-displacement helical screws to
force the gas into a smaller space.[1][6][7] These are usually used for continuous operation in
commercial and industrial applications and may be either stationary or portable. Their
application can be from 3 horsepower (2.2 kW) to over 1,200 horsepower (890 kW) and from
low pressure to moderately high pressure (>1,200 psi or 8.3 MPa).
The classifications of rotary screw compressors vary based on stages, cooling methods, and drive
types among others.[8] Rotary screw compressors are commercially produced in Oil Flooded,
Water Flooded and Dry type. The efficiency of rotary compressors depends on the air drier,
[
clarification needed] and the selection of air drier is always 1.5 times volumetric delivery of the
compressor.[9]
Designs with a single screw [10] or three screws [11] instead of two exist.
Rotary vane compressorsEdit

Eccentric rotary-vane pump

See also: Rotary vane pump

Rotary vane compressors consist of a rotor with a number of blades inserted in radial slots in
the rotor. The rotor is mounted offset in a larger housing that is either circular or a more complex
shape. As the rotor turns, blades slide in and out of the slots keeping contact with the outer wall
of the housing.[1] Thus, a series of increasing and decreasing volumes is created by the rotating
blades. Rotary Vane compressors are, with piston compressors one of the oldest of compressor
technologies.
With suitable port connections, the devices may be either a compressor or a vacuum pump. They
can be either stationary or portable, can be single or multi-staged, and can be driven by electric
motors or internal combustion engines. Dry vane machines are used at relatively low pressures
(e.g., 2 bar or 200 kPa or 29 psi) for bulk material movement while oil-injected machines have
the necessary volumetric efficiency to achieve pressures up to about 13 bar (1,300 kPa; 190 psi)
in a single stage. A rotary vane compressor is well suited to electric motor drive and is
significantly quieter in operation than the equivalent piston compressor.

Rotary vane compressors can have mechanical efficiencies of about 90%.[12]

Rolling pistonEdit

Rolling piston compressor

The Rolling piston in a rolling piston style compressor plays the part of a partition between the
vane and the rotor.[13] Rolling piston forces gas against a stationary vane.
2 of these compressors can be mounted on the same shaft to increase capacity and reduce
vibration and noise. A design without a spring is known as a swing compressor.

In refrigeration and air conditioning, this type of compressor is also known as a rotary
compressor, with rotary screw compressors being also known simply as screw compressors.

Scroll compressorsEdit

Mechanism of a scroll pump

Main article: Scroll compressor

A scroll compressor, also known as scroll pump and scroll vacuum pump, uses two
interleaved spiral-like vanes to pump or compress fluids such as liquids and gases. The vane
geometry may be involute, archimedean spiral, or hybrid curves.[14][15][16] They operate more
smoothly, quietly, and reliably than other types of compressors in the lower volume range.
Often, one of the scrolls is fixed, while the other orbits eccentrically without rotating, thereby
trapping and pumping or compressing pockets of fluid between the scrolls.

Due to minimum clearance volume between the fixed scroll and the orbiting scroll, these
compressors have a very high volumetric efficiency.
These compressors are extensively used in air conditioning and refrigeration because they are
lighter, smaller and have fewer moving parts than reciprocating compressors and they are also
more reliable. They are more expensive though, so peltier coolers or rotary and reciprocating
compressors may be used in applications where cost is the most important or one of the most
important factors to consider when designing a refrigeration or air conditioining system.

This type of compressor was used as the supercharger on Volkswagen G60 and G40 engines in
the early 1990s.
Diaphragm compressorsEdit
Main article: Diaphragm compressor

A diaphragm compressor (also known as a membrane compressor) is a variant of the

conventional reciprocating compressor. The compression of gas occurs by the movement of a
flexible membrane, instead of an intake element. The back and forth movement of the membrane
is driven by a rod and a crankshaft mechanism. Only the membrane and the compressor box
come in contact with the gas being compressed.[1]
The degree of flexing and the material constituting the diaphragm affects the maintenance life of
the equipment. Generally stiff metal diaphragms may only displace a few cubic centimeters of
volume because the metal can not endure large degrees of flexing without cracking, but the
stiffness of a metal diaphragm allows it to pump at high pressures. Rubber or silicone
diaphragms are capable of enduring deep pumping strokes of very high flexion, but their low
strength limits their use to low-pressure applications, and they need to be replaced as plastic
embrittlement occurs.

Diaphragm compressors are used for hydrogen and compressed natural gas (CNG) as well as in a
number of other applications.

A three-stage diaphragm compressor

The photograph on the right depicts a three-stage diaphragm compressor used to compress
hydrogen gas to 6,000 psi (41 MPa) for use in a prototype compressed hydrogen and compressed
natural gas (CNG) fueling station built in downtown Phoenix, Arizona by the Arizona Public
Service company (an electric utilities company). Reciprocating compressors were used to
compress the natural gas. The reciprocating natural gas compressor was developed by Sertco.[17]
The prototype alternative fueling station was built in compliance with all of the prevailing safety,
environmental and building codes in Phoenix to demonstrate that such fueling stations could be
built in urban areas.
DynamicEdit
Dynamic compressors depend upon the inertia and momentum of a fluid.
Air bubble compressorEdit
Also known as a trompe. A mixture of air and water generated through turbulence is allowed to
fall into a subterranean chamber where the air separates from the water. The weight of falling
water compresses the air in the top of the chamber. A submerged outlet from the chamber allows
water to flow to the surface at a lower height than the intake. An outlet in the roof of the chamber
supplies the compressed air to the surface. A facility on this principle was built on the Montreal
River at Ragged Shutes near Cobalt, Ontario in 1910 and supplied 5,000 horsepower to nearby
mines.[18]
Centrifugal compressorsEdit

A single stage centrifugal compressor

Main article: Centrifugal compressor

Centrifugal compressors use a rotating disk or impeller in a shaped housing to force the gas to
the rim of the impeller, increasing the velocity of the gas. A diffuser (divergent duct) section
converts the velocity energy to pressure energy. They are primarily used for continuous,
stationary service in industries such as oil refineries, chemical and petrochemical plants
and natural gas processing plants.[1][19][20] Their application can be from 100 horsepower
(75 kW) to thousands of horsepower. With multiple staging, they can achieve high output
pressures greater than 1,000 psi (6.9 MPa).
This type of compressor, along with screw compressors, are extensively used in large
refrigeration and air conditioning systems. Magnetically levitated and air bearing centrifugal
compressors exist.

Many large snowmaking operations (like ski resorts) use this type of compressor. They are also
used in internal combustion engines as superchargers and turbochargers. Centrifugal
compressors are used in small gas turbine engines or as the final compression stage of medium-
sized gas turbines.
Diagonal or mixed-flow compressorsEdit
Diagonal or mixed-flow compressors are similar to centrifugal compressors, but have a radial
and axial velocity component at the exit from the rotor. The diffuser is often used to turn
diagonal flow to an axial rather than radial direction.[21] Comparative to the conventional
centrifugal compressor (of the same stage pressure ratio), the value of the speed of the mixed
flow compressor is 1.5 times larger.[22]
Axial compressorsEdit

An animation of an axial compressor.

Main article: Axial compressor

Axial compressors are dynamic rotating compressors that use arrays of fan-like airfoils to

progressively compress a fluid. They are used where high flow rates or a compact design are
required.
The arrays of airfoils are set in rows, usually as pairs: one rotating and one stationary. The
rotating airfoils, also known as blades or rotors, accelerate the fluid. The stationary airfoils, also
known as stators or vanes, decelerate and redirect the flow direction of the fluid, preparing it for
the rotor blades of the next stage.[1] Axial compressors are almost always multi-staged, with the
cross-sectional area of the gas passage diminishing along the compressor to maintain an
optimum axial Mach number. Beyond about 5 stages or a 4:1 design pressure ratio a compressor
will not function unless fitted with features such as stationary vanes with variable angles (known
as variable inlet guide vanes and variable stators), the ability to allow some air to escape part-
way along the compressor (known as interstage bleed) and being split into more than one
rotating assembly (known as twin spools, for example).
Axial compressors can have high efficiencies; around 90% polytropic at their design conditions.
However, they are relatively expensive, requiring a large number of components, tight tolerances
and high quality materials. Axial compressors are used in medium to large gas turbine engines,
natural gas pumping stations, and some chemical plants.
Hermetically sealed, open, or semi-hermeticEdit

A small hermetically sealed compressor in a common consumer refrigerator or freezer typically has a rounded steel outer
shell permanently welded shut, which seals operating gases inside the system. There is no route for gases to leak, such as
around motor shaft seals. On this model, the plastic top section is part of an auto-defrost system that uses motor heat to
evaporate the water.
Compressors used in refrigeration systems are often described as being either hermetic, open, or
semi-hermetic, to describe how the compressor and motor drive are situated in relation to the gas
or vapor being compressed. The industry name for a hermetic is hermetically sealed
compressor, while a semi-hermetic is commonly called a semi-hermetic compressor.
In hermetic and most semi-hermetic compressors, the compressor and motor driving the
compressor are integrated, and operate within the pressurized gas envelope of the system. The
motor is designed to operate in, and be cooled by, the refrigerant gas being compressed.

The difference between the hermetic and semi-hermetic, is that the hermetic uses a one-piece
welded steel casing that cannot be opened for repair; if the hermetic fails it is simply replaced
with an entire new unit. A semi-hermetic uses a large cast metal shell with gasketed covers with
screws that can be opened to replace motor and compressor components.

The primary advantage of a hermetic and semi-hermetic is that there is no route for the gas to
leak out of the system. Open compressors rely on shaft seals to retain the internal pressure, and
these seals require a lubricant such as oil to retain their sealing properties.

An open pressurized system such as an automobile air conditioner can be more susceptible to
leak its operating gases. Open systems rely on lubricant in the system to splash on pump
components and seals. If it is not operated frequently enough, the lubricant on the seals slowly
evaporates, and then the seals begin to leak until the system is no longer functional and must be
recharged. By comparison, a hermetic or semi-hermetic system can sit unused for years, and can
usually be started up again at any time without requiring maintenance or experiencing any loss of
system pressure.

The disadvantage of hermetic compressors is that the motor drive cannot be repaired or
maintained, and the entire compressor must be replaced if a motor fails. A further disadvantage
is that burnt-out windings can contaminate whole systems, thereby requiring the system to be
entirely pumped down and the gas replaced (This can also happen in semi hermetic compressors
where the motor operates in the refrigerant). Typically, hermetic compressors are used in low-
cost factory-assembled consumer goods where the cost of repair and labor is high compared to
the value of the device, and it would be more economical to just purchase a new device or
compressor. Semi-hermetic compressors are used in mid-sized to large refrigeration and air
conditioning systems, where it is cheaper to repair the compressor rather than buying and
installing a new one. A hermetic compressor is simpler and cheaper to build than a semi-
hermetic compressor.

An advantage of open compressors is that they can be driven by non-electric power sources, such
as an internal combustion engine or turbine. However, open compressors that drive refrigeration
systems are generally not totally maintenance-free throughout the life of the system, since some
gas leakage will occur over time.