Analysis of flow characteristics of cylindrical and helical type multi-lobe roots blower
Abstract
Roots blower is a positive displacement machine that has the advantage of a larger flow than conventional blowers. Roots blowers are widely used in industrial production such as chemicals, food, medical, etc. However, during actual operation, this type of machine often achieves low performance. One of the issues that greatly affect performance is the flow characteristics of the blower. Flow characteristics include factors related to flow rate, pressure, and flow phenomena in the blower chamber. Flow characteristic analysis is a complex problem in hydraulic machines. Flow analysis helps to investigate the motion of the flow to design high-performance machines. This study uses a mathematical model of gear theory to design the rotor profile with cylindrical and helical lobes of the multi-lobe Roots blower. The rotor profile is formed on the principle that the ellipse rolls without slipping on the base circle. On the basis of the mathematical model of the rotor profile, the paper compares the flow rate and pressure characteristics of the two blowers. The fluid dynamics analysis model was built on ANSYS software. The structural grid model is also built to increase the computational efficiency of the mathematical model. The lobes are embedded and rotated in the blower chamber. The results show that with the same radial and axial dimensions, the cylindrical lobe has a larger flow. However, the helical lobe has a more stable flow quality than the cylindrical lobe (15.2 % less flow fluctuation). In terms of pressure, the helical lobe type has a higher pressure than the cylindrical lobe type. In addition, the helical lobe type also reduces the influence of eddy currents acting on the blower chamber walls and rotors. That results in increased blower efficiency. The results of the paper will be a reliable basis for reducing time in the development of multi-lobe Roots blowers with high performance
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