Abstract
Design practice has been made on an oil-less scroll air compressor as an air supply device for a 2 kW fuel cell system where air pressure of 2 bar and flow rate of 120 liter/min are required. Basic structure of the scroll compressor includes double-sided scroll wrap for the orbiting scroll driven by two crankshafts connected to each other by a timing belt. These features can eliminate thrust surface which otherwise would produce frictional heat and jeopardize reliable operation of the orbiting scroll and the scroll element's deformation as well. This study focuses on optimum scroll wrap design; orbiting radius has been chosen as an independent design parameter. As the orbiting radius changes, scroll sizes such as scroll base plate and discharge port diameters change accordingly. Gas compression-related losses and mechanical loss also change with the orbiting radius. With a scroll base plate diameter of 120mm at most and discharge port of at least 10mm, the orbiting radius should be within the range of 2.5-4.0mm. With this range of the orbiting radius, it was estimated by performance analysis that the compressor efficiency reached to a maximum of ${\eta}_c$=96% at the orbiting radius of $r_s$=3.5mm for the scroll wrap height-to-thickness ratio of h/t=5.
