On the design, construction, and testing of a two-stage, reciprocating air compressor test stand

An air compressor test stand was designed, constructed, and tested using a Quincy QR-25 Series Model D390 two stage, base-mounted reciprocating compressor in the Thermo/Fluids Laboratory at the Cooper Union. The objective of this project was to provide an additional experiment for the junior mechanical engineering students to perform in order to fulfill the requirement for ME 162: Experimentation.; The compressor air inlet was modified to accommodate a Meriam flow element for flow rate measurement. The air discharge piping layout was redesigned and constructed. Thermocouples were installed at the compressor intercooler inlet and outlet as well as the compressor discharge to obtain temperature data. Pressure gauges were installed at the intercooler and the plenum chamber. Power measurement was conducted via an AC voltmeter and a portable AC current clamp. A stroboscope provided the means of speed measurement. Using the pressure, temperature, flow rate, power and speed data, the polytropic exponents as well as isothermal and isentropic compression efficiencies were calculated across both the low and high pressure cylinders. Additionally, mechanical and volumetric efficiencies values were also obtained.; A total of five performance tests were conducted. The average polytropic exponents were 1.12 {dollar}pm{dollar} 0.01 and 1.36 {dollar}pm{dollar} 0.01 for the low and high pressure cylinders, respectively. The average isothermal compression efficiencies were 92% {dollar}pm{dollar} 3% and 93% {dollar}pm{dollar} 4% for the low and high pressure cylinders, respectively. The average isentropic compression efficiencies were 115 {dollar}pm{dollar} 4% and 100% {dollar}pm{dollar} 2% for the low and high pressure cylinders, respectively. Lastly, the average volumetric and mechanical efficiencies were 70% {dollar}pm{dollar} 3% and 94% {dollar}pm{dollar} 3%, respectively. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...