Oil sump temperature in hermetic compressors for heat pump applications

Abstract

The oil temperature in the compressor sump is an important parameter describing the performance of a refrigeration compressor. Its estimation is necessary for evaluation of the lubricant-refrigerant mixture composition and its properties. In contrast, this temperature is not normally measured in compressor performance tests and is unlikely reported by the manufacturers or in the technical literature. In this paper, a set of tests measuring the oil sump temperature for hermetic reciprocating and scroll compressors in a wide range of working conditions is presented. From these results and after a theoretical analysis of the factors having influence on this parameter, a correlation for the oil temperature as a function of compressor inlet and outlet conditions is presented. This correlation allows to estimate the oil sump temperature for scroll and hermetic reciprocating compressors as a function of operation conditions with an error lower than 4 K degree for most of the cases.