Attenuation of Gas Pulsation in the Valve Chamber of a Reciprocating Compressor Using the Helmholtz Resonator

This paper presents testing and analysis results associated with a new control method based on the Helmholtz resonator to suppress the pressure pulsations in the valve chamber and cylinder nozzle of a reciprocating compressor. The characteristic response of the designed Helmholtz resonator was analyzed and its attenuation characteristics on the gas pulsation were investigated. A three-dimensional acoustic model of the gas pulsation was established by means of the finite element method (FEM) for a compressor discharge piping system with and without the resonator. The gas column natural frequencies of the piping system and the pressure wave profiles were predicted using the presented model and validated by comparing the simulated results with the experimental data. The results showed that the pressure pulsating amplitude in the valve chamber was reduced by 40.4% when the resonator was installed. If the resonance frequency of the resonator shifted from the cylinder nozzle characteristic frequency by a range of ±13%, the reduction in the pressure fluctuations within the valve chamber was about 24%. The best attenuation effectiveness on the valve chamber, a reduction of 47%, was obtained when two resonators were installed on the valve covers of both the head and crank ends. Two new frequencies of 40.4 Hz and 66.9 Hz appeared to replace the original cylinder nozzle characteristic frequency of 53.9 Hz with the Helmholtz resonator installation, and the corresponding resonance region was transferred from the valve chamber to the resonator.