Yokoyama-2012-Development of DC Inverter Scroll Compressor Used-1365

1365, Page 1
International Compressor Engineering Conference at Purdue, July 16-19, 2012

Development of DC inverter Scroll Compressor used for
Marine Container Refrigeration Unit

Tomomi YOKOYAMA* , Katsumi KATO , Nobuhiro NOJIMA
Keiji YOSHIMURA , Hiroshi KITAURA

Daikin Industries, Ltd. Compressor Development and Engineering Group
3-12 chikko-shinmachi , Nishiku , Sakai , Osaka , Japan
Tel: +81-72-241-1261 , Fax: +81-72-245-3740
E-mail: tomomi.yokoyama@daikin.co.jp

* Corresponding Author

ABSTRACT

In recent years, energy saving of a container ship is becoming one of the most important issues from the point of
environmental protection of the global marine transportation business.
To solve this problem, we have developed a new gas injection inverter scroll compressor for marine container
refrigeration unit. The new compressor is based on a conventional scroll compressor, which has been used in various
industrial air conditioners for a long time, with some greatly improved technologies. For instance, the efficiency of
the compressor is increased by optimizing the gas injection mechanism. On top of this, the efficiency at low speed
operation is increased by using interior permanent magnet synchronous motor.
As a result, it was possible to achieve higher refrigeration capacity without increasing the size of the new
compressor. The energy consumption has decreased by 45% compared to conventional models. This paper
describes details about the improvements of the compressor including the gas injection mechanism and the
improvements in its performance at low speed operation.

1. INTRODUCTION

Environment protection is becoming a more important issue in the maritime industry across the world. In July 2011,
CO2 emissions controls have been introduced in the MARPOL Convention. Meanwhile recent increase in oil price
is urging container operators to further energy saving throughout the vessel. These efforts to reduce CO2 emissions
and operating cost have now been accompanying efforts to reduce energy consumption of marine container
refrigeration unit.
We have succeeded in meeting these needs by modifying our highly reputed, commercial use models of DC inverter
scroll compressors for air conditioning applications, as shown below.

1 Increasing the number of injection port , enlarging the diameter of the injection port and horizontal holes
leading to the ports to increase the injection circulation whereby the systems refrigerating capacity can be
increased.

2 Using a concentrated-winding reluctance DC motor to reduce energy consumption during energy saving
modes which account for the largest proportions of the total operating hours.

These modifications could reduce energy consumption by maximum of 45% while reducing also the size and weight
of the compressor compared to those for existing marine refrigeration unit.
This paper describes our efforts to achieve these performance improvements, weight and size down of marine
transportation container refrigeration unit.

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2. STRUCTURE OF COMPRESSOR

Figure 1(a) shows a sectional view of a conventional scroll compressor for marine refrigerating containers. Figure
1(b) shows the newly developed compressor. Table.1 shows specifications of these compressors.
The conventional compressor has a low-pressure dome that contains the motor. The new compressor has a dome
comprising two portions separated by the main bearing frame: one is a low-pressure compartment containing the
compressing mechanism, and the other one is a high-pressure compartment containing the motor. The new
compressor has a system to cool the compressing mechanism using the refrigerant that enters in the compressor, and
cool the motor using the refrigerant gas that delivers from the compressor, which leads to higher volumetric
efficiency. The suction volume of the new compressor is 70cc, which is more than 60% less compared with the
suction volume of the conventional compressor 188cc. The maximum rotating speed of the new compressor is
130rps and its fixed scroll has a port that is used for injecting refrigerant gas into the compressor.

(a) Conventional compressor (b) Developed compressor
for marine container for marine container

Figure 1: Sectional view of Compressor

Suction pipe
Main bearing
Fixed scroll
Orbiting scroll
Motor (Stator)
Sub bearing
Crank shaft
Discharge pipe
Injection pipe
Oil pick up
Motor (Rotor)
High
pressure
side
Low pressure
side
Low
pressure
side
High pressure
side

1365, Page 3

Table 1: Specifications of compressor for marine container

Conventional compressor
(with gas injection)
Developed compressor
(with gas injection)
Refrigerant R134a R134a
Pressure Structure Low Pressure shell High / Low Pressure shell
Cylinder Volume 188 cc 70 cc
Power Supply
[Rotating speed]
AC50/60Hz
DC Inverter
[20 ~ 130rps]
Induction motor Reluctance DC-motor
Motor type
Distributed winding Concentrated winding

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE DEVELOPMENT

Some major items which are applied in this newly developed compressor are described below.

3.1 Larger Energy Saving by Improving Refrigerating Capacity and Performance

3.1.1 Improve the injection port
A refrigerating transport container is required to be cooled to the desired temperature before (or after) it is loaded.
This preliminary cooling operation is called a pull down operation. This pull down operation is required to be
completed down to the desired temperature as quickly as possible, for which a larger refrigerating capacity is
required. This is one of the distinctive requirements for refrigerating transport containers.
To increase refrigerating capacity, it is necessary to increase the suction volume of the compressor. However this
may lead to a larger size and/or weight, which refrigerating transport containers cannot admit for space limitation.
Our approach to addressing these conflicting problems was to modify an air conditioner DC inverter scroll
compressor comprising a gas injection system into a machine with larger injection circulation so that the
refrigerating capacity can be increased.

Figure 2 shows illustrations of the scroll and injection port of a conventional DC inverter scroll compressor for air
conditioning applications (a) and newly developed compressor (b). Figure 2 shows the position of the orbiting
scroll,(colored area), immediately after the compression space is loaded with gas.

1365, Page 4

The conventional DC inverter scroll compressor (a) has one injection port whose size is 4 while the new
compressor (b) has four injection ports whose size has been increased to 5 so that the injection circulation into the
compression space could be increased. Note that the horizontal hole to the injection port was enlarged to an inside
diameter of 7.4 from 6, when the number of the ports was increased.

for Air conditioner for Marine container

Figure 2 Injection Port and Compression space
(at the end of suction process about colored compression space)

Figure 3 shows the position of the orbiting scroll at which the injection port opening leading to the compression
space (colored part) becomes the largest. The conventional compressor (a) has one opening (4) leading to the
compression space while the new compressor (b) has two full openings (52) and two partial openings to the
compression space.

for Air conditioner for Marine container

Figure 3 Injection Port and Compression space
(at the maximum opening square shaped by injection port and colored compression space )

Orbiting Scroll

Horizontal
hole6

Horizontal
hole 7.4
Colored compression space
Injection port
(54)
Injection
refrigerant
Suction
refrigerant
Injection
refrigerant

Injection port
(41)
Suction
refrigerant

1365, Page 5

Figure 4 shows, for both the conventional and new compressors, how the sectional area of injection port opening to
the compression space changes with the crankshaft rotation angle (deg). The maximum opening area could be
increased by 240% compared to the conventional compressor, and the duration, in terms of crank angle range, in
which the injection ports are kept open to the compression space could be increased by 1.5 times.

Figure 4 Relationship between the crank shaft rotation angle
and the opening square of injection port

Figure 5 shows actual measurements of injection circulation of both the conventional DC inverter scroll compressor
for air conditioning applications and new compressor for marine container. The operating conditions for these
measurements shown in Table 2 represent a pull down operation that needs the compressor to act at the maximum
refrigerating capacity. This pull down operation is one of the chilled condition.
The new compressor increased injection circulation by 3.5 times as much as the conventional one, which led to
increase in refrigerating capacity by 1.33 times and also to making the compressor size smaller .

Figure 5 Increasing ratio of total refrigerating capacity
and refrigerant mass flow (suction , injection)

Table 2: Test conditions
Operation mode
Pull down
chilled
Ambient / Box temp [deg] 38/ 2
Condensing temp [deg] 63
Evaporating temp [deg] -10
Rotating speed [rps] 130
subcool = 5deg , superheat = 8deg
100%
133%
100%
100%
46%
13%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
140%
(a) Conventional (b) Developed
Total refrigerating capacity ratio (suction + injection)
Refrigerant mass flow ratio of suction
Refrigerant mass flow ratio of injection
3.5
1.33
Colored compression space
Injection port
Square
Developed (54)
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0 90 180 270 360
Crankshaft rotation angle deg
I
n
j
e
c
t
i
o
n

P
o
r
t

S
q
u
a
r
e

c
m
2
Conventional
(41)
Developed
(54)
1.5
+240

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3.1.2 Use a concentrated-winding, reluctance DC motor
The conventional scroll compressor for the marine container operates at the constant speed using induction motor. In
case of induction motor, the compressor starts and stops its operation to adjust the refrigerating capacity, which is
needed to keep the temperature inside the container after its temperature goes down to the desired temperature.
Unfortunately such operations tend to be the negative factor from the point of the energy saving. To achieve energy
saving, the new compressor controls its rotating speed using the inverter to adjust the refrigerating capacity, not by
starting and stopping its operation.
Especially for energy saving of the marine container unit, it is prerequisite to improve not just operating efficiency at
the pull down operation, but also to improve operating efficiency at the low-middle speed (20-70rps) during the long
temperature maintenance operation. To this end, the new compressor uses a concentrated-winding DC reluctance
motor.

To increase motor efficiency, the motor loss (copper loss and iron loss) must be reduced. To improve the motor
efficiency especially at low speed, copper loss must be reduced.
To reduce copper loss, we chose a concentrated-winding DC reluctance motor that has been widely used for home
air conditioners. The motor can reduce the size of the coil end parts, which leads to reduction in copper loss.
Figure 6 shows pictures and major dimensions of a distributed-winding AC motor for conventional scroll
compressor for refrigerating container and concentrated-winding reluctance DC motor for the new DC inverter
scroll compressor. The former has two poles (88 mm in laminated thickness) while the concentrated-winding stator
has six poles and nine slots (90 mm in laminated thickness). The laminated height being unchanged, the outside
diameter and total height could be significantly reduced, and the weight could be down to 1/3.

(a) AC Induction motor (b) Reluctance DC-motor
(Distributed Winding stator) (Concentrated Winding stator)

Figure 6 The Dimension and Weight of motor stators

Motor efficiency on pull down operation
Figure 7 shows comparison in motor torque and efficiency on Table 3 pull down(chilled) test condition. On that test
condition, the developed compressor is operated at maximum speed of 130rps and its efficiency is 4.5% higher than
the conventional one, which proves that it is effective for energy saving on the pull down condition as well.
8
8

1
8
5

15.2kg
190
1
3
0

9
0

145
5.0kg

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Figure 7 Relationship between the motor torque
and the motor efficiency ratio

Motor efficiency on energy saving condition
Table 4 shows the condition for the conventional and developed compressor on typical energy saving condition
(chilled). The stopping ratio on Table.4 is the actual stopping ratio when the compressor of the marine container unit
is operated on start and stop condition. The developed compressor is operated with the low rotating speed (30rps).
So that the efficiency of motor for the developed compressor must be high.

Figure 8 shows comparison in motor torque and its efficiency for the conventional and the developed compressor on
the operation condition of Table 4. The motor efficiency for the developed compressor is 1.9% higher than the one
for the conventional compressor. And also its energy saving is higher on the energy saving condition.
Besides on the condition of Table 4, the stopping ratio for the developed compressor is lower. It is the effect of using
the inverter for the developed compressor.

Figure 8 Relationship between the motor torque
and the motor efficiency ratio

Table 3 Test conditions
Operation mode Pull down (chilled)
Ambient / Box temp[deg] 38 / 2
No.
Compressor C D
Rotating speed[rps]
(AC power frequency)
(60) 130
Motor efficiency ratio 100% 104.5%
C: Conventional , D: Developed
Table 4 Test condition
Energy saving
Operation mode
Chilled
Ambient / Box temp [deg] 25 / -1
No.
Compressor () C D
Motor torque ratio [-] 1.0 0.46
Rotating speed [rps]
(AC power frequency)
(60) 30
Compressor stopping ratio [%] 52 15
Motor efficiency ratio [%] 100 101.9
C: Conventional , D: Developed
99%
100%
101%
102%
103%
104%
105%
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2
Motor Torque ratio
M
o
t
o
r

e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

r
a
t
i
o
Developed
(Reluctance DC motor)
130rps

Conventional
(Induction motor)
60Hz

4
.
5
99%
100%
101%
102%
103%
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2
Motor Torque ratio
M
o
t
o
r

e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

r
a
t
i
o
Developed
(Reluctance DC motor)
30rps
Conventional
(Induction motor)
60Hz

1
.
9

1365, Page 8

Figure 9 shows the comparison for input consumption ratio and stopping ratio of conventional and developed
compressor on the Table.4 condition. The stopping ratio of the developed compressor is dramatically decreased. So
that its input consumption is 66% decreased.

34%
100%
15%
52%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Conventional Developed

Input consumption ratio compressor stop ratio
66
37

Figure 9 Relationship between Input consumption ratio
and compressor stop ratio at Energy saving operation (chilled)

3.1.3 Result of energy saving efforts
The developed compressor is operated at the low speed using the inverter and the energy saving becomes higher by
decreasing the stopping ratio. Also using the concentrated-winding reluctance DC motor prevents the motor
efficiency from going down, which works out on the energy saving.
The Figure 10 shows that the hourly input power consumption of the developed marine unit [LX10F] goes down to
55%, compared with the one of the conventional marine unit [LXE10E:~E series].(when the ratio of energy saving
operation is 60% on chilled condition and 40% on frozen condition)

100%
55%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Conventional Developed
I
n
p
u
t

P
o
w
e
r

c
o
n
s
u
m
p
t
i
o
n

r
a
t
i
o

Figure 10 Input power consumption ratio of the developed marine unit

45

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3.2 Size and Weight
Figure 11 shows outline views of the conventional and the developed compressor for marine container.
Figure 12 shows how much the size and weight could be reduced. The outside diameter of the casing was reduced to
85%. The volume could be reduced to 45%, and the weight could be reduced to 60%. The new, smaller compressor
is appropriate for transport refrigeration unit.

Weight :71kg Weight :43kg

Figure 11 Outline view and weight of compressor

60%
45%
85%
102%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
110%
Height Diameter Volume Weight
S
i
z
e

a
n
d

M
a
s
s

r
a
t
i
o

Figure 12 Size and Weight ratio of the developed to conventional compressor

55
15
40
200
5
3
6

170
5
4
7

1365, Page 10

4. CONCLUSIONS

The following conclusions are made to a new DC inverter scroll compressor that can meet requirements for reducing
energy consumption while reducing its size and weight.

1 The refrigerating capacity of new compressor is increased 1.33 times as much as conventional DC inverter
scroll compressor by enlarging the diameter of injection port, increasing the number of injection ports and
enlarging the diameter of the horizontal holes leading to the ports.

2 The motor efficiency is increased to 4.5% at chilled pull down condition and 1.9% at chilled energy saving
condition by using concentrated winding reluctance DC motor.

3 The compressor input power consumption is decreased by 66% at chilled energy saving condition by
optimizing the start and stop operation which is done by inverter. As a result, the hourly input power
consumption of the developed marine unit [LX10F] is decreased by 45% compared to conventional marine
unit [LXE10E:~E series].( when the ratio of energy saving operation is 60% on chilled condition and 40% on
frozen condition)

(4) Finally, the overall size and weight of the compressor is reduced by 55% and 40% respectively.

REFERENCES

Yoshida, Y. et al. 2002, Development of Scroll Compressors with the High Performance used for Marine Container
Refrigeration Unit, International Compressor Conference at Purdue, C18-6

Yokoyama-2012-Development of DC Inverter Scroll Compressor Used-1365

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International Compressor Engineering Conference at Purdue, July 16-19, 2012

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