LIGHT WEIGHT ROTARY COMPRESSOR EVALUATION FOR ADVANCED MARINE PROPULSION APPLICATIONS

ROTARY COMPRESSORS ARE CAPABLE OF PROVIDING LARGER VOLUMES OF COMPRESSED GAS THAN RECIPROCATING MACHINES. THIS IS PRIMARILY RELATED TO THE FACT THAT ROTARY MACHINES CAN ROTATE AT HIGHER SPEEDS THAN RECIPROCATING DEVICES. A HIGH EFFICIENCY, LARGE DISPLACEMENT ROTARY COMPRESSOR OFFERS VERSATILITY AND FEATURES THAT EXISTING RECIPROCATING COMPRESSORS DO NOT POSSESS. AN ADVANCED MARINE PROPULSION CONCEPT THAT IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSIDERATION REQUIRES THE COMBUSTION OF HIGH PRESSURE AIR IN CONJUNCTION WITH A COLUMN OF WATER TO PRODUCE A HIGH MOMENTUM WATER JET PROPULSION SYSTEM. THE PROPOSED ROTARY COMPRESSOR, WHICH WILL BE CONSIDERED IN THIS EFFORT, HAS FEATURES INCORPORATED INTO ITS DESIGN THAT MINIMIZE THE AMOUT OF INTERNAL LEAKAGE AND DECREASE THE INTERNAL FRICTION. A WORKING PROTOTYPE OF THE PROPOSED COMPRESSOR HAS BEEN FABRICATED AND TESTED ON A SMALLER SCALE THAN THAT REQUIRED FOR THE WATER JET PROPULSER. THE PROPOSED EFFORT WILL INVESTIGATE THE SCALE UP OF THIS COMPRESSOR TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE WATER JET PROPULSER TO DETERMINE COMPRESSOR PERFORMANCE, WEIGHT AND CONFIGURATION OPTIMIZATION. THE COMPRESSOR PROPOSED HAS THE CAPABILITY OF VARIABLE PRESSURE RATIO. USE OF A VARIABLE PRESSURE RATIO COMPRESSOR MAY ALSO BE MORE ADAPTABLE TO VARYING POWER REQUIREMENTS. LIMITED EXPERIMENTAL TESTS WILL BE PERFORMED USING A ROTARY COMPRESSOR FOR COMPARISON TO THEORETICAL PREDICTIONS.