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Energy Procedia 00 (2014) 000000

www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

The 6th International Conference on Applied Energy ICAE2014

Geometry-Based Modeling of Single-Screw Expander for Organic

Rankine Cycle Systems in Low-Grade Heat Recovery
Davide Ziviania,b* , Martijn van den Broeka,b, Michel De Paepeb
aDepartment

of Industrial System and Product Design, Ghent University, Graaf Karel de Goedelaan 5, Kortrijk 8500, Belgium
of Flow, Heat and Combustion Mechanics, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, Ghent 9000, Belgium

bDepartment

Abstract
The constantly rising energy demand and the depletion of fossil fuel resources currently represent the main concerns for global
energy sustainability, alongside environmental issues. Low-grade energy sources have moved into the limelight and Organic
Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology is well known for its suitability to recover waste heat.
The optimization of the expansion process of an ORC system is crucial in order to maximize the power output, to increase the
overall efficiency, and to obtain an economically feasible machine. Scroll, reciprocating, single-screw, twin-screw and vane-type
expanders are the main technologies. Screw expanders are particularly suited for low-grade heat recovery. The advantages of
single-screw technology over twin-screw include the balanced loading of the main screw, long working life, high volumetric
efficiency, low leakage, low noise, low vibration, and a simplified configuration.
In this paper, a detailed geometry-based model of a single-screw expander is presented. The model is based on a rotationdependent function that completely describes the geometry of the screw rotor and the engaging surfaces of the star wheels. A
computation of the swept volume at each angular step and of the inlet conditions leads to a solution of the system of differential
equations governing the thermodynamics of the expansion process. The model considers heat losses, oil-flooded mixing and
leakage paths and permits the investigation of the impact of design modifications on the expander performance.
Furthermore, the validation of the proposed model against the available literature is presented.

2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of ICAE

keywords: Single screw expander, organic Rankine cycle, modeling, waste heat recovery

1. Introduction
The single screw compressor technology represents an improvement over twin-screw because of balanced loading
of the main screw, long working life, high volumetric efficiency, low leakage, low noise, low vibration and a
simplified configuration. The single screw compressor is a well-established technology especially in the refrigeration
industry. On this basis the technology was successfully applied as expander, particularly in ORC systems in medium
to low power ranges.
In this paper, the development and validation of an oil-flooded single screw expander (SSE) model is reported,
based on geometric parameters coupled with a system of differential equations describing the thermodynamics. The
proposed validation is made against available numerical and experimental data.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +32-468-1000-56.

E-mail address: Davide.Ziviani@UGent.be.

Ziviani et al./ Energy Procedia 00 (2014) 000000

Nomenclature
c

specific heat, kJ kg-1 K-1

specific enthalpy, kJ kg-1

mass, kg

heat, kJ

volume, m3

density, kg m-3

angular speed, s-1, d/dt

2. Simulation model
In the modelling of the SSE expansion process, four main parts can be distinguished: (i) geometric parameters of
the meshing pair, (ii) thermodynamic properties, (iii) heat transfer, leakages, pressure drops and oil injection, (iv) mass
and energy conservation. The analytical description of the tooth area engaging into the main screw groove and the
evolution of the volume inside the expander are required to calculate the swept volume and its derivative with respect
the crank angle . The presence of oil for lubrication and sealing purposes affects the heat transfer mechanism during
the expansion process and requires a two-phase flow model. Finally, an adequate solver to ensure the stability and
accuracy of the solutions of the resulting differential equations, as well as acceptable computational time, has to be
implemented. The main assumptions of the model are:
Steady-state behavior.
Rotation-dependent physical and thermodynamic properties.
Oil is injected as non-deformable, non-interacting spherical droplets and the droplets temperature is uniform.
Heat transfer is calculated both during droplets fly-time when they present the main effective heat transfer surface
area and when the droplets agglomerate on wall boundaries, creating an oil-film.
Effects of the oil droplets on the gas flow field is negligible.
In literature, several single-screw models have been investigated, but the work is limited to compressors, e.g. [1-2].

2.1. Geometric model

The SSE geometry is described in a cylindrical coordinate set (r,z,), as shown in Fig. 1. By introducing a local system
of coordinates (x,y), the tooth infinitesimal engaging area A(y) inside the screw groove can be defined as a function of
the screw and star-wheel diameters and the distance between their rotational axes. In an additional assumption the
clearances between tooth edges and groove flanks are neglected, meaning that the tooth and groove have the same
width and the depth of the groove equals the tooth length. However, design considerations have been taken into
account, such as the minimum tip width of the screw rotor flank, which is related to the flank stress resistance and
the sealing.

Fig. 1 Geometric representation of a single screw expander.

Ziviani et al./ Energy Procedia 00 (2014) 000000

The geometric swept volume is given by [2]:

2

y2

V d A( y )dy .
1

(1)

y1

To obtain the motion of the engaging tooth over the meshing angle, /2, each corner of the engaging area is
described by cylindrical coordinates (ri,zi)i=1,..,4 . By means of a rotation matrix, the position of the tooth with respect to
the main rotor is determined. Three representative positions of the engaging tooth are depicted in Fig. 1.
Consequently, the swept volume can be expressed by introducing a polygonal approach,

z 2 zi zi 1 zi21

ri ri 1 ,
V i
6
j
i
j

(2)

where the index j represents the j-th discretized position of the tooth during the rotation and is the angular
increment.The polygonal approach allows to verify the numerical solution of the integral form and to determine the
contact line between engaging tooth and corresponding groove. An example of the resulting CAD generated profiles is
reproduced in Fig. 1. Finally, since the swept volume is calculated numerically, a 5th order polynomial function is used
to interpolate the discrete points obtaining a continuous function;
n

V ( ) po pk k .

(3)

k 1

2.2. Thermodynamic properties

Compressed air is considered for validation, because of the absence of literature data of other working fluids for
SSE. Thermodynamic and transport properties are retrieved by integrating REFPROP routines into Matlab. Instead,
the oil properties are described in polynomial terms as a function of temperature.
2.3. Heat transfer
The heat transfer during the expansion process is related to the presence of the oil. The oil injection and ensuing
formation of oil droplets enhance the heat transfer between vapor and oil droplets during their fly-time. Depending on
the size and splashing parameter [3] (function of Reynolds and Weber numbers), the droplets create a thin oil film on
the wall surfaces. Hence, the total heat transfer is given by two terms, i.e. heat transfer between gas and oil droplets
and between oil film and gas. The first is the main contribution, because droplet formation results in a large heat
transfer area. The second is related to internal fluid dynamic phenomena, which are more difficult to be quantified. An
approach similar to Hsieh et al. [5] has been adopted.

2.4. Conservation laws equations

By considering each groove as a control volume (cv), the expansion process is described using mass and energy
conservation equations applied to vapor and liquid phases:

dmcv 1
in m
out ,
m
d

dTcv
1

d
mcv cv

3. Results and discussion

(4)

p dV 1 dmcv
dmcv 1
hin m hcv
hcv

Qm

T
d
T v d d

(5)

Ziviani et al./ Energy Procedia 00 (2014) 000000

The geometry-based model allows the investigation of the influence of different design parameters. In Fig. 2(a),
the ratio between the swept volume at each angular step V() and the maximum groove volume Vo is plotted. Due to
the absence of modeling studies regarding SSE, the comparison has been made with the results obtained by Hirai et al.
[1] for a single screw compressor [inset Fig. 2(a)]. The agreement throughout the engaging angle is apparent.
Furthermore, the SSE model has been validated against experimental data. He et al. [5] investigated the performance
of an air-powered SSE with a 175 mm diameter rotor and intake pressure ranging from 5.5 bar to 15 bar. By
introducing the diameter of screw and gate rotor, the simulation model allows the estimation of the performance. In
Fig. 2(b), results of the model for the mass flow rate at different intake pressure values and rotational speeds are
compared with experiment. Generally, the model underestimates the mass flow rate, with a maximum deviation found
in the case of 2000 rpm, where the experimental data exhibits more fluctuations. Finally, in Fig. 1(c), a representative
case of the pressure variation with the crank angle is reproduced. According to the experimental points obtained by He
et al. [5], the inlet pressure is set at 10 bar, the discharge pressure at 2.2 bar and the rotational speed is 2800 rpm.

Fig. 2. (a) Swept volume ratio as a function of the main rotor rotation angle. Main figure: results from theory, inlet: literature data [1]. (b)
Calculated and experimental values of the air mass flow rate at different intake pressure and rotational speed [4]. (c) Pressure variation during the
expansion.

References
[1] Hirai, T., Noda, S., Sagara, Y., Tsuzi, Performance Analysis of OIF Single Screw Compressor, International Compressor Engineering
Conference (1986). Paper 520.
[2] Sun, S., Wu, W., YU, X., Feng, Q., 2010, "Analysis of Oil Film Force in Single Screw Compressor", International Compressor Engineering
Conference, 2010, Paper 2024.
[3] Farrall, M., Hibberd, S., Simmons, K., Modelling oil droplet/film interaction in an aero-engine bearing chamber, ICLASS Conference,
2003. Conference
[4] Hsieh, S., Hsieh, W., Huang, C., Huang, Y., Numerical Analysis of Performance, Rotor Temperature Distributions, and Rotor Thermal
Deformation of an R134a Screw Compressor, Int. Compr. Engineering Conference (2012). Paper 2115
[5] He, W., Wu, Y., Peng, Y., Zhang, Y., Ma, C., Ma., G., Influence of intake pressure on the performance of single screw expander working
with compressed air, Applied Thermal Engineering, 51 (2013), pp. 662 669.

Biography
Davide Ziviani graduated cum laude from the University of Ferrara (Italy). His MSc thesis on ORC was
developed at San Diego State University. As a PhD student, he is currently involved in the development
of a single screw expander. Recently, he was awarded the IMECE 2012 AESD Best Paper Award by
ASME.