Air Compressors

Introduction:
The usage of compressed air is not limited only to industries, but they are also used in
manufacturing, welding, constructions, power plants, ships, automobile plants, painting shops,
and for filling breathing apparatus too. Thus there are so many types of air compressors used
specifically for the above purposes. Let us discuss on various types of air compressors.

Types of Air Compressors:

Compressors are classified in many ways out of which the common one is the classification
based on the principle of operation.
Types of Compressors:
1. Positive Displacement and
2. Roto-Dynamic Compressors.
Positive displacement compressors cab be further divided into Reciprocating and rotary
compressors.
Under the classification of reciprocating compressors, we have
1. In-line compressors,
2. V"-shaped compressors,
3. Tandem Piston compressors.
4. Single-acting compressors,
5. Double-acting compressors,
6. Diaphragm compressors.
The rotary compressors are divided into
7. Screw compressors,
8. Vane type compressors,
9. Lobe and scroll compressors and other types.
Under the Roto-dynamic compressors, we have
10. Centrifugal compressors, and the
11. Axial flow compressors.
The compressors are also classified based on other aspects like
12. Number of stages (single-stage, 2-stage and multi-stage),
13. Cooling method and medium (Air cooled, water cooled and oil-cooled),
14. Drive types ( Engine driven, Motor driven, Turbine driven, Belt, chain, gear or direct
coupling drives),
15. Lubrication method (Splash lubricated or forced lubrication or oil-free compressors).
16. Service Pressure (Low, Medium, High)

Reciprocating In-line Compressors:

These are most commonly used compressors with varying pressure ranges. These are
simple in design with almost very little automation. The cylinders of various stages are
found in a straight line when seen from top. These compressors are commonly direct driven
 by electric motors or diesel engines. Refer the attached diagram of the reciprocating in-line
compressors.

Rotary Compressors:
These compressors are not of reciprocating nature, therefore does not have any pistons and
crankshaft. Instead, these compressors have screws, vanes, scrolls, and other devices which
rotate and thus compress air. The rotary compressors are classified into screw type, vane
type-lobe type, scroll type and other types.

Rocket propulsion
Types of chemical rocket engines
Chemical rocket engines use a fuel (something to burn) and an oxidiser (something to react
with the fuel). Together, they are referred to as the propellant.
As the propellant reacts inside a combustion chamber, the chemical reaction produces
hotgases. It is the ejection of these rapidly expanding hot gases at high speed from the
rocketnozzle that creates thrust.
The fuel and oxidiser can be stored as solids, liquids or a hybrid (a combination of solid and
liquid).

Solid propellant rocket engines

In a solid fuel engine, the fuel and oxidiser are already mixed together and set as a solid inside
the combustion chamber. This solid is called the propellant grain.
The rate at which the chemical reaction takes place depends on the type of fuel chosen and
the surface area of the exposed grain. The inside length is normally hollow section to increase
the amount of grain exposed and available to react. A star-shaped hollow section is often used
to maintain a steady burn with even thrust.
The Space Shuttle has two solid rocket boosters (SRBs). These are the two big white rocket
sections on the side of the Space Shuttle that produce the visible flames and smoke. The SRBs
are the largest solid fuel engines ever used in a launch. Each SRB burns nearly 4000 kg of
propellant each second and ejects the resulting hot gases to produce a thrust of 12.5 mega
newtons (MN).
Compare this with much smaller engines for model rockets that can be made to produce as little
as 2 newtons (N) of thrust.

Liquid propellant rocket engines

Liquid propellant rocket engines use a liquid fuel (such as liquid hydrogen or kerosene) and
liquid oxidiser (such as liquid oxygen). These are stored in separate tanks and then pumped
into the combustion chamber as required. As they are sprayed into the combustion chamber
through injection nozzles, they rapidly mix together and react before being ejected.
One advantage of a liquid fuel system is that the amount of thrust can be controlled. This is
done by limiting how quickly the fuel is pumped into the combustion chamber.

The three main engines on the tail of the Space Shuttle orbiter are liquid fuel rocket engines.
The external tank (ET) is the big orange tank and contains two separate storage tanks one
containing liquid hydrogen and one containing liquid oxygen.
The hydrogen and oxygen are pumped to the three main engines. They are sprayed into a
combustion chamber where the hydrogen reacts with the oxygen to form gaseous water. It is
the high-speed ejection of this gaseous water that produces the thrust.
Each main engine produces a thrust of 1.8 MN (1.8 million N). It does this by reacting 1340
litres of propellant each second and ejecting the gaseous water at a speed of 3560 m/s (12 800
km/h).
Hybrid propellant rocket engines
A hybrid propellant system has the fuel as a solid inside the combustion chamber. The liquid
oxidiser is stored in a separate tank. The simplest hybrid system is to have the oxidiser
underpressure in its tank. When a valve is opened, this oxidiser is released into the combustion
chamber. It then reacts with the solid fuel before being ejected.
One example of a hybrid system is the tea-1 launched by Rocket Lab.