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All the moving parts of the compressor rely on lubricating oil to form oil films, achieving three main functions: reducing component friction, sealing the compression chamber, and removing heat generated during operation. Once the lubricating oil in the casing drops below the critical level, the oil film on the friction surfaces directly ruptures and the lubrication completely fails. The components then start to rub against each other with metal friction, resulting in rapid scratches and abrasions, ultimately causing the components to seize and the entire machine to be scrapped.
The main lubrication points of the vortex compressor are 4 in total. The supply methods and risks of oil deficiency vary greatly at each point, namely: the lower bearing, the main bearing, the upper bearing, the thrust face of the vortex disk, and the compression chamber. The three bearings cooperate with the crankshaft to rotate and bear the radial and axial loads of the equipment, with the integrity and service life of the equipment entirely relying on the lubricating oil.
1. The lower bearing The lower bearing is adjacent to the bottom oil reservoir of the compressor. Most models adopt an immersion installation structure, and are submerged in the lubricating oil for a long time. Under normal operating conditions, the supply of lubricating oil is sufficient and stable, and there is almost no lubrication failure due to insufficient oil volume. This is a low-risk point for oil deficiency.
2. The main bearing and the upper bearing The supply of oil to these two bearings relies on the eccentric oil holes built into the crankshaft: the high-speed rotation of the crankshaft generates centrifugal force, which pumps the lubricating oil from the bottom oil reservoir upwards to supply the oil.
This point is the most sensitive to oil quantity and oil quality, and has the highest priority for faults: the main bearing is the largest friction pair of the entire machine. Once the lubricating oil mixes with the liquid refrigerant and is diluted by high temperature, causing a decrease in viscosity, the performance of the oil deteriorates, and the main bearing will be the first to show wear and damage.
3. The vortex disk, compression chamber and thrust face This point has a special supply method: the lubricating oil and refrigerant are miscible, and during the suction stage, oil droplets follow the refrigerant airflow and are passively brought into the vortex disk chamber, completing the lubrication of the friction surface and the sealing of the chamber simultaneously.
The amount of oil supply is controlled by three conditions: refrigerant flow rate, mutual solubility of the oil and the oil agent, and the internal flow channel structure. Oil imbalance will directly cause two types of problems: excessive oil: the system has an excessive oil content rate, and a large amount of lubricating oil flows into the external pipeline heat exchanger along with the refrigerant; insufficient oil: it cannot meet the requirements for lubrication of the vortex disk sliding and the sealing of the chamber, causing the vortex disk surface to be worn. New machines are pre-filled with a standard amount of lubricating oil. Once the oil volume in the oil pool drops below the critical value, the four lubrication points will be worn successively, ultimately causing irreversible overall damage to the compressor.
II. The fundamental causes of compressor oil deficiency
1. Core principle The lubricating oil and refrigerant are mutually soluble, and their solubility will change dynamically with the system pressure and temperature. During operation, the lubricating oil will be discharged from the compressor along with the high-pressure refrigerant, flowing through heat exchangers, throttling valves, pipelines, and valve components throughout the system; it will also flow back to the oil pool along the return gas pipe, forming a circulation.
2. Normal balanced state Under normal operating conditions, the oil output of the compressor = the oil return volume. The lubricating oil is in dynamic balance; the zero-flow speed dead zone of the system pipeline will retain a small amount of lubricating oil, but the oil volume in the oil pool still meets the minimum lubrication standard, and will not trigger an oil deficiency fault.
3. Two types of oil deficiency faults The cause of oil deficiency imbalance: in special operating conditions of the unit, the oil output is greater than the oil return volume. A large amount of lubricating oil is retained in the pipes, valves, heat exchangers, and cannot return to the compressor. The oil volume in the oil pool drops below the lubrication critical value, triggering oil deficiency wear; oil quality deterioration: the oil pool has sufficient oil volume, but the lubricating oil is mixed with water, impurities, different types of oil, acidic corrosive substances, and the lubricating performance of the oil fails, still causing lubrication failure and component wear faults.
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