Development of an automated compressor performance mapping using artificial neural network and multiple compressor technologies

•Developed a generalized and automated compressor mapping approach based on ANN.•The proposed approach has been applied to three different compressor types.•Demonstrated the feasibility and reliability of the proposed approach.•Identified minimum data set to effectively train an ANN compressor map model. In the last decades, several technological improvements to positive displacement compressors have been developed and introduced into market. During the process of implementing new compressor technologies, high-accuracy numerical models are essential to predict the performance at both component and system levels. ANSI/AHRI Standard 540 10-coefficient cubic polynomial model is still the industry-standard compressor mapping approach despite the well documented limitations. In order to generate accurate compressor maps by using the 10-coefficient cubic polynomial models, compressor manufacturers are required to obtain, in some cases, more than 20 compressor-calorimeter data points depending on the compressor type and operating envelope. This paper attempts to address the need for more generalized and versatile compressor mapping methodologies as well as to reduce the time-consuming and expensive compressor calorimeter testing. To this end, an automated compressor performance mapping approach based on artificial neural network (ANN) is proposed to identify the compressor operating envelope and map the performance of any positive displacement compressors for HVAC&R applications with minimum number of data points. In addition, the paper also aims at demonstrating the feasibility and reliability of the proposed automated compressor performance mapping approach for training the ANN models in comparison to conventional 10-coefficient cubic polynomial maps. Three different compressor types, i.e. reciprocating, scroll, and rotary rolling piston, have been considered as test cases.