About the project
This project will research and develop water lubricated bearings for water injected screw compressors. These will be used in applications including mechanical vapour recompression, steam compression and heat pumps.
Compressors consume energy, but their use in mechanical vapour recompression (MVR) and heat pumps will continue to play an important role that contributes towards carbon neutrality. Screw compressors are used to compress steam and other fluids which do not allow injection of oil in the working chamber. These machines could be used in processing such fluids and in refrigeration and other industries.
Challenges in using water for bearing lubrication include the shape and material of the compressor elements. These must resist corrosion but have sufficient strength to allow reliable operation, including thermal management of the compressor.
You'll evaluate how existing technology can be use effectively and how new technologies may be developed to allow efficient and reliable operation of screw compressors with non-oil lubrication. You'll also probe if Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication (EHL) lubrication is possible within water lubricated tribocontacts and what bearing type is most suitable for rotor machinery.
To enable you to select a focused project plan to suit your interest, you will look at the following:
- coatings
- lubricant additives
- bearing surface texturing
- tribological or corrosion material performance
- modelling of lubricant films
- bearing design
You'll develop screening tests on existing tribometers to study water lubrication of area, line and point contacts under slide and slide and roll conditions that are representative of the service environment and loadings. This project will be highly novel and ground-breaking.
The project is a collaboration with Professor Ahmed Kovacevic of the Centre for Compressor Technology, Department of Engineering, City, University of London and the national Centre for Advanced Tribology at Southampton (nCATS). It is sponsored by the leading compressor manufacturer Mayekawa in Japan.
You'll work in tandem with a PhD student at City and have the opportunity to work in the Centre for Compressor Technology. There will be regular meetings with Dr Kazuhiro Hattori from Mayekawa as well opportunities to attend leading international conferences on compressors, wear of materials (USA) and lubrication or tribology (Japan/USA).
Project supervisors
Alongside Professor Wood, you will also be supervised by Professor Ahmed Kovacevic, University of London.
