CHAPTER 13

STRAIGHT LOBE COMPRESSORS

A.G. Patel, PE
Roots Divison
Divison of Dresser Industries Inc.

13.1

APPLICATIONS
Straight lobe compressors are used for pneumatic conveying of materials, aerating
liquids, extracting gases and vapors, providing low pressure air/gas, supercharging
engines and drying materials, etc.

13.1.1

Operating Characteristics

Capacity range: 5 cfm to 60,000 cfm

Pressure range: 15 psi
Vacuum range:
15 in. hgv for conventional compressor
27 in. hgv for externally aspirated compressor or liquid sealed
0.5 micron as a vacuum booster
Higher pressure and vacuum levels could be achieved through staging.

13.2

OPERATING PRINCIPLE
The more prevalent straight lobe compressors usually have rotors with two or three
lobes. The operating principal for a two-lobe compressor is described below.
In the two-lobe compressor, two figure eight rotors are mounted on parallel
shafts within an elongated cylinder. A set of timing gears keeps the rotors in synchronization. In Fig. 13.1, the lower rotor is presumed to be the drive rotor. As it
rotates clockwise, the inlet is created on the right hand side and the discharge is
created on the left hand side. The driven rotor turns counter clockwise through the
action of the timing gears (not shown). In position 1, the drive rotor is delivering
volume A to the discharge, while the driven rotor is trapping the volume B between
the housing and itself. In position 2, the driven rotor has sealed off volume B from
the inlet and the discharge. Volume B is basically at inlet conditions. In position
3, volume B is being discharged by the driven rotor, while the drive rotor is in the
process of trapping volume A. The two-lobe compressor discharges four equal
13.1

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

FIGURE 13.1

Two lobe compressor pumping schematic.

volumes of the medium per one rotation of the drive shaft. There is no internal
compression of gas involved. The system resistance determines the head.

13.3

PULSATION CHARACTERISTICS
In Fig. 13.1 position 3, the trapped volume A, which is primarily at the inlet
pressure condition, is being exposed to the discharge pressure. The higher pressure
discharge medium suddenly rushes in to occupy the volume A. This sudden inrush
produces a pressure pulse.
f
f
N
K

2NK
pressure pulse frquency, hz
compressor revolution per second
number of lobes

In a two-lobe compressor, the pulse frequency is four times the compressor rpm.
The amplitude of the discharge pulse is controlled by controlling the rate of pressure change of the trapped volume A. In their Whispair design, Roots Operations,
a division of Dresser Industries, uses discharge gas to pre-charge the volume A in
a controlled manner to reduce pulsations.
In most of the applications, the use of a discharge pulsation dampner is mandated
to avoid pulsation damage on the equipment down stream of the compressor.

13.4

NOISE CHARACTERISTICS
The discharge pressure pulse is one of the main contributors to noise in a straight
lobe compressor. The other contributing factors are gears, bearings and flowing
gases. The impeller actions generate varying loads on the bearings. These loads
not only vary in magnitude during rotation of the impeller, they also change direction causing shock loading that the bearings transfer to the mounting structures.

STRAIGHT LOBE COMPRESSORS

13.3

The vibrations of these structures radiate noise. For controlling noise, it is not
uncommon to enclose the straight lobe compressor in an acoustic housing.

13.5

TORQUE CHARACTERISTICS
The straight lobe compressors have a pulsating shaft torque. The torque pulsations
could be in the range of 10% of the mean. Stiff couplings like gear type couplings are not recommended as they would transmit the torque pulsations possibly
causing damage to the driver.

13.6

CONSTRUCTION (FIG. 13.2)

The main components of a straight lobe compressor are the rotors , the casing
, the timing gears , the bearings , and the seals .

13.6.1

Rotors

The rotors (2) are nothing more than a set of two toothed gears. The common
profile for the rotor lobes is involute; cycloidal profile is also used sometimes. The

FIGURE 13.2

Cross section through straight lobe compressor.

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

FIGURE 13.3

PV Diagram For Single Stage Compression

shafts are either integrally cast, pressed through, or bolted stub shafts. The clearances between the rotors and between the casing and the rotors is held to a minimum to reduce leakage flow, the main source of compressor volumetric inefficiency.
The rotors are generally hollow; for dusty environments they are plugged to prevent
rotor imbalance.
13.6.2

Casing

The casing consists of cylinder (1) and end plates (3) also known as head plates.
The casing is normally designed for 25 psig rating.

FIGURE 13.4

PV diagram for two stage compression.

STRAIGHT LOBE COMPRESSORS

FIGURE 13.5

13.6.3

13.5

Suction and discharge arrangement for straight lobe compressor.

Timing Gears

Timing gears maintain the rotor phasing without contact. Timing gears are generally
mounted on the shafts with some form of keyless interference fit to permit easy
timing of the rotors.

FIGURE 13.6 5000CFM straight lobe blower driven by variable frequency driver. Installed in
a wasterwater treatment plant. (Roots Division, Dresser Industries Inc.)

13.6

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

FIGURE 13.7 5000CFM straight lobe blower driven by a Waukesha engine. Installed in a wastewater plant. (Roots Division, Dresser Industries Inc.)

FIGURE 13.8
dustries Inc.)

1760CFM, 250PSI acetylene product blower (Roots Division, Dresser In-

STRAIGHT LOBE COMPRESSORS

13.6.4

13.7

Bearings

Antifriction bearings are generally the bearings of choice.

13.6.5

Seals

The head plate seals are generally labyrinth or piston ring. In air compressors, the
area between the headplate seals and the oil seals is vented to the atmosphere to
prevent pressure build-up in the end covers. In gas applications, the vents are closed
and mechanical face seals are used in place of oil seals. There are two types of
mechanical seals available: splash lubricated and pressure lubricated. Pressure lubricated seals use oil pressure higher than the gas pressure and hence have better
gas sealing ability than the splash lubricated.

13.7

STAGING
Two main reasons for staging straight lobe compressors are for achieving higher
compression ratios, and for reducing power consumption.

13.7.1

Higher Compression Ratios

Generally, single-stage straight lobe compressors are limited to a compression ratio

of 2.0, or about 15 psi rise on air from an ambient of 14.7 psia. Above this pressure
rise, the temperature rise across the compressor becomes excessive. Higher compression ratios could be achieved by staging the compressors where discharge gas
from the each stage is cooled before sending it to the next stage.
13.7.2

Reduction of Power

The straight lobe compressors do not have any internal compression. The power
required by a single-stage compressor is represented by a rectangle 1-2-4-3 on PV
diagram as shown in Fig. 13.3.
The air is drawn into the compressor at a constant inlet pressure represented by
line 1-2. The trapped volume is instantly compressed to discharge pressure as
represented by line 2-4. The air is discharged at a constant discharge pressure
represented by line 4-3. The cycle is completed by line 3-1.
By adding one more stage, power reduction represented by area 2-4-4-5 in Fig.
13.4 is realized. The first stage draws in air at a constant inlet pressure. The air is
compressed to the intermediate pressure 2. Since the first stage discharge air volume has been reduced to 4, the second stage need to have a displacement of only
4. So the work required by the first stage is 1-2-2-1 and the second stage is 14-4-3.

13.8

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

13.8

INSTALLATION
Figure 13.5 shows the recommended installation for a straight lobe air compressor.
The location of discharge silencer with respect to the compressor flange is very
critical. If distance I is not properly selected, there exists a possibility of setting
up resonance of discharge gas column. To avoid resonant situation,
I

nc
4

where
n 1,3,5,.......
c velocity of sound in ft/sec kgRT
f excitation frequency in Hz 4 rotational speed in rev/sec for two-lobe
compressor 6 rotational speed in rev/sec for three-lobe compressor
k specific heat ratio
g gravity constant 32.16 ft/sec2
R gas constant in lb.ft/ R
T gas temperature in Rankine
For positive displacement compressors, use of relief valves is very important. Any
piping blockage could overload the compressors beyond design pressures.