Compressor

A machine that raises a gas’s pressure by doing work on it, typically by reducing its volume or increasing its velocity before diffusion.

Positive-displacement compressor: A compressor that traps a fixed amount of gas and raises its pressure by reducing the trapped volume. This broad design family includes compressors that compress gas in a confined space.
Pressure: Force exerted per unit area by a fluid or other material. A compressor’s defining output is an increase in gas pressure.
Gas turbine: An engine that produces power from hot gas expanded through a turbine. Its compressor supplies high-pressure air to the combustor.
Vacuum pump: A machine that removes gas from a space to produce a pressure below its surroundings. It lowers pressure in an enclosed volume rather than delivering higher-pressure gas.
Dynamic compressor: A compressor that transfers kinetic energy to flowing gas and converts it into pressure. This design raises pressure by accelerating gas and then slowing it through diffusion.
Thermodynamics: The study of heat, work, energy, and the properties of matter. It describes the energy and temperature changes accompanying gas compression.
Refrigeration: The transfer of heat from a cooler region to a warmer one using work. A compressor drives the vapor-compression cycle by raising refrigerant pressure.
Fan (machine): A machine that moves gas with a relatively small pressure rise. A fan primarily circulates gas, while a compressor produces a substantial pressure increase.
Compression ratio: The ratio of a gas’s final absolute pressure to its initial absolute pressure during compression. It quantifies the pressure increase a compressor stage must produce.
Ideal gas law: An equation relating an ideal gas’s pressure, volume, temperature, and amount of substance. It connects the pressure rise to changes in gas volume and temperature.

Linked from 17 pages