摘要：The article covers the CFD analysis of the compressed air rotary lobe expander. Compressed air engines are commonly used in the explosion hazard zones, where the others power sources cannot be applied. The lobe construction seems to be cheaper solution in comparison with the classic turbine expanders at the corresponding power level.In the paper the rotary lobe compressed air expander model was developed in the ANSYS CFX software. During implementation of the proposed numerical model the mesh motion problem was solved, which was challenging due to relatively small gaps between lobes and the housing as well as due to high rotary speed of lobes. What is more, the compressible fluid model was applied. Therefore, these conditions make the undertaken problem more complex and calculation more time consuming. Finally, the model was validated applying the catalogue data of the producer.In the paper description of the developed model was presented. Then the results of simulations with their validation were shown which proved the correctness and accuracy of the model. The developed tool might be very useful for the further analysis of the expander including its optimization in terms of improvement of its efficiency or energy gain.
