MHI’s e-3D scroll wins top Japanese award

JAPAN: The efficiency of the e-3D scroll compressor used in Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ latest heat pump chillers has been recognised by a top Japanese industry award.

The e-3D scroll, which is used in a number of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ (MHI) latest products including the Hydrolution PRO and MSV2 series of air-cooled heat pump chillers, has received the 51st (2023) Technology Award from the Japan Society of Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (JSRAE). 

The award was presented in recognition of how the development of the e-3D scroll provides a substantial improvement in efficiency while maintaining the same large capacity.

The e-3D scroll is a more advanced development of the 3D scroll compressor, the large-capacity 3D compression structure originally developed in 2005. 

The design employs a sloped tip and a sloped end plate in each scroll instead of steps in the conventional 3D scroll. The height of compression chamber decreases continuously with progression of compression by the sloped shape. The e-3D scroll has advantages of high efficiency, high compression ratio, large capacity and high strength compared to the conventional two-dimensional or three-dimensional scrolls. 

This change in shape is also said to significantly reduce the leakage of refrigerant from each step, considerably improving efficiency at low loads. 

Efficiency at a 25% load condition has been increased by 4.8%, and at 50% by 3.2%. In addition, the e-3D scroll compressor has sufficient versatility to allow it to easily replace existing compressors.