Design, Model, and Experimental Validation of a Pneumatic Boost Converter

Abstract

This paper presents the design and dynamic model for a novel prototype pneumatic boost converter, a device developed to be an energetic equivalent to the electrical boost converter. The design of the system selects pneumatic components that are energetically equivalent to the components used in the analogous system in the electrical domain. A dynamic model for the pneumatic boost converter that describes the rapidly fluctuating pressures and volumes is developed. Movement within the system and mass flow through orifices connecting control volumes are also modeled. A prototype was developed to reclaim air at 653 kPa (80 psig) and experimental pressure data were collected at the inlet and outlet of the system. These experimental data are used to validate the dynamic model by comparing experimental and simulated pressures. The experimental data are also used to calculate the total energy reclaimed by the pneumatic boost converter as well as the system efficiency.