296

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 55, NO. 1, JANUARY 2008

A Novel Strategy of Efficiency Control for a Linear

Compressor System Driven by a PWM Inverter
Tae-Won Chun, Member, IEEE, Jung-Ryol Ahn, Student Member, IEEE, Hong-Hee Lee, Member, IEEE,
Heung-Gun Kim, Member, IEEE, and Eui-Cheol Nho, Member, IEEE

AbstractLinear compressors with a free piston driven by a

linear motor have attracted wide attention in cooling apparatuses
such as refrigerators due to their high efficiency. The method
of using triacs as a linear motor drive is not satisfactory for
improving the efficiency of linear compressors. In this paper, the
performance of linear compressors using a pulsewidth modulation
inverter is investigated, with emphasis on the efficiency and power
factor along with variations of both mechanical and electrical
resonant frequencies. The strategy for improving the efficiency
of the linear compressor is suggested by controlling the average
value of the product of the piston stroke and motor current to 0.
The performance of both the stroke and efficiency controls of the
linear compressor is verified through experiments under various
gas pressure conditions.
Index TermsEfficiency control, linear compressor, linear permanent magnet synchronous motor (LPMSM), pulsewidth modulation (PWM) inverter, resonant frequency.

I. I NTRODUCTION

CONVENTIONAL reciprocating compressor utilizes a

crank-shaft mechanism to convert the rotational motion
of the motor into the oscillating motion needed to drive the
piston of a compressor. The efficiency of this compressor with
a rotary motor is low because it has large mechanical losses
due to the crank-shaft mechanism. A linear compressor used
as a mechanism for compressing the expended refrigerant gas
in a cooling apparatus such as a refrigerator or air-conditioner
has been developed [1][4]. In the linear compressor, a piston
is driven by a linear motor and a resonant mechanical spring,
compressing the gas. The efficiency of the linear compressor
can be increased by reducing the mechanical losses due to the
crank-shaft mechanism. In addition, it has a lower noise and
vibration effect. The triacs, which control the ac voltage, have
frequently been used to drive the linear motor because of their
simple implementation. However, such a method of controlling
the voltage that is to be applied to the coil of the linear motor
in accordance with the load variations is not satisfactory for
improving the efficiency of the linear compressor.

Several papers have only focused on improving the efficiency

of ac machines or reducing the losses of power converters
[5], [6]. For the efficiency control of the linear compressor,
the mechanical operations of the compressor as well as the
linear motor drive system should be considered. Recently, the
pulsewidth modulation (PWM) inverter has been used to drive
a linear motor by adjusting both the frequency and the voltage
according to the load variations. To efficiently drive the linear
motor, some methods to optimize the phase angle of the motor
back electromotive force (EMF) or the piston stroke relative to
the motor current were proposed [7], [8]. Each of these methods
requires the zero crossing detection of both the motor current
and motor back EMF (or piston stroke). The zero crossing of
the motor current may be detected at several times due to ripple
components or noises in the motor current [9]. The hysteresis
zero crossing method has been used for preventing the multiple
zero crossing detections. However, it causes some errors in the
phase angle of the piston stroke to the motor current.
To solve this problem, in this paper, a novel strategy to
optimize the phase angle for improving efficiency of the linear
compressor is suggested by controlling the average value of
the product of the piston stroke and motor current. The performance of the linear compressor is investigated with the variations of both mechanical and electrical resonant frequencies.
The simulation studies and the experimental results are carried
out to verify the performance of the proposed linear compressor
control system.

II. S YSTEM M ODELS

The performances such as the efficiency and power factor for
the linear compressor in accordance with variations of both mechanical and electrical resonant frequencies are analyzed. The
mechanical equations for a linear compressor can be generally
expressed as
Mx
+ C x + Kx = is

Manuscript received May 30, 2005; revised September 24, 2007. This work
has been supported by KESRI(R-2005-B-109), which is funded by Ministry of
Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE), Korea.
T.-W. Chun, J.-R. Ahn, and H.-H. Lee are with the Department of
Electrical Engineering, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 680-749, Korea (e-mail:
twchun@mail.ulsan.ac.kr).
H.-G. Kim is with the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering,
Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, Korea.
E.-C. Nho is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Pukyong
National University, Busan 608-739, Korea.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIE.2007.909730

(1)

where M , C, and K are the mass of the piston, damping

coefficient, and spring coefficient, respectively, and x is the
displacement of piston, and refers to the constant for converting mechanical force into electrical force. The spring constant
K is composed of the mechanical spring Km and the gas
spring Kgas , where Km is kept nearly constant, and Kgas is
nonlinearly varied while the compress passes the dischargingsucking process.

0278-0046/$25.00 2008 IEEE

CHUN et al.: NOVEL STRATEGY OF EFFICIENCY CONTROL FOR LINEAR COMPRESSOR SYSTEM

Fig. 1.

297

Single-phase PWM inverter feeding a linear motor.

After substituting x into the velocity v = dx/dt at (1), the

equation in the frequency domain at steady-state conditions can
be derived as follows:
is = 1 Z m v

Fig. 2. Space phasors of the linear compressor.

(2)

2
where, Zm = C +jM [1(mr /)2 ] = C +jM [1mr
_r ],
and mr_r is the ratio of the mechanical resonant frequency to
the inverter frequency. The mechanical resonant frequency can
be expressed as


K
.
(3)
mr =
M

Fig. 1 shows a single phase PWM inverter, the capacitor for

compensating the reactive power in the linear motor, and the
linear motor which is represented by the resistance, inductance,
and back EMF proportional to the piston velocity.
From Fig. 1, the output voltage equation of the PWM inverter
can be written as [10]

dis
1
+ Rs is +
Vs = Ls
(4)
is dt + v.
dt
Cs
Equation (4) is transformed into the equation in the frequency
domain at steady-state conditions such as
Vs = Zeis +
v

(5)

2
where, Ze = Rs +jLs [1(er /)2 ] = Rs +jLs [1er
_r ],
and er_r is the ratio of the electrical resonant frequency to
inverter frequency. The electrical resonant frequency can be
expressed as

er =

1
.
Ls Cs

(6)

Substituting is from (2) in (5), the voltage can be expressed as

the piston velocity as shown in
1
Vs = Ze Zm v +
v.

(7)

The space phasor of the linear compressor is shown in Fig. 2.

The EMF is in phase with the piston velocity, and a piston
stroke lags by 90 to the velocity. The space angle between the
input voltage and piston velocity, sp is dependent on values
of both er_r and mr_r . The space angle between the input
current and piston stroke, d only has influence on the value
of mr_r .

Fig. 3. Efficiency of the linear compressor.

From Fig. 2, the input power, output power, and power factor
can be calculated as follows, respectively:
Vsp Isp
Pin = Re[Vs is ] = cos(s )
2 2
vp Isp
is ] =
cos(s + sp )
Pout = Re[E
2 2
pf = cos(s )

(8)
(9)
(10)

where Vsp , Isp , and vp are the peaks of the stator voltage, stator
current, and piston velocity, respectively. The efficiency can be
obtained by dividing the input power into the output power.
III. P ERFORMANCE AND D ESCRIPTION OF
A L INEAR C OMPRESSOR
A. Performance of the Linear Compressor
Assuming that both the peak of stroke (velocity) and inverter
frequency remain constant, the performance of the linear compressor such as the efficiency and power factor is investigated
according to the variations of er_r and mr_r . Figs. 3 and 4
show that the efficiency and power factor of the linear compressor at er_r = 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2 in the case where
the value of mr_r is changed from 0.8 to 1.2, respectively.

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 55, NO. 1, JANUARY 2008

Fig. 5.

Relationships between the angle d and ASCP.

Fig. 6.

Block diagram for the linear compressor drive system.

Fig. 4. Power factor of the linear compressor.

When the ratio mr_r is equal to 1 (the inverter frequency

is equal to the mechanical resonant frequency), maximum
efficiency can be obtained, and the electrical resonant frequency
has no influence on efficiency. It can be seen that the power
factor is varied considerably with both resonant frequencies
except for those points where the ratio mr_r is at or equals 1,
at which point the power factor is nearly 1.
B. Strategy for Improving Efciency
As shown in Fig. 4, the inverter frequency is adjusted to
the mechanical resonant frequency to obtain the maximum efficiency and also unity power factor. When the inverter frequency
is equal to the mechanical resonant frequency at (2), the motor
current is in phase with the piston velocity, and so the space
angle between the motor current and stroke d is kept to 90 .
The Average value of Stroke-Current Product (ASCP) is used to
improve the efficiency by adjusting the angle d to 90 . As the
motor current always leads the stroke regardless of a variation
of both resonant frequencies, equations of current and stroke
are expressed as
is (t) = Isp sin(t + d )

(11)

C. Description of the Linear Compressor Control System

x(t) = Xp sin t

(12)

The block diagram for the linear compressor drive system

using ASCP control is shown in Fig. 6. The control system is
composed of the linear compressor fed by a single-phase PWM
inverter, stroke and ASCP controllers, and current and voltage
sensors. The stroke PI controller is used to control the peak-topeak of stroke Xpp , and its output becomes the reference peak
voltage Vrp . The ASCP P controller is used to control ASCP to
0, and its output is a variation of frequency f , and the new
inverter frequency can be obtained by subtracting f from the
inverter frequency.
The stroke can be calculated from the linear motor terminal
voltage and current as follows:

where Xp is the peak of the stroke.

The ASCP is defined as the average value of the product of
the stroke and current, and so it can be given as
1
ASCP =
2

the angle d is more than 90 , and also the ASCP has a negative
value. Thus, the inverter frequency should be decreased to keep
the ASCP at 0. When the mechanical resonant frequency is
higher than the inverter frequency (mr_r > 1.0), the angle
d is less than 90 , and also the ASCP has positive value.
The inverter frequency should be increased for controlling
ASCP to 0.

2
x(t)is (t)d(t) =

Xp Isp
cos d .
2

(13)

The ASCP is proportional to the cosine of d , and Fig. 5

shows the relationships between the phase angle d and ASCP.
When the ASCP is controlled to 0 by adjusting the inverter
frequency to the mechanical resonant frequency (mr_r = 1.0),
the angle d becomes 90 . When the mechanical resonant
frequency is lower than the inverter frequency (mr_r < 1.0),

x=

 
Vm Rs is Ls

dis
dt


dt.

(14)

CHUN et al.: NOVEL STRATEGY OF EFFICIENCY CONTROL FOR LINEAR COMPRESSOR SYSTEM

299

TABLE I
PARAMETERS OF THE LINEAR COMPRESSOR

Fig. 8. Steady-state response for ASCP control: (a) before ASCP control,
(b) after ASCP control.

Fig. 7.

Transient response for the linear compressor system.

After both maximum and minimum values of stroke are

searched during one piston cycle, the peak-to-peak of the stroke
can be calculated by subtracting the minimum value from the
maximum value.
IV. S IMULATION AND E XPERIMENTAL R ESULTS
A. Simulation Study
A simulation study was made using a linear compressor in a
refrigerator, and C-language was used for the simulation study.
The linear motor with a rated voltage of 220 V and rated current
of 1.0 A is used, and the parameters of the linear compressor are
shown in Table I.
Fig. 7 shows the transient responses for a linear compressor
drive system using the ASCP control. At start-up, the stroke
builds up by controlling the motor voltage, and then the stroke

= 19.5 mm is applied. The piston stroke escommand Xpp

tablishes the reference value. Because the mechanical resonant
frequency is lower than the inverter frequency, the angle d is
more than 90 , and also the ASCP becomes about 2.2 mm A.
When the ASCP command ASCP = 0 is applied at t = 1.0,
the ASCP is controlled to 0 mm A by decreasing the inverter
frequency to 57.6 Hz, and also the angle d is adjusted from
134 to 90 .
Fig. 8 shows the steady-state responses for motor current
and stroke before and after the ASCP control, respectively. The

Fig. 9. System hardware configuration.

current leads the stroke by 134 before the ASCP control. After
applying ASCP control, the angle is controlled to 90 while the
magnitude of the motor current is reduced.
B. Experimental Study
Fig. 9 shows the block diagram of the hardware configuration. The current-regulated power FET single-phase voltage fed
inverter and linear compressor for the refrigerator are available
for the experimental study. The control system is implemented
by a 16-bit DSP type TMS320LF2407 operating with a clock
frequency of 30 MHz and sampling interval is 40 s for both
the stroke and ASCP controls. The input voltage and current
of the linear motor are sensed by an isolation device, amplifier

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 55, NO. 1, JANUARY 2008

Fig. 11. Experimental results for ASCP control at Pd = 6.9 kgf/cm2 ,

Ps = 0.76 kgf/cm2 .

and input power variables shown in the experimental results

are converted into analog signals through a 13-bit eight-channel
D/A converter and displayed using an oscilloscope.
Fig. 10 shows the experimental results for the ASCP control

= 19.5 mm, where Pd (discharge pressure) and Ps (sucat Xpp

tion pressure) are 5.65 kgf/cm2 , 0.76 kgf/cm2 , respectively.
As shown in Fig. 10(a), the ASCP has negative value such as
1.7 mm A where the inverter frequency is kept to 60 Hz.
When the reference ASCP = 0 is applied at t = 15 s, the ASCP
approaches 0 by adjusting the inverter frequency to 58.5 Hz,
which may be the mechanical resonant frequency. The input
power is decreased from 53.0 to 48.8 W, and so the efficiency
becomes about 8% higher. Fig. 10(b) and (c) show the steadystate responses for the motor current and stroke before and after
the ASCP control, respectively. The motor current leads the
stroke by 138 as shown in Fig. 10(b). After ASCP control, the
phase angle between the motor current and stroke is changed to
90 while the magnitude of the current is decreased.
Fig. 11 shows the experimental results for the ASCP control,
where Pd is increased to 6.9 kgf/cm2 . As the gas spring Kgas is
increased, the mechanical resonant frequency is also increased.
After applying the ASCP control, the inverter frequency is
adjusted to 59.0 Hz. The input power is decreased from 69.3
to 66.4 W, and so the efficiency of the linear compressor can be
improved.
V. C ONCLUSION

Fig. 10. Experimental results for ASCP control at Pd = 5.65 kgf/cm2 , Ps =

0.76 kgf/cm2 : (a) transient response for ASCP control, (b) steady-state
response before ASCP control (c) steady-state response after ASCP control.

and 10-bit A/D converter within the DSP. The dc input power
can be measured by multiplying the dc link voltage by dc link
current using an analog multiplier. The stroke, current, voltage,

In this paper, the performances (efficiency and power factor) of a linear compressor driven by a PWM inverter are
investigated with varying mechanical and electrical resonant
frequencies. To obtain the maximum efficiency, the inverter
frequency is controlled to be equal to the mechanical resonant
frequency, which is changed with gas pressure; the electrical
resonant frequency has no influence on the efficiency. Using
the strategy of controlling the average value of the strokecurrent product to 0, the inverter frequency is adjusted to the
mechanical resonant frequency. The efficiency of the linear
compressor can be increased from 4% to 8%, which depends
on the gas pressure.

CHUN et al.: NOVEL STRATEGY OF EFFICIENCY CONTROL FOR LINEAR COMPRESSOR SYSTEM

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and control of a zero-current-switching DC/AC current-source inverter,
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[7] M. Yoshida, S. Hasegawa, and M. Ueda, Driving apparatus of a linear
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Tae-Won Chun (S85M88) was born in Korea

in 1959. He received the B.S. degree in electrical
engineering from Pusan National University, Pusan,
Korea, in 1981, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in
electrical engineering from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, in 1983 and 1987, respectively.
Since 1986, he has been a member of the faculty
of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Ulsan
University, Ulsan, Korea, where he is currently a
Full Professor. From 1996 to 1997, he served as a
Visiting Scholar at the Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, University of Tennessee. From 2005 to 2006, he served
as a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg. His current
research interests are control of ac machines, design of Z-source inverter, and
control of linear compressor.

Jung-Ryol Ahn (S07) was born in Korea in

1976. He received the B.S. degree in electrical and
electronics engineering from Wonkyang University,
Chonbuk, Korea, in 2002, and the M.S. degree in
electrical engineering from Ulsan University, Ulsan,
Korea, in 2004. He is currently working toward
the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at Ulsan
University.

301

Hong-Hee Lee (S88M91) was born in Korea in

1957. He received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Seoul National
University, Seoul, Korea, in 1980, 1982 and 1990,
respectively.
Since 1985, he has been a member of the faculty
of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Ulsan
University, Ulsan, Korea, where he is currently a Full
Professor. He was with the Department of Electrical
Engineering, University of Texas A&M, College Station, as a Visiting Scholar from 1990 to 1991. His
current research interests are control of electrical machines, matrix converters,
and network-based factory automations.

Heung-Gun Kim (S83M86) was born in Korea

in 1956. He received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Seoul National
University, Seoul, Korea, in 1980, 1982, and 1988,
respectively.
From 1990 to 1991 he was with the Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of
Wisconsin, Madison, as an Honorary Fellow. From
2006 to 2007, he served as a Visiting Scholar at
the Department of Electrical Engineering, Michigan
State University, East Lansing. Since 1984, he has
been with the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Kyungpook
National University, where he is currently a Professor. His research interests are
power electronic control of electric machines, Photovoltaic power generation,
electric vehicle drives, and power converter circuits.

Eui-Cheol Nho (S86M92 ) received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Seoul National
University, Seoul, Korea in 1984, and the M.S.
and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and electronic engineering from Korea Advanced Institute of Science
and Technology, Daejeon, Korea in 1986 and 1991,
respectively.
He was with the Powertech Company, Ltd., Korea,
as a chief of the R&D center from 1991 to 1995.
In 1995, he joined the Department of Electrical
Engineering, Pukyong National University, Busan,
Korea, where he is currently a Professor. From 1997 to 1998, he served
as a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison. From 2005 to 2006, he also
served as a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science, University of California, Irvine. His current research
interests are high voltage pulsewidth modulation converters, soft-switching
converters, dynamic uninterruptible power systems, and power line conditioners, etc.