Compressor including an enhanced vaned shroud
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A compressor, comprising:
- a housing;
an impeller rotationally mounted within the housing and having a plurality of impeller blades, a portion of the impeller defining an inducer having an inducer area ratio;
a shroud at least partially surrounding at least a portion of the impeller, the shroud including at least an inner peripheral surface displaced radially outwardly of the impeller; and
a plurality of spaced apart airfoils coupled to, and extending radially inwardly from, the shroud inner peripheral surface, wherein the inducer area ratio is substantially equivalent to that of a compressor having a shroud without the plurality of spaced apart airfoils.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A compressor includes an enhanced vaned shroud and is configured such that the flow area ratio is equivalent to that of a conventional, non-vaned shroud. The vaned shroud includes a plurality of airfoils that vary in thickness to obtain desired vibrational mode shapes and natural frequencies. A stiffening ring of limited axial extent is coupled to, and between, the airfoils, and the shroud is manufactured with a section of constant radius.
-
Citations
29 Claims
-
1. A compressor, comprising:
-
a housing;
an impeller rotationally mounted within the housing and having a plurality of impeller blades, a portion of the impeller defining an inducer having an inducer area ratio;
a shroud at least partially surrounding at least a portion of the impeller, the shroud including at least an inner peripheral surface displaced radially outwardly of the impeller; and
a plurality of spaced apart airfoils coupled to, and extending radially inwardly from, the shroud inner peripheral surface, wherein the inducer area ratio is substantially equivalent to that of a compressor having a shroud without the plurality of spaced apart airfoils. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 15)
-
-
9. A compressor, comprising:
-
a housing;
an impeller rotationally mounted within the housing and having a plurality of main blades and a plurality of splitter blades, the main blades and the splitter blades each having at least a leading edge and a trailing edge;
a shroud at least partially surrounding at least a portion of the main blades and the splitter blades, the shroud including at least an inner peripheral surface displaced radially outwardly of each of the main blades and splitter blades; and
a plurality of spaced apart airfoils coupled to, and extending radially inwardly from, the shroud inner peripheral surface, wherein;
at least a first portion of the shroud inner peripheral surface and each of the splitter blade leading edges define a splitter blade leading edge flow area each airfoil, at least a second portion of the shroud inner peripheral surface, and each of the main blade leading edges defining a main blade leading edge flow area, a ratio of the splitter blade leading edge flow area to the main blade leading edge flow area defines an inducer area ratio, and the inducer area ratio is substantially equivalent to that of a compressor having a shroud without the plurality of spaced apart airfoils.
-
-
10. A centrifugal compressor shroud, comprising:
-
a main body having a first side, a second side, and an inner surface defining a flow passage between the first and second sides;
a plurality of airfoils extending into the main body flow passage, each airfoil having at least a first end and a second end, each airfoil first end coupled to the main body inner surface and having a first thickness, each airfoil second end extending into the main body flow passage and having a second thickness, wherein the first thickness is greater than the second thickness. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
16. A centrifugal compressor shroud, comprising:
-
a main body having a first side, a second side, and an inner surface defining a flow passage between the first and second sides, the shroud inner surface including a constant-radius-section of a predetermined axial length disposed between the first and second sides, the constant-radius-section having a substantially constant radius along the predetermined axial length; and
a plurality of spaced apart airfoils coupled to, and extending radially inwardly from, the constant-radius-section. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A method of designing a vaned shroud for a compressor having an impeller with a plurality of blades, the vaned shroud having a number of airfoils extending from an inner surface thereof, the method comprising the steps of:
-
determining an inducer area ratio for a conventional, non-vaned shroud compressor;
determining a radial extent for each of the airfoils;
determining the number of airfoils;
determining axial positions for each of the determined number of airfoils radially around the shroud inner surface; and
dimensioning the compressor such that the compressor will have a restored inducer area ratio, the restored inducer area ratio being substantially equivalent to that of the determined inducer area ratio for the conventional, non-vaned shroud compressor. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
-
Specification