Method of providing non-uniform stator vane spacing in a compressor
First Claim
1. A method of retrofitting a compressor comprising the steps of:
- (a) removing an upper half of the compressor casing in situ to open the compressor;
(b) removing a first set of stator vanes of the array thereof having a first blade count from the removed upper half of the compressor casing;
(c) in place of the removed first set of stator vanes, installing in the removed upper half of the compressor casing a second set of vanes with a second vane count different than the vane count of said first set of stator vanes; and
(d) closing the compressor by securing the upper half of the compressor casing with the second set of vanes to the lower half of the compressor casing.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Stator blade counts of an upper compressor casing for adjacent stages S0 and S1 are changed in the field to provide additional stator vanes and hence an increased vane count. Particularly, the upper casing half of the compressor is removed from the lower casing half. The original stator vanes on opposite axial sides of the first stage buckets are removed from the upper casing half and replaced by an additional sets of stator vanes providing a non-uniform vane spacing as between the upper and lower halves of the compressor as well as between axially adjacent stages S0 and S1. The unequal vane counts reduce the vibratory response of the rotating blades between stages S0 and S1.
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Citations
7 Claims
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1. A method of retrofitting a compressor comprising the steps of:
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(a) removing an upper half of the compressor casing in situ to open the compressor;
(b) removing a first set of stator vanes of the array thereof having a first blade count from the removed upper half of the compressor casing;
(c) in place of the removed first set of stator vanes, installing in the removed upper half of the compressor casing a second set of vanes with a second vane count different than the vane count of said first set of stator vanes; and
(d) closing the compressor by securing the upper half of the compressor casing with the second set of vanes to the lower half of the compressor casing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification