Turbine installation comprising a turbine installed in a duct

• US 4,392,063 A
• Filed: 03/23/1981
• Issued: 07/05/1983
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/1981
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Voest-Alpine Machinery Construction & Engineering GmbH
• Original Assignee: Voestalpine AG
• Inventors: Lindquist, Herman A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Truhe, J. V.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wade, Shelley
• Application Number:
  US06/246,581
• Time in Patent Office: 834 Days
• Field of Search: 415/118, 415/201, 415/142, 415/109-112, 290/52, 290/43, 290/54
• US Class Current: 290/54
• CPC Class Codes: F03B 11/02 Casings spiral or volute casings F03B3/186
• CPC Class Codes: F05B 2220/20 within closed fluid conduits, e.g. pipes
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/20 Hydro energy

Abstract

A turbine installation comprises flow passage-defining means defining an inlet chamber and a runner chamber and including two juxtaposed interconnecting passages which connect the inlet chamber and the runner chamber and are disposed on opposite sides of an axial center plane, and spaced apart in an intermediate part of their length, a turbine runner rotatably mounted in said runner chamber, an electric generator disposed outside the flow passage-defining means, and an output mechanism extending through the space between the two interconnecting passages, and operatively connecting the runner to the generator. In order to ensure that those parts of the structure which may require to be serviced will be easily accessible, the interconnecting passages are defined by two pipelines, each of which consists of a plurality of straight pipe sections and has a cross-section which is substantially the same as that part of the cross-section of the inlet chamber at its outlet which is disposed on the same side of said center plane as the respective pipeline. The turbine shaft is mounted in a coaxial carrying tube, which extends through both pipelines and protrudes into the space between the pipelines.

Claims

1. A turbine installation comprising

(a) flow passage-defining means which comprises

(1) two juxtaposed pipelines defining interconnecting passages spaced apart in an intermediate part of their length to define a space therebetween, the pipelines being disposed on opposite sides of an imaginary plane,

(2) an inlet chamber at one end of the pipelines, the inlet chamber having an outlet communicating with each one of the interconnecting passages,

(3) a runner chamber at an end of the pipelines opposite the one end and having an inlet communicating with each one of the interconnecting passages, and

(4) a cylindrical feed pipe leading from the opposite end of the pipelines to the runner chamber,

(b) a turbine runner mounted in the runner chamber for rotation of a fixed axis, the imaginary plane containing said axis,

(c) an electric generator disposed outside the flow passage-defining means,

(d) an output mechanism extending through the space and operatively connecting the runner to the generator, the output mechanism comprising

(1) a turbine shaft for rotation on said axis and non-rotatable connected to the runner, the pipelines being composed of a plurality of pipe sections extending substantially parallel to the axis and having a cross-section that is substantially the same as that part of the cross-section of the inlet chamber at the outlet which is disposed on the same side of the plane as the respective pipeline, and the feed pipe converging to form a junction near the inlet of the runner chamber,

(e) a carrying tube centered on said axis and radially spaced from, and surrounding, the turbine shaft, the carrying tube extending through, and being sealed in, both pipelines adjacent the junction and the carrying tube protruding into the space, on the one hand, and the cylindrical feed pipe, on the other hand, and

(f) a bearing for the turbine shaft mounted in the carrying tube.

2. The turbine installation set forth in claim 1, wherein the interior of said carrying tube communicates with the interior of said flow passage-defining means.

3. The turbine installation of claim 1, wherein the diameter of a major portion of the carrying tube equals the largest distance between the pipelines.

4. The turbine installation of claim 2, wherein the bearing is a water-lubricated rubber bearing rotatably mounting the turbine shaft.