Axial gap generator for powering a magnetic bearing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10312772-B2
Application number	US-201715857495-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 28, 2017
Priority date	Sep 20, 2017
Publication date	Jun 4, 2019
Grant date	Jun 4, 2019

Abstract

A device includes a rotor to rotate about a longitudinal axis, a magnetic bearing actuator, and an axial gap generator including a stator assembly adjacent to the rotor, the axial gap generator to generate an amount of power as a function of a gap spacing between the stator assembly and the rotor, the gap spacing parallel to the longitudinal axis, and the axial gap generator to supply the amount of power to a control coil of the magnetic bearing actuator.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device, comprising:
a rotor configured to rotate about a longitudinal axis;
a magnetic bearing actuator comprising a control coil positioned adjacent to the rotor and configured to impart a force on the rotor parallel to the longitudinal axis; and
an axial gap generator comprising a stator assembly adjacent to the rotor and electrically connected to the control coil of the magnetic bearing actuator with a wired connection, the axial gap generator configured to generate an amount of power as a function of a gap spacing between the stator assembly and the rotor, the gap spacing parallel to the longitudinal axis, the axial gap generator configured to supply the amount of power to the control coil of the magnetic bearing actuator over the wired connection, where the control coil is a recipient of the amount of power from the axial gap generator.

2. The device of claim 1 , where the stator assembly is positioned adjacent a first side of the rotor and the control coil is positioned adjacent a second side of a rotor pole of the rotor opposite the first side, and in response to a displacement of the rotor in a first longitudinal direction that decreases the gap spacing, the amount of power from the stator assembly to the control coil increases and the magnetic bearing actuator is configured to apply a force on the rotor in a second longitudinal direction opposite the first longitudinal direction based on the amount of power received by the control coil.

3. The device of claim 1 , comprising a rectifier connected to the wired connection between the axial gap generator and the magnetic bearing actuator, the rectifier configured to convert the amount of power from the axial gap generator from an alternating current output to a direct current output.

4. The device of claim 1 , comprising an amplifier connected to the wired connection between the axial gap generator and the magnetic bearing actuator, the amplifier configured to amplify the amount of power from the axial gap generator to the magnetic bearing actuator.

5. The device of claim 1 , where the stator assembly comprises a first stator assembly adjacent a first longitudinal side of the rotor and a second stator assembly adjacent a second longitudinal side of the rotor opposite the first longitudinal side, the gap spacing comprising a first gap spacing between the first stator assembly and the first longitudinal side of the rotor and a second gap spacing between the second stator assembly and the second longitudinal side of the rotor.

6. The device of claim 5 , where the first stator assembly and the second stator assembly are connected to the magnetic bearing actuator, and the axial gap generator is configured to generate the amount of power from the first stator assembly and the second stator assembly as a function of the first gap spacing and the second gap spacing.

7. The device of claim 6 , where the first stator assembly is electrically connected to the second stator assembly, and the axial gap generator is configured to combine a first output from the first stator assembly and a second output from the second stator assembly to generate the amount of power.

8. The device of claim 7 , where the combined first output and second output is zero when the first gap spacing and the second gap spacing are the same, and the generated amount of power from the axial gap generator is positive or negative based on an increase or decrease in the first gap spacing and the second gap spacing.

9. The device of claim 5 , where the first stator assembly of the axial gap generator is configured to increase the amount of power generated as the first gap spacing decreases, and configured to decrease the amount of power generated as the first gap spacing increases.

10. The device of claim 9 , where the second stator assembly of the axial gap generator is configured to increase the amount of power generated as the second gap spacing decreases, and configured to decrease the amount of power generated as the second gap spacing increases.

11. The device of claim 5 , where the first stator assembly is connected to a first coil of the control coil on the magnetic bearing actuator, the first coil configured to selectively apply a force on the rotor in a first direction parallel to the longitudinal axis based on an amount of power from the first stator assembly.

12. The device of claim 11 , where the first coil is configured to apply a force on the rotor in the first direction in response to a movement of the rotor in a second longitudinal direction opposite the first direction, where the movement of the rotor in the second direction decreases the first gap spacing and increases the amount of power generated by the first stator assembly.

13. The device of claim 12 , where the second stator assembly is connected to a second coil of the control coil on the magnetic actuator, the second coil configured to selectively apply a force on the rotor in the second longitudinal direction based on an amount of power from the second stator assembly.

14. The device of claim 13 , where the second coil is configured to apply a force on the rotor in the second direction in response to a movement of the rotor in the first direction, where the movement of the rotor in the first direction decreases the second gap spacing and increases the amount of power generated by the second stator assembly.

15. The device of claim 14 , comprising a first rectifier connected between the first stator assembly and the first coil and a second rectifier connected between the second stator assembly and the second coil, each of the first rectifier and the second rectifier configured to convert the amount of power from an alternating current output to a direct current output.

16. The device of claim 1 , where the stator assembly comprises a first stator assembly adjacent a first longitudinal side of the rotor and a second stator assembly adjacent a second longitudinal side of the rotor opposite the first side of the rotor, the gap spacing comprises a first gap spacing between the first stator assembly and the first longitudinal side of the rotor and a second gap spacing between the second stator assembly and the second longitudinal side of the rotor, the axial gap generator configured to generate a first amount of power from the first stator assembly as a function of the first gap spacing and generate a second amount of power from the second stator assembly as a function of the second gap spacing.

17. The device of claim 16 , where, in response to a displacement of the rotor in a first longitudinal direction that modifies the first gap spacing, the magnetic bearing actuator is configured to provide a force on the rotor in a second longitudinal direction opposite the first longitudinal direction based on the first amount of power from the first stator assembly.

18. The device of claim 1 , where the control coil is a direct recipient of the amount of power from the axial gap generator.

19. The device of claim 1 , comprising a rotating device that comprises the rotor, the rotating device comprising at least one of a motor, pump, compressor, or blower.

20. A method, comprising:
rotating a rotor about a longitudinal axis;
generating, with a stator assembly of an axial gap generator positioned adjacent to the rotor, an amount of power as a function of a gap spacing between the stator assembly and the rotor, the gap spacing parallel to the longitudinal axis; and
supplying, with the axial gap generator, the amount of power to a control

Assignees

• Upwing Energy Llc

Inventors

• Mcmullen Patrick

Classifications

• E21B47/008

  Monitoring of down-hole pump systems, e.g. for the detection of "pumped-off" conditions · CPC title

• F16C32/0476

  with active support of one degree of freedom, e.g. axial magnetic bearings · CPC title

• F04B17/03

  driven by electric motors · CPC title

• F16C37/005

  of magnetic bearings · CPC title

• F04D13/10

  adapted for use in mining bore holes · CPC title