Cyclonic air-oil separating fuel cooled oil cooler

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10323606-B2
Application number	US-201514853757-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 14, 2015
Priority date	Sep 12, 2014
Publication date	Jun 18, 2019
Grant date	Jun 18, 2019

Abstract

A vehicle includes an engine, an oil circuit for providing oil to the engine, a fuel supply line, and an air-oil separating unit. The air-oil separating unit is configured to receive aerated oil from the engine via the oil circuit, flow the aerated oil in approximately a helical direction to de-aerate the oil, receive fuel from the fuel supply line, cool the aerated oil with the fuel while the aerated oil flows in the approximately helical direction, causing the fuel to heat, and pass the cooled and de-aerated oil and pass the heated fuel to the engine.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A de-aeration system comprising:
an air-fluid separating unit including:
a plurality of cyclonic separation chambers arranged in a plurality of rows;
a cooling jacket external to the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers;
an air-out chamber over the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers;
a plurality of oil-in chambers in fluid communication with an oil circuit of an engine and connecting the air-out chamber with the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers; and
an oil-out chamber below the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers and in fluid communication with the oil circuit of the engine,

wherein the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers include an orifice extending downwardly into each of the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers and a labyrinthine port extending upwardly into each of the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers, and
wherein the air-fluid separating unit is configured to:
receive aerated fluid,
flow, by the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers, the aerated fluid in a helical direction to de-aerate the aerated fluid,
receive, by the cooling jacket, a coolant fuel from a coolant supply line,
cool the aerated fluid with the coolant fuel while the aerated fluid flows in the helical direction, causing the coolant fuel to heat,
pass the cooled and de-aerated fluid through the labyrinthine port, and
pass, by the cooling jacket, the heated coolant fuel from the air-fluid separating unit; and

a condition monitor to monitor a condition of the de-aerated fluid using one of a magnetic chip detector and a conductive or capacitive filter mesh.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers comprises:
a first port to pass the cooled and de-aerated fluid from the air-fluid separating unit; and
a second port to pass the heated coolant fuel from the air-fluid separating unit.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the aerated fluid is aerated engine oil.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the air-oil separating unit is further configured to pass air separated from the aerated oil during de-aeration to one of a lubrication system and a cooling mist system.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the coolant fuel from a fuel supply line for an engine.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the coolant fuel is heated above a melt point of water.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a coolant water.

8. A de-aeration device comprising:
an air-fluid separating unit including a plurality of cyclonic separation chambers arranged in a plurality of rows and a cooling jacket external to the cyclonic separation chambers, the air-fluid separating unit including an air-out chamber on a first end of the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers, a plurality of oil-in chambers connecting the air-out chamber with the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers, and an oil-out chamber on a second end of the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers, and the air-fluid separating unit being configured to:
receive aerated fluid,
flow, by the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers, the aerated fluid in a helical direction to de-aerate the aerated fluid,
receive, by the cooling jacket, a coolant fuel from a coolant supply line,
cool the aerated fluid with the coolant fuel while the aerated fluid flows in the helical direction, thereby causing the coolant fuel to heat,
pass the cooled and de-aerated fluid through a labyrinthine port, and
pass, by the cooling jacket, the heated coolant fuel from the air-fluid separating unit; and

a condition monitor to monitor a condition of the de-aerated fluid using one of a magnetic chip detector and a conductive or capacitive filter mesh.

9. The de-aeration device of claim 8 , wherein each of the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers comprises:
a first port to pass the cooled and de-aerated fluid from the air-fluid separating unit; and
a second port to pass the heated coolant fuel from the air-fluid separating unit.

10. The de-aeration device of claim 8 , wherein the aerated fluid is aerated engine oil.

11. The de-aeration device of claim 8 , wherein the air-oil separating unit is further configured to pass air separated from the aerated oil during de-aeration to one of a lubrication system and a cooling mist system.

12. The de-aeration device of claim 8 , wherein the coolant fuel from a fuel supply line for an engine.

13. The de-aeration device of claim 12 , wherein the fuel is caused to heat above a melt point of water.

14. The de-aeration device of claim 8 , further comprising a coolant water.

15. A de-aeration system for an engine, comprising:
an air-fluid separating unit having:
a first layer including an air-out chamber configured to discharge air,
a second layer including a plurality of oil-in chambers configured to receive aerated oil from an oil circuit of the engine and pass air to the first layer,
a third layer including a cooling jacket external to a plurality of cyclonic separation chambers arranged in a plurality of rows and configured to pass the aerated oil in a downward, helical direction through the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers while air from the aerated oil flows upward to the second layer and coolant fuel passes through the cooling jacket and around the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers, thereby cooling and de-aerating the aerated oil and heating the coolant fuel, and
a fourth layer configured to receive the cooled and de-aerated oil from the third layer and return the cooled and de-aerated oil to the oil circuit of the engine; and

a condition monitor to monitor a condition of the de-aerated oil using one of a magnetic chip detector and a conductive or capacitive filter mesh.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein each of the plurality of cyclonic separation chambers comprises:
a first port to pass the cooled and de-aerated oil from the air-fluid separating unit; and
a second port to pass the heated coolant fuel from the air-fluid separating unit.

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Nam Tech Inc
• Rolls Royce Corp

Inventors

• Wilson Eric E
• Klemen Donald
• Gatton Geoffrey L

Classifications

• B01D29/15

  arranged for inward flow filtration · CPC title

• Y02T50/675

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• F01D25/18

  Lubricating arrangements (of machines or engines in general F01M) · CPC title

• B01D45/16

  generated by the winding course of the gas stream {, the centrifugal forces being generated solely or partly by mechanical means, e.g. fixed swirl vanes} · CPC title

• B01D19/0057

  the centrifugal movement being caused by a vortex, e.g. using a cyclone, or by a tangential inlet · CPC title