Cooling system for compressor and method for operation thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10590944-B2
Application number	US-201715726273-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 5, 2017
Priority date	Oct 5, 2017
Publication date	Mar 17, 2020
Grant date	Mar 17, 2020

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for cooling a compressor in an engine. In one example, a compressor with a liquid coolant passage extending through a section of a housing of the compressor adjacent to a bypass passage, is provide. The bypass passage enable airflow to be directed around a portion of a compressor impeller.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A compressor comprising:
an impeller receiving air from an inlet passage;
a housing surrounding the impeller;
a bypass passage including:
a first passage port positioned downstream of a leading edge of the impeller; and
a second passage port positioned upstream of the leading edge; and

a liquid coolant passage including an inner section extending through a section of the housing and positioned radially inward from the bypass passages;
where the inner section extends upstream from the leading edge of the impeller and where upstream is a direction opposing a general direction of airflow through the inlet passage during compressor operation.

2. The compressor of claim 1 , where the inner section is positioned radially inward from a volute and where the volute is in fluidic communication with the impeller.

3. The compressor of claim 2 , where the liquid coolant passage includes an outer section traversing a portion of the housing adjacent to the volute.

4. The compressor of claim 1 , where the liquid coolant passage circumferentially surrounds the bypass passage.

5. The compressor of claim 1 , where a direction of a coolant flow in the liquid coolant passage opposes a direction of airflow in the bypass passage during a compressor surge condition.

6. The compressor of claim 1 , where the second passage port is formed in a sidewall of the housing.

7. The compressor of claim 1 , where an outlet of the liquid coolant passage is in fluidic communication with a heat exchanger and where the heat exchanger receives coolant from a coolant passage extending through a cylinder block.

8. The compressor of claim 1 , where the first passage port is axially offset from the leading edge of the impeller.

9. A method for operating a compressor in an engine turbocharger, comprising:
flowing air through a bypass passage including a passage inlet downstream of a leading edge of an impeller and a passage outlet upstream of the leading edge; and
flowing coolant through an inner section of a liquid coolant passage extending through a section of a housing and positioned radially inward from the bypass passage;
where the inner section extends upstream from the leading edge of the impeller and where upstream is a direction opposing a general direction of airflow through an inlet passage of the impeller during compressor operation.

10. The method of claim 9 , where flowing air through the bypass passage includes recirculating the air around a portion of the impeller during a compressor surge condition.

11. The method of claim 9 , where flowing the air through the bypass passage includes flowing air in a downstream direction through the bypass passage during a compressor choke condition.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising adjusting a flowrate of the coolant in the liquid coolant passage based on an engine operating condition and a compressor operating condition.

13. The method of claim 12 , where the engine operating condition is an engine speed and the compressor operating condition includes a compressor speed and a compressor airflow rate.

14. The method of claim 9 , where a direction of the coolant flow in the liquid coolant passage opposes a direction of airflow in the bypass passage during a compressor surge condition.

15. A compressor cooling system, comprising:
a liquid coolant passage extending through a portion of a housing and including an inner section positioned radially inward from a bypass passage, where the bypass passage extends upstream and downstream of a leading edge of an impeller; and
a pump in fluidic communication with the liquid coolant passage;
where the inner section extends upstream from the leading edge of the impeller and where upstream is a direction opposing a general direction of airflow through an inlet passage of the impeller during compressor operation.

16. The compressor cooling system of claim 15 , where the pump is in fluidic communication with an engine coolant passage and a heat exchanger.

17. The compressor cooling system of claim 15 , further comprising a controller including code stored in memory executable by a processor to:
adjust a valve upstream of the liquid coolant passage to vary a flowrate of coolant through the liquid coolant passage.

18. The compressor cooling system of claim 15 , where the liquid coolant passage includes an outer section at least partially circumferentially surrounding the bypass passage.

19. The compressor cooling system of claim 15 , where a direction of a coolant flow in the liquid coolant passage opposes a direction of airflow in the bypass passage during a compressor surge condition.

20. The compressor cooling system of claim 15 , where the liquid coolant passage includes an outer section traversing a portion of the housing adjacent to a volute.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Hu Leon
• Yi Jianwen James

Classifications

• F04D29/4213

  suction ports · CPC title

• F02B37/16

  by bypassing charging air · CPC title

• F04D29/584

  cooling or heating the machine (F04D29/5846, F04D29/5853 take precedence) · CPC title

• F04D29/582 Primary

  specially adapted for elastic fluid pumps · CPC title

• F04D29/685

  Inducing localised fluid recirculation in the stator-rotor interface · CPC title