Mixed-flow compressor with counter-rotating diffuser

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11499569-B2
Application number	US-202017254328-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 16, 2020
Priority date	Jun 28, 2019
Publication date	Nov 15, 2022
Grant date	Nov 15, 2022

Abstract

A compressor includes a housing. An impeller is located within the housing and rotatable about an impeller axis in a first rotational direction. A rotor section is rotatable about the impeller axis in a second rotational direction opposite the first rotational direction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A compressor comprising:
a housing;
an impeller located within the housing and rotatable about an impeller axis in a first rotational direction; and
a rotor section rotatable about the impeller axis in a second rotational direction opposite the first rotational direction, wherein the rotor section includes a rotor having a plurality of rotor blades forming at least one row of rotor blades and an outlet of the impeller is immediately upstream of an inlet to the at least one row of rotor blades and the at least one row of blades includes an upstream row of blades having a curvature in the second rotational direction and a downstream row of blades having a curvature in the first rotational direction.

2. The compressor of claim 1 , wherein the impeller includes a hub and a plurality of impeller blades extending outward from the hub toward a portion of the housing and the impeller is driven by an impeller motor.

3. The compressor of claim 2 , wherein the rotor section includes a cylindrical rotor with a plurality of rotor blades extending from a radially outer surface of the cylindrical rotor.

4. The compressor of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of impeller blades each include an upstream end and downstream end with the upstream end being circumferentially spaced in the first rotational direction from the downstream end and the plurality of rotor blades each include an upstream end and a downstream end with the upstream end being circumferentially spaced in the second rotational direction from the downstream end.

5. The compressor of claim 4 , wherein each of the plurality of rotor blades and each of the plurality of impeller blades include a curvature in a first circumferential direction.

6. The compressor of claim 1 , wherein the impeller is driven by an impeller motor and the rotor is driven by a separate rotor motor.

7. The compressor of claim 1 , wherein the impeller is driven by an impeller motor and the rotor section is driven by the impeller motor through a transmission to reverse a rotational output of the impeller motor.

8. The compressor of claim 7 , wherein the transmission is a variable ratio transmission.

9. The compressor of claim 1 , wherein the compressor is a mixed flow compressor, an axial gap separates the impeller from the rotor section, and the compressor is operable with a low pressure refrigerant or a medium pressure refrigerant.

10. A method of operating a compressor comprising the steps of:
rotating an impeller in a first rotational direction with an impeller motor to draw refrigerant into an inlet of the compressor;
rotating a rotor section downstream of the impeller in a second rotational direction opposite the first rotational direction, wherein the rotor section includes a rotor having a plurality of rotor blades forming at least one row of rotor blades and an outlet of the impeller is immediately upstream of an inlet to the at least one row of rotor blades and the at least one row of blades includes an upstream row of blades having a curvature in the second rotational direction and a downstream row of blades having a curvature in the first rotational direction; and
directing the refrigerant from the rotor section to a compressor outlet.

11. The method of claim 10 , including turning a direction of the refrigerant in an axial direction with the plurality of rotor blades in the rotor section.

12. The method of claim 10 , including driving the impeller with an impeller motor and driving the rotor section with a rotor section motor.

13. The method of claim 10 , including driving the impeller with an impeller motor and driving the rotor section with the impeller motor through a transmission.

14. The method of claim 13 , including at least one of varying a magnitude of rotation from an output of the impeller motor with the transmission or reversing a direction of rotation of an output of the impeller motor with the transmission.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the compressor is a mixed flow compressor and the compressor is operable with a low pressure refrigerant or a medium pressure refrigerant.

16. The compressor of claim 1 , wherein the at least one row of blades includes a first row of blades and a second row of blades with a downstream end of each of the blades in the first row of blades being upstream of an upstream end of an upstream end of each of the blades in the second row of blades.

17. The compressor of claim 1 , including a fluid passage defined between circumferentially adjacent rotor blades of the plurality of rotor blades with the rotor defining a radially inner portion of the fluid passage and the housing defining a radially outer portion of the fluid passage.

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least one row of blades includes a first row of blades and a second row of blades with a downstream end of each of the blades in the first row of blades being upstream of an upstream end of an upstream end of each of the blades in the second row of blades.

Assignees

• Carrier Corp

Inventors

• Joly Michael M
• Halbe Chaitanya Vishwajit
• Cousins William T
• Sishtla Vishnu M

Classifications

• F04D29/284

  for compressors · CPC title

• F04D17/025

  comprising axial flow and radial flow stages · CPC title

• F04D29/286

  multi-stage rotors · CPC title

• F04D29/442 Primary

  rotating diffusers · CPC title

• F04D27/00

  Control, e.g. regulation, of pumps, pumping installations or pumping systems specially adapted for elastic fluids · CPC title