Methods, systems, and apparatus to control a fluid provided to components in a fluid pump of a closed loop system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12560178-B2
Application number	US-202318167723-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 10, 2023
Priority date	Dec 26, 2022
Publication date	Feb 24, 2026
Grant date	Feb 24, 2026

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus are disclosed to provide a pressurized fluid to components of a fluid pump. An example flow control system to provide a pressurized lubricant to a secondary flow network disposed within a fluid pump includes sensors to measure parameters of a fluid corresponding to fluid flow; a recirculation loop fluidly coupled to a secondary inlet of the pump, the recirculation loop to provide a first flowpath, wherein the secondary inlet is an inlet to the secondary flow network; a bypass circuit fluidly coupled to the secondary inlet to provide a second flowpath; and a controller to direct the fluid flow to the first flowpath or the second flowpath based on sensor data from the sensor, the sensor data indicative of a state of the fluid.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A flow control system to provide a pressurized lubricant to a secondary flow network disposed within a fluid pump, the flow control system comprising:
sensors to measure parameters of a fluid corresponding to a fluid flow; a recirculation loop fluidly coupled to a secondary inlet of the fluid pump, the recirculation loop to provide a first flowpath, wherein the secondary inlet is an inlet to the secondary flow network; a bypass circuit fluidly coupled to the secondary inlet, the bypass circuit to provide a second flowpath, the bypass circuit including an auxiliary reservoir to retain a portion of the fluid, the portion of the fluid to be in at least a near-supercritical state; and a controller to direct the fluid flow to the first flowpath or the second flowpath based on sensor data from the sensors, the sensor data indicative of a state of the fluid corresponding to the fluid flow.

2 . The flow control system of claim 1 , wherein the sensors include first sensors positioned adjacent a primary inlet of the fluid pump, the first sensors including a first temperature sensor and a first pressure sensor.

3 . The flow control system of claim 1 , wherein the recirculation loop includes:
a first conduit defining the first flowpath, the first conduit fluidly coupled between an outlet of the fluid pump and the secondary inlet; and a first valve fluidly coupled to the first conduit.

4 . The flow control system of claim 3 , wherein the controller actuates the first valve to direct the fluid flow to the first flowpath.

5 . The flow control system of claim 3 , wherein the first valve is a thermally activated valve configured to dynamically actuate based on at least one of a temperature or a pressure of the fluid flow.

6 . The flow control system of claim 1 , wherein the bypass circuit includes:
a second conduit defining the second flowpath, wherein the second conduit is fluidly coupled to the secondary inlet via a downstream region of the recirculation loop, wherein the auxiliary reservoir is fluidly coupled to the second conduit; a heater fluidly coupled to the second conduit, the heater disposed downstream relative to the auxiliary reservoir; and a second valve fluidly coupled to the second conduit, the second valve disposed downstream relative to the auxiliary reservoir.

7 . The flow control system of claim 6 , wherein the controller actuates the second valve to direct the fluid flow to the second flowpath.

8 . The flow control system of claim 7 , wherein the auxiliary reservoir is associated with a pressure differential to cause the portion of the fluid to flow into the second conduit when the second valve actuates.

9 . The flow control system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is to:
determine a temperature of carbon dioxide entering the heater based on outputs of a sensor associated with the heater; and control operation of the heater based on the temperature.

10 . The flow control system of claim 9 , wherein at least a portion of the carbon dioxide enters the heater from a portion of the bypass circuit different than the auxiliary reservoir.

11 . The flow control system of claim 7 , wherein the second valve is a thermally actuated valve.

12 . A fluid pump to pressurize a fluid in a closed loop system, the fluid pump comprising:
a pump housing including a primary inlet, a secondary inlet, and an outlet; a recirculation transport bus fluidly coupled between the outlet and the secondary inlet, the recirculation transport bus including a first valve to control flow through the recirculation transport bus; and a bypass conduit fluidly coupled to the recirculation transport bus to circumvent a portion of the recirculation transport bus, the bypass conduit including a bypass circuit to move a fluid flow towards a supercritical state, wherein the fluid flow includes a portion of the pressurized fluid and the bypass circuit includes a pressure tank structured to store another portion of the pressurized fluid in at least a near-supercritical state.

13 . The fluid pump of claim 12 , wherein the bypass circuit includes:
a fluid heater configured to transmit heat to the fluid flow; and a second valve to control flow through the bypass conduit, the second valve to actuate based on a parameter of the fluid flow, the pressure tank to bleed the other portion of the pressurized fluid to the bypass conduit in response to actuation of the second valve.

14 . The fluid pump of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the first valve or the second valve is a thermally activated valve configured to actuate between discrete positions based on a temperature of the fluid flow through the respective valve.

15 . The fluid pump of claim 13 , wherein the fluid heater is positioned downstream of the pressure tank to control a temperature of the fluid flow through the bypass conduit.

16 . The fluid pump of claim 13 , wherein the pressure tank is associated with a pressure differential to cause the other portion of the fluid to enter the bypass conduit in response to actuation of the second valve.

17 . The fluid pump of claim 13 , further including a sensor to measure a temperature of carbon dioxide entering the fluid heater, the fluid heater to increase in temperature based on the sensor measurement.

18 . A flow control system to provide a working fluid to a secondary flow network disposed within a fluid pump, the flow control system comprising:
the fluid pump including the secondary flow network and a secondary inlet being an inlet to the secondary flow network; sensors to measure parameters of a fluid corresponding to a flow of the working fluid; a recirculation loop including the secondary flow network, the recirculation loop to provide a first flowpath; a bypass circuit fluidly coupled to the secondary inlet to provide a second flowpath; one or more valves to direct the working fluid to the first flowpath or the second flowpath; and a controller to control the one or more valves to direct the flow of the working fluid to the first flowpath or the second flowpath based on sensor data from the sensors, the sensor data indicative of a state of the working fluid, wherein the controller is configured to direct the working fluid to the first flowpath when the sensor data indicate that the working fluid is in or near a supercritical state.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Raju Mohan Kannaiah
• Shinde Kudum
• Ganiger Ravindra Shankar
• Hardikar Narendra
• Murray Michael Joseph

Classifications

• F02C7/32 Primary

  Arrangement, mounting, or driving, of auxiliaries · CPC title

• F05D2260/232

  characterized by the cooling medium · CPC title

• F05D2210/14

  Refrigerants with particular properties, e.g. HFC · CPC title

• F04D25/0606

  the electric motor being specially adapted for integration in the pump · CPC title

• F04D17/10

  for compressing or evacuating · CPC title