Extended sculpted twisted return channel vane arrangement
AssigneeElliott Company
InventorsLouis M. Larosiliere, Vishal Jariwala
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A turbomachine including a housing having an inlet end opposite and outlet end along a longitudinal axis of the housing, a shaft assembly provided within the housing, the shaft assembly extending from the inlet end to the outlet end, a rotor having at least one rotating impeller extending radially outward from the shaft assembly, and a return channel vane hub extending radially outward from the shaft assembly, the return channel vane hub includes at least one return channel vane extend therefrom, the at least one return channel vane comprising a body having a leading edge and a trailing edge, the leading edge is twisted and extended past an outer edge of the return channel vane hub, and the trailing edge is bowed outwardly.
Claims18
A return channel vane arrangement for a multi-stage, centrifugal-flow turbomachine, comprising:
- at least one return channel vane comprising a body including a leading edge and a trailing edge provided on an opposite end of the body,
- wherein the leading edge is shaped according to an impinging flow resulting in a varying inlet blade angle;
- wherein the trailing edge is shaped to provide uniform distribution of swirl through a variable trailing edge blade angle resulting in a sculpted or bowed trailing edge;
- wherein the at least one return channel vane is comprised of at least three sections stacked on top of one another when viewed along a longitudinal axis of the at least one return channel vane, in which each section of the at least one return channel vane has a different starting and trailing blade angle relative to the meridional line of the body, and
- wherein the leading edge of the body is configured to be positioned within a crossover portion of the return channel hub of the multi-stage, centrifugal-flow turbomachine, in which the crossover portion is a portion of the multi-stage, centrifugal-flow turbomachine provided between an impeller and a return hub.
A multi-stage, centrifugal-flow turbomachine, comprising:
- a housing having an inlet end opposite an outlet end along a longitudinal axis of the housing;
- a shaft assembly provided within the housing, the shaft assembly extending from the inlet end to the outlet end;
- a rotor having at least one impeller extending radially outward from the shaft assembly;
- and
- a return channel vane hub extending radially outward from the shaft assembly, the return channel vane hub includes a return channel vane arrangement comprising at least one return channel vane extending therefrom, the at least one return channel vane comprising a body having a leading edge and a trailing edge, the leading edge is twisted and extended past an outer edge of the return channel vane hub, and the trailing edge is sculpted,
- wherein the at least one return channel vane is comprised of at least three sections stacked on top of one another when viewed along a longitudinal axis of the at least one return channel vane, in which each section of the at least one return channel vane has a different starting and trailing blade angle relative to the meridional line of the body, and
- wherein the leading edge of the body is configured to be positioned within a crossover portion of a return channel hub of the multi-stage, centrifugal-flow turbomachine, in which the crossover portion is a portion of the multi-stage, centrifugal-flow turbomachine provided between an impeller and a return hub.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.