Rotary sliding vane machine with hydrostatic slide bearings for the vanes

A rotary sliding vane machine for fluid processing, comprising:

• a housing with an internal wall forming a cavity with an inlet and outlet for process fluid;
• a rotor with a rotor axis in the cavity, a distance between an outer face of the rotor and the internal wall of the housing varies in the rotational direction;
• vanes arranged in outwardly directed slots in the rotor, there is relative sliding between the vanes and the rotor during rotation, the vanes extend between the outer face of the rotor and the internal wall of the housing;
• wherein at least one pair of hydrostatic slide bearings for each vane, each pair comprises one hydrostatic slide bearing on each side of the vane, each hydrostatic slide bearing comprises:
• a bearing fluid chamber with a variable volume;
• a bearing fluid supply line with a flow restriction between a bearing fluid supply and the bearing fluid chamber;
• a bearing pad with a bearing face facing the vane, and an opposite side facing the bearing fluid chamber, the bearing pad is movable towards and away from the bearing fluid chamber, a movement of the bearing pad towards the bearing fluid chamber corresponds to a decrease of the bearing fluid chamber volume, a movement of the bearing pad away from the bearing fluid chamber corresponds to an increase of the bearing fluid chamber volume;
• a bearing fluid channel between the bearing fluid chamber and the bearing pad face, for supplying bearing fluid to a slide bearing fluid film between the bearing pad face and the vane;
• wherein, during rotation:
• pressure changes of the process fluid cause varying tangential forces on the vane, which tilt the vane towards and away from the bearing pad;
• when the vane is tilted towards the bearing pad, the vane forces the bearing pad towards the bearing fluid chamber, which decreases the volume of the bearing fluid chamber, the flow restriction of the bearing fluid supply line restricts return of bearing fluid to the bearing fluid supply, causing a pressurizing of the bearing fluid in the bearing fluid chamber, making it high pressure bearing fluid, and high pressure bearing fluid flows from the bearing fluid chamber, through the bearing fluid channel to the bearing pad face, and to the slide bearing fluid film;
• and
• when the vane is tilted away from the bearing pad, bearing fluid at supply pressure flows from the bearing fluid supply line to the bearing fluid chamber, which increases the volume of the bearing fluid chamber, which in turn forces the bearing pad towards the vane, at the same time supply pressure bearing fluid flows from the bearing fluid chamber, through the bearing fluid channel to the bearing pad face, and to the slide bearing fluid film.