Low pressure sealing liquid entry area in a compressor type liquid ring pump

A liquid ring pump arranged to compress a gas, comprising:

• a housing defining an interior working space sized to receive a quantity of the gas and a first quantity of a sealing liquid;
• a pump head coupled to the housing and defining an inlet channel, an outlet space, and a cone seal area;
• an intake valve movable between an opened position and a closed position to control the quantity of the gas entering the inlet channel;
• a reservoir containing a second quantity of the sealing liquid;
• a first flow member coupled to the reservoir and the inlet channel to provide fluid communication therebetween;
• a second flow member coupled to the reservoir and the cone seal area to provide fluid communication therebetween;
• a rotor supported for rotation by a shaft, the rotor disposed at least partially within the interior working space and operable to draw in the gas from the inlet channel at an inlet pressure and to discharge the gas to the outlet space at an outlet pressure that is higher than the inlet pressure;
• a first valve disposed at a junction between the first flow member and the inlet channel, wherein the first valve automatically opens during a start-up mode of the liquid ring pump and automatically closes during a running mode of the liquid ring pump that follows the start-up mode;
• and
• a second valve disposed at a junction between the second flow member and the cone seal area, wherein the second valve automatically closes during the start-up mode and automatically opens during the running mode of the liquid ring pump.

A liquid ring pump arranged to compress a gas, comprising:

• a housing defining an interior working space sized to receive a quantity of the gas and a first quantity of a sealing liquid;
• a pump head coupled to the housing and defining an inlet channel, an outlet space, and a cone seal area;
• an intake valve movable between an opened position and a closed position to control the quantity of the gas entering the inlet channel;
• a reservoir containing a second quantity of the sealing liquid;
• a pump discharge path providing fluid communication between the outlet space and the reservoir;
• a first flow member coupled to the reservoir and the inlet channel to provide fluid communication therebetween;
• a second flow member coupled to the reservoir and the cone seal area to provide fluid communication therebetween;
• a first valve disposed at a junction between the first flow member and the inlet channel, wherein the first valve automatically opens during a start-up mode of the liquid ring pump, and automatically closes during a running mode of the liquid ring pump that follows the start-up mode;
• a second valve disposed at a junction between the second flow member and the cone seal area, wherein the second valve automatically closes during the start-up mode and automatically opens during the running mode of the liquid ring pump;
• and
• a rotor supported for rotation by a shaft, the rotor disposed at least partially within the interior working space, the liquid ring pump operable in the start-up mode to draw the sealing liquid into the interior working space via only the first flow member, and during the running mode to draw the sealing liquid into the interior working space via only the second flow member.

A method of providing a sealing liquid to a liquid ring pump that is operable in a start-up mode and a running mode, the method comprising:

• providing a reservoir containing a quantity of the sealing liquid, a pump head inlet channel, and an outlet space each at atmospheric pressure prior to initiating operation in the start-up mode;
• initiating the start-up mode;
• throttling, via an intake valve, a flow of a gas into the pump head inlet channel to produce a lower pressure region therein with respect a pressure within the reservoir during the start-up mode;
• drawing the sealing liquid into the pump head inlet channel through a first flow path and a first valve in response to the lower pressure region in the pump head inlet channel, wherein the first valve is disposed at a junction between the first flow path and the pump head inlet channel, and the first valve automatically opens during the start-up mode;
• increasing via a rotor, a pressure within the outlet space and the pressure within the reservoir in response to operation in the start-up mode;
• reducing the throttling of the flow of the gas into the pump head inlet channel to transition to the running mode, wherein a throttle reduction automatically closes the first valve in the first flow path to prevent the flow of the sealing liquid into the pump head inlet channel via the first flow path;
• and
• automatically opening a second valve in a second flow path to direct the sealing liquid into the liquid ring pump in response to the increased pressure within the reservoir, wherein the second valve is disposed at a junction between the second flow path and a cone seal area of the liquid ring pump, automatically closes during the start-up mode, and automatically opens during the running mode.