Compressor

Abstract

The invention relates to a compressor (20) for generating a compressed air flow for a fuel cell (10), having a compressor element (21), in particular a compressor wheel, wherein the compressor element (21) is coupled in a to a drive shaft (23) for co-rotation, the drive shaft (23) being driven by a motor (22), in particular an electric motor, wherein at least one hydrodynamic or hydrostatic bearing (24, 25) is used to mount the shaft (23) in a rotatable manner, wherein the plain bearing (24, 25) is connected to a lubricant supply means (30), which is used to supply a lubricant for hydrodynamic or hydrostatic pressure generation to the plain bearing (24, 25), wherein the lubricant is water or a fluid mixture, predominantly comprising water, wherein the plain bearing (24, 25) has a lubricant inlet and a lubricant outlet, wherein the lubricant can be routed to the plain bearing (24, 25) via the lubricant inlet and the lubricant can be discharged from the plain bearing (24, 25) via the lubricant outlet, and wherein a discharge area of the circulation system (30) is disposed in the area of the lubricant outlet. An operationally safe design can be implemented for such a compressor if provision is made for the cross-section area of the outlet of the liquid outlet of the plain bearing (24, 25) to be completely covered by the lubricant held in the discharge area.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.