Flow machine for a fluid with a radial sealing gap between stator parts and a rotor
AssigneeSulzer Pumpen AG
InventorsTomas Pesek, Walter Bolliger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Self-supporting wear rings (1a, 1b) for fluid flow machines are arranged at a radial sealing gap (18) to a rotor (9), and have an outer jacket surface (3) provided with a wear surface (2). The wear rings (1a, 1b), which are fixed in the axial direction, consist of a material with lower thermal expansion coefficients than their support and lie hollowly on their inner jacket surface, with a first conical holder surface (8) encountering with the apex of its cone a second holder surface (8″), which is designed as a straight shoulder, in the plane of the latter (19) on the axis of rotation or encountering a second holder surface, which is designed as a conical holder surface (8′), at its cone apex on the axis of rotation (20).
Claims23
A flow machine for fluid comprising stator parts and a rotor separated by a sealing gap, and a wear ring disposed in the sealing gap and having an outer jacket surface provided with a wear surface, the wear ring being axially fixed in a direction of an axis of rotation of the rotor, being made of a material with a lower coefficient of thermal expansion than parts on which it is supported, and lying hollowly on its inner jacket surface when the temperature at the sealing gap is below a specific temperature, the wear ring being held in place by first and second conical holder surfaces which converge towards the axis of rotation and meet at a common apex on the axis of rotation.
A flow machine for a fluid comprising stator parts and a rotor separated by a sealing gap, a counter ring disposed in the sealing gap and having an inner jacket surface provided with a wear surface, the counter ring being axially fixed in a direction of an axis of rotation of the rotor, being made of a material with a lower coefficient of thermal expansion than parts on which it is supported, and lying hollowly on its outer jacket surface at lower temperatures which occur at the sealing gap, the counter ring being held in place by first and second conical holder surfaces which converge in a direction towards the axis of rotation and meet at a common apex on the axis of rotation.
A flow machine for fluid comprising stator parts and a rotor separated by a gap, the rotor being rotatable about an axis of rotation, and a wear ring disposed in the gap and having an outer jacket surface provided with a wear surface, the wear ring being fixed in an axial direction of the rotor, being made of a material with a lower coefficient of thermal expansion than parts on which it is supported, and having an inner jacket surface that is out of contact with the parts supporting it when the temperature at the gap is below a predetermined temperature, the ring being held in place by first and second conical holder surfaces each of which converges towards the axis of rotation and forms an apex on the axis of rotation.
A flow machine for fluid comprising a stator and a rotor rotatable about an axis of rotation, the stator and the rotor forming an interface with a sealing gap through which fluid flowing through the machine can leak, the sealing gap being defined by a counter surface connected with one of the stator and the rotor and a wear ring connected with the other one of the stator and the rotor and having a wear surface opposite the counter surface and spaced therefrom by the sealing gap, the wear ring being constructed of a material having a coefficient of thermal expansion which is smaller than a coefficient of thermal expansion of material of which one of the stator and the rotor to which the wear ring is connected is constructed, the wear ring being dimensioned and arranged so that a surface thereof which faces in a radial direction is spaced from the one of the stator and the rotor to which it is connected by another gap when the wear ring is at a relatively low operating temperature and the other gap substantially disappears at a pre-established highest operating temperature, the one of the stator and the rotor to which the wear ring is connected including a connector for securing the wear ring thereto so that a more rapid expansion of the one of the stator and the rotor to which the wear ring is connected relative to the wear ring as the temperature increases towards the pre-established highest operating temperature causes a reduction in the size of the other gap and prevents an excessive tension increase in the wear ring.
A method of operating a flow machine for a fluid comprising providing a stator part and a rotor part of the flow machine, separating the stator part and the rotor part by a sealing gap, rotating the rotor about an axis of rotation, mounting a wear ring on one of the stator part and the rotor part so as to prevent movement of the wear ring in the direction of the axis of rotation, providing the wear ring with a wear surface facing the sealing gap, selecting a material for the wear ring that has a lower coefficient of thermal expansion than one of the stator part and the rotor part to which the wear ring is connected, holding the wear ring in place with first and second conical holder surfaces each of which converges toward the axis of rotation and forms an apex on the axis of rotation, forming a spacing between radially facing, opposing surfaces of the wear ring and the one of the stator part and the rotor part to which the wear ring is connected permitting relative radial movements between the wear ring and the one of the stator part and the rotor part to which it is connected due to thermal expansion until a predetermined temperature is reached, providing a fluid to be flowed through the flow machine, and entraining solids in the fluid before the fluid enters the flow machine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.