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US 6,685,190 B1Granted
Ventilated trickle seal
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsRobert Russell Mayer, Bharat Sampathkumaran Bagepalli, Mahmut Faruk Aksit
Life of this patent
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AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsRobert Russell Mayer, Bharat Sampathkumaran Bagepalli, Mahmut Faruk Aksit
Estimating the term…
A seal is provided around a shaft extending through a cavity in a hydrogen cooled generator. The seal includes a plurality of brush seal structures adapted to reduce flow to/from the cavity to a level where the risk of creating an explosive mixture of gases is minimized. In an embodiment of the invention, a series of brush seals are provided to interface with the rotary shaft so as to define a seal for minimizing the flow of hydrogen out of the cavity. In one preferred embodiment, the seal is composed of first and second brush seal assemblies, each of which is comprised of a plurality of brush seal structures. In another embodiment, spring(s) are provided to urge the brush seal structures into sealing engagement with the rotor. If deemed necessary or desirable, a vent outlet is provided in a cavity wall remote from the hydrogen atmosphere, to remove hydrogen that has leaked through the brush seals.
In a hydrogen cooled generator having a rotor, a housing wall having a hydrogen atmosphere on one side, and a bearing in a bearing cavity containing a fluid on an opposite side of the housing wall, a seal including at least one brush seal assembly between said rotor and said housing wall for substantially segregating the hydrogen atmosphere and fluid in the bearing cavity from one another, comprising:
In a hydrogen cooled generator having a rotor, a housing wall having a hydrogen atmosphere on one side, and a bearing cavity on an opposite side thereof, a seal including first and second brush seal assemblies for substantially preventing passage of the hydrogen from said hydrogen atmosphere on one side of said brush seal assemblies into said bearing cavity, each said brush seal assembly including a support secured to said housing wall and a plurality of brush seal structures each of which has a plurality of bristles, tips of said bristles engaging said rotor.
In a hydrogen cooled generator having a rotor, a housing wall having a hydrogen atmosphere on one side, and a bearing cavity on an opposite side thereof, a method of forming a seal to minimize passage of hydrogen from said hydrogen atmosphere into said bearing cavity, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.